December 2025
Why You Should Get Your CTP
Each month NPTC President and CEO Gary Petty writes a column in Fleet Owner magazine that focuses on the individuals, companies, best practices, and resources that make private trucking the force that it is in the American economy. Reaching more than 100,000 subscribers, three-quarters of whom are private fleet professionals, this column provides an excellent forum to communicate the value of the private fleet. Click here to view the archive.

Gary Petty | gpetty@nptc.org | Private Fleet Editor for FleetOwner Magazine
Gary Petty has more than 30 years of experience as CEO of national trade associations in the trucking industry. He has been the president and CEO of the National Private Truck Council since 2001.

“CTP transformed my career, changed the trajectory of my life, and all for the good.” – Tom Moore, certification pioneer and CTP graduate, Class of 1997
REGISTRATION IS NOW open for January’s Private Fleet Management Institute and the Certified Transportation Professional CTP Class of 2026. The institute will be held January 17-21 at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate in Orlando. The CTP examination for the Class of 2026 will be conducted in a secure, digital format on February 14. An all-day CTP Exam Prep Workshop will be held at the resort on January 16, immediately preceding the institute.
PFMI and CTP programs experienced dynamic growth in the past 10 years. PFMI classes increased from 50 to 60 registrations to an annual average of 110 to 115. Last year, the institute drew 140 attendees, the most on record, representing some 60 companies. Nineteen of the companies sent their “first-time” representatives. Among all attendees, about 80% are from fleets and 20% from allied companies.
CTP classes typically range between 115 and 120 graduates but reached a record 135 CTPs in the Class of 2025. The total number of active CTPs at the end of 2025 stands at 957—more than double since 2015. About two-thirds of active CTPs are fleet management practitioners, and one-third are allied/supplier partners.
PFMI provides a rigorous learning environment where attendees engage in a series of general session presentations, roundtable best practices discussion groups, structured networking activities, applied learning exercises, and team-building collaborations through case-study analysis on the final day. PFMI’s education content provides tools and resources for attendees to achieve a competitive edge of continuous improvement as fleet management practitioners and supplier partners.
Every attendee is expected to have fluency in commercial truck transportation, experience in the private fleet industry, and be a contributor. They are expected to have a basic familiarity with the five core disciplines of private fleet management: safety, operations, human resources, finance, and equipment/maintenance. The institute’s five-day program is guided by nearly two dozen seasoned fleet expert faculty members representing a broad cross-section of private fleet companies.
Feedback over time from hundreds of PFMI and CTP graduates attests to the enthusiastic ROI and enduring value of the program. Here are some examples:
Mari Roberts, CTP, SVP, service & distribution, supply, and commercialization, Frito-Lay, former chair of the NPTC Board Institute, and vice chair-elect of the NPTC Board of Directors: “The networking power of CTPs is just incredible. I appreciate the collaboration, benchmarking, and camaraderie shared among fellow CTPs for the past 15 years.”
Mike Schwersenska, CTP, VP of transportation at Brakebush Transportation, NPTC Board treasurer, NPTC Institute Board chair, past chair of the NPTC Board of Directors: “I attended the PFMI with my boss, a family-member owner of my company. Our ROI was extraordinary. Based on what I learned at the institute alone, our company saved around $4 million within a few years. By coming back year after year to NPTC events, we continue to achieve great improvement and savings.”
Tim Eckhardt, CTP, director of safety at Dot Transportation, NPTC Board officer/secretary and former chair, NPTC Safety Committee: “We keep a two- to three-year plan of employees we want to invest in and send through the PFMI and CTP programs. What we get out of NPTC is extraordinary. There is no organization like it. My expectations are exceeded every year.”
Tom Moore, CTP, NPTC EVP, master of ceremonies of PFMI and CTP for more than 20 years: “Ever since earning my CTP in 1997 (I was candidate #15 to earn CTP recognition), I have been reinvesting my time, energy, and insights back into this community, which has meant so much to me.
“Looking back over the past 28 years, the payoffs have been extraordinary. Becoming a CTP transformed my career in so many positive and unexpected ways. I would not have achieved what I have accomplished career-wise, nor would I be in the position I am in today, without having earned my CTP credential.
“It changed the trajectory of my life and all for the good.”

PFMI 2025 Attendees | Photo: NPTC
