Johnson City, N.Y.-based Meier Supply Co. is helping young people learn how to safely navigate the roads and highways.

With the assistance of Nealon Transportation, Meier Supply once again offered local driver-education students the chance to gain perspective from the driver’s seat of a tractor trailer with the “Share the Road” program.

Share the Road, which has now been presented to numerous classes in the area, gives students a firsthand look at where the blind spots are surrounding large trucks. The goal is to enable students to make better decisions when operating a car or truck in traffic.

“First, students watch a 20-minute video, then we give them the opportunity to sit in the driver’s seat of a tractor-trailer. Vehicles are placed behind, in front, and to the side of the truck in actual blind spots,” said John Sponable, freight and logistics manager for Meier Supply Co. “Students gain the professional driver’s point of view and hopefully leave with a lasting impression that will guide them in safely sharing the road with other vehicles, including large trucks.”

Meier Supply Co. provides the trucks and Sponable conducts the training, along with the class instructor. A recent presentation was April 29 for the driver education class taught by Al Reese at Vestal High School in Vestal, N.Y.