Truck Transportation Merit Badge
Ten requirements, mostly lists and explanations: truck lines in your town, trucks in commerce and the supply chain, gasoline and diesel engines, how a trucking company is organized, government agencies, kinds of trucks and trucking terms. Requirement 4 is a visit to a truck terminal, including a talk with a professional truck driver about safety. Requirement 8 is a written plan for shipping 500 pounds of freight 500 miles within three days.
Elective Merit Badges Business Merit Badges Requirements Safety
The plan behind this
Requirement 4: a visit to a truck terminal
Visit a truck terminal and complete all five parts there, then share what you have learned with your counselor:
| part | what to find out |
|---|---|
| 4(a) | the maintenance program the company follows to keep its fleet, drivers and the roadway safe |
| 4(b) | how dispatchers keep in touch with drivers on the road |
| 4(c) | from a professional truck driver: safety and the rules of the road; list five safe-driving rules every professional truck driver must follow |
| 4(d) | review the driver's log, and what information it contains |
| 4(e) | important federal regulations that help ensure public safety |
Requirement 8: a shipment, in writing
Assume you are shipping 500 pounds of goods (freight class 65) by truck from your town to a town 500 miles away, arriving within three days. Explain in writing how to prepare the shipment, how to compare at least three carriers for time in transit and rates, how to choose the carrier, and how to insure the shipment for damages.
The rest is listing and explaining
| requirement | about |
|---|---|
| 1 | the major truck lines serving your town |
| 2 | trucks in commerce and in a company's supply chain, and a map on paper of goods made overseas reaching a retailer here |
| 3 | gasoline and diesel truck engines, and the advantages of each |
| 5 | how a trucking company is organized, and five positions in one |
| 6 | five government agencies that work closely with the trucking industry |
| 7 | five kinds of trucks and the service each provides |
| 9 | eleven terms, from bill of lading to cartage |
| 10 | one career related to the badge, researched |
What this page is
The Truck Transportation merit badge, drawn so the truck terminal visit, with its five parts and the report to your counselor afterwards, stands out from the lists and explanations around it. It is not a copy of the requirements: each step is a short label with a link to the official requirements, which are what actually governs and which change from year to year. The free official pamphlet is the fuller guide.
Sources for this page
- Truck Transportation Merit Badge Requirements, Merit Badge Hub, last modified 2025-12-31 · The requirements themselves, and the free official pamphlet linked from them.
- Guide to Advancement, 2025, Section 7.0.0.3 · The process every merit badge is earned through, which this page does not repeat.
- Guide to Advancement, 2025, Section 7.0.4.3 · Which version of a changed requirement applies to a Scout who has already started.
- Guide to Advancement, 2025, Section 4.0.0.1 · Why the requirements are not in the Guide to Advancement and are expected to change annually.
Last checked against its sources on .