Trucker training program gears up
The Arkansas Trucking Academy program, comprised of four colleges — including two in the immediate region — is picking up steam.
The University of Arkansas-Hope/Texarkana, UA-Cossatot in Nashville, UA-Rich Mountain in Mena and Arkansas State University Three Rivers in Malvern have teamed up to provide the four-week program in the 2021-2022 school year that will help students prepare for the Certified Trucking License exam.
Each school has a truck driving simulator, and there are two trucks that will alternate back and forth from the campuses based on which part of the curriculum the students are in.
“That first week, the students are going to be exposed to the classroom portion of truck driving training,” UA-Cossatot Chancellor Steve Cole said. “There’s a lot of things to learn before you get in the cab of a truck. And while they’re going through that first week, we put them in the simulator. After the first week of training, the next three weeks are spent with the instructor in the truck, over the road. After those four weeks, they test for their CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) permit. Hopefully, if we do everything right, they’ll pass. Then, it’s off to the workplace.”
UA-Cossatot and ASU Three Rivers will have the trucks in August on their campuses, respectively. UAHT and UA-Rich Mountain will have the trucks in September in Hope
and Mena, after having a group of students who have already gone through the classroom and simulation part of the curriculum and are ready for the hands-on learning portion.
The schools will rotate month-to-month on who has the trucks.
A total of 160 contact hours are required for a Certified Truck Driving License — with a combination of virtual/simulation, traditional and practical, over-the-road instruction. The colleges are currently in the application process of hiring instructors for the courses.
Steve Cole and Akili Moses Israel, UAHT Director of Business & Industry Training, both said interest levels for this program have been through the roof.
“We have had overwhelming interest and support in this program, and we just announced it a week ago,” Cole said.
“The interest level has been tremendous for us. We’ve been having the phones ring off the hook, and we’ve had a lot of emails,” Moses Israel said. “If everyone who applied follows through, we would have enough for the year, but we’re telling people to still apply just in case some of those people fall out or they decide to go to another campus. But for this particular campus, we’ve gotten a really, really good response.”
Cole and Moses Israel said there has also been interest from local companies who need drivers, who want to partner with the program and have them train their drivers.
“There has been an empty spot in this space for quite a while, and we’ve had some people asking for a CDL program prior to this, so I think this is really a god-sent for our community,” Moses Israel said. “The need is great across the country and locally. Folks are really looking for a job where they can have some flexibility, have a family-waged job and still remain in the area. And this allows them to do that.”
Tuition for the program is $1,300, but Cole said many of the students may be eligible for the Arkansas Challenge Workforce Scholarship — which is worth $800.
“A lot of our driving students will qualify for that, making their tuition $500 to get a CDL,” he said. “And there are trucking companies that are paying upwards of $100,000 a year for overthe-road drivers. And it’s a lifestyle you have to like, but it’s a really good living.”
The colleges will look towards opportunities of expansion with the program if the response continues to be positive.