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Truck Driving 101: Goodwill program gives workers training they need for new career
Journal Photo by David Rolfe
Truck-driving student James Wilson walks around the front of the student truck as he prepares to practice backing up between cones in a downtown parking lot.
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Published: September 7, 2008
Jeromy Furnas is ready to switch gears in his career.
Furnas, who lives in Midway, is one of seven students who recently enrolled in a professional truck-driving class through Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina.
Six of the seven graduated last week after passing the Commercial Driver's License exam.
Through a partnership, Future Truckers of America, which is based in Asheboro, conducts the classes and supplies a tractor, and Goodwill provides a trailer.
Furnas took the four-week class, which costs $3,000, after being laid off from his assembly job at Freightliner LLC in Cleveland.
"I've found that there is a high demand for truck drivers with a commercial driver's license," he said. "The other night, I put in six applications online and had six responses the next day."
Students usually pay for the truck-driving class out of pocket or receive assistance through sponsoring agencies, such as a trucking company or a program through the Northwest Piedmont Council of Governments.
The class came about when Goodwill's chief executive, Art Gibel, saw a need for a professional truck-driving training program in the Winston-Salem area.
The closest programs are at Davidson County Community College, Surry Community College and at the Future Truckers of America in Asheboro.
Lori Bergin, the evaluation and skills assessment manager for Goodwill, said that the class gives local people the chance to land a job that pays more than minimum wage. Professional truck drivers have the potential to start with yearly incomes of $36,000 to $40,000.
Despite high gas and insurance costs for some truck drivers, Goodwill and Future Truckers of America are optimistic about job prospects for new truckers.
According to a 2005 report by the American Trucking Association in Alexandria, Va., there is a shortage of truck drivers in the long-haul, heavy-duty truck transportation industry in the United States. About 111,000 new drivers will be needed by 2014, the report estimated.
"It is definitely something that has a lot of job opportunities," Bergin said. "The one thing we do try to let people know is that it is a lifestyle change. When you first start out as a trucker, you are most likely not going to get those jobs where you are driving locally and you can come home every night. It's going to be probably long stretches."
Greg Thomas, the instructor for the class, said that the biggest challenges for students are experiencing what it is like to drive in city traffic.
"Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, New York, Atlanta is another world," he said. "They haven't seen anything like that. The challenge is to not just see it. The challenge is experiencing it successfully, negotiating it, and then getting back out on the open road again. And once they've done that a few times, it doesn't become easier because each day has its own diversity and problems."
The success, he said, comes from getting through those experiences and not being quite as scared as you were when you first hit the road. Rewards include good money and seeing new places around the country.
Several students in his class, including Furnas, have job prospects based on passing the Commercial Driver's License exam.
James Wilson of Walnut Cove took the class because he has always wanted to be a commercial driver.
"I'm learning to drive a big truck, and that means a lot," said Wilson, who was laid off in December from his job of repairing restaurant equipment.
He said that driving for a company is the best route for someone starting out in the business to avoid costs that independent truck drivers usually deal with -- gas, insurance and truck and equipment repairs.
Nathaniel Small of Winston-Salem said he is not worried about finding a job because commercial drivers are in demand.
Small, who lost his job in the textile industry, described the class as excellent.
"We are required to have a higher standard out there on the road than the regular four-wheeler," he said.
This is Goodwill's third class. There were two graduates in the first class, which started June 2, and five in the second class.
Bergin said that right after graduation, both students from the first class had jobs and three of the five in the second class got jobs.
Safety is a big part of the class, including daily checks on drivers' trucks and equipment.
"In order for them to operate a vehicle safely, they need to be familiar with it, along with their equipment," Thomas said.
■ Fran Daniel can be reached at 727-7366 or at fdaniel@wsjournal.com.
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