Ben Crawford is in the driver鈥檚 seat at 成人每日大赛 Commercial. He鈥檚 lead instructor for the school鈥檚 CDL Training program, a six-week course that readies students to hit the road with a Class A commercial vehicle driver鈥檚 license.
鈥淚鈥檝e been driving tractor-trailers since 1992,鈥� Crawford says. He started at Sears, driving their vehicles from a distribution center in Pittsburgh to stores and warehouses to deliver a product. He went on to Ethan Allen, doing runs from New Stanton to Dulles, VA, and back, and then to Best Buy. Before he started teaching, Crawford drove tri-axles (dump trucks) for Rischitelli Brothers in Charleroi, where he gained experience driving on leased roads 鈥� big business in 成人每日大赛sylvania and something he teaches students at 成人每日大赛.
Leased roads lead to the remote gas and oil sites in 成人每日大赛sylvania, and drivers need to learn a new skill set to maneuver vehicles on them. 鈥淭o get to these oil sites, they have to cut steep leased roads to get to the pass,鈥� Crawford explains. 鈥淭hose can be very treacherous, and there are no guard rails. The driving is completely different [than over-the-road driving]. They have to shift faster, be a little safer. They鈥檙e going up a mountain on gravel.鈥�
Before students can drive anywhere, they need to obtain their driving permits. 鈥淯sually, the first week we go through the whole CDL Class A book, which consists of a general knowledge test, a tanker test, air brakes and combination,鈥� Crawford says. 鈥淥nce they鈥檙e at a point where I think they鈥檙e ready, we send them to the DMV and they test. If they pass all four tests, they then get their permit and they鈥檙e ready to go out on the road.鈥�
鈥淲e run four students per instructor, and as a start-up, we started with four.鈥� Every two weeks, another set of four students starts the program; classes run continuously. Crawford has been teaching for about 12 years, but he says the training at 成人每日大赛 is different. Most schools have a four-week program. 鈥淲e鈥檙e giving them an extra two weeks of driving, which really helps them develop into better drivers.鈥� It also makes them more valuable to employers.
Many trucking companies 鈥� because there鈥檚 a shortage of CDL drivers 鈥� are willing to pay for students鈥� training. Students pay up-front, but they鈥檙e reimbursed by their new employer. 鈥淲e actually will get guys financed to come to this school with no out-of-pocket expense,鈥� Crawford says. 鈥淵ou have to work for that company for one year, and you鈥檙e going to make close to $60,000-$70,000 a year. 聽Where does that happen in the world?鈥�
According to a 2015 analysis by the , the trucking industry will need to hire 890,000 new drivers during the next decade to keep up with many drivers retiring and industry growth. Crawford agrees. 鈥淭he demand for trucking right now is going to get so hard to find drivers because all these companies like Amazon are going to have to have merchandise moved across the country.鈥� Many of the local drivers are getting into the gas and oil field.鈥� If you get a CDL license and you can鈥檛 find a job, then you don鈥檛 want to work.鈥�
Since Crawford has been in the field, it has changed 鈥� for the better. 鈥淭he misconception of driving is that you鈥檙e going over the road like a gypsy. That鈥檚 your choice. You can do that if you want to,鈥� Crawford says. 鈥淭here are companies like Old Dominion, Pitt Ohio, ECM, SD, New England Motor Freight, and you go into work at 8 in the morning and you drive an 8- or a 10-hour day to, say, Ohio and back, and you come home.鈥� That was once a luxury in the business.
The trucking industry is attracting career changers. 鈥淚 have a nurse that鈥檚 come to our program. I鈥檝e had an X-ray technician,鈥� Crawford says. 鈥淗e ended up going to the company [with the portable X-ray machines] as the driver and the tech, and he was paid almost double.鈥� Women are also turning to the male-dominated trade. 鈥淎 lot of companies love to have women come to work,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey find they鈥檙e a lot easier on the equipment, and they drive much less aggressively.鈥�
Crawford says the 成人每日大赛 CDL Training program is offering new hope for the unemployed. 鈥淚鈥檝e had coal miners that were making a lot of money that lost their jobs,鈥� he says. They earned their CDL licenses and changed their lives. 鈥淭o be able to see guys come in here who have lost their homes or don鈥檛 have anything and to get them through a six-week program and help them get jobs making $70,000 has become has been more rewarding to me than anything I could ever have picked as a job.鈥�
The potential is there for drivers who want to work. 鈥淢ost of the guys the first year out of school are making close to $70,000-$80,000 a year,鈥� Crawford says. 鈥淚 do have guys making well over $100,000 the first year. It鈥檚 unbelievable for a six-week program to get out of school and make that kind of money.鈥�
If this sounds good to you, consider getting your CDL license. 成人每日大赛 Commercial鈥檚 CDL training program provides the classroom and hands-on practical driving experience you need to test for the 成人每日大赛sylvania Commercial Class A Driver鈥檚 License with air brakes and tanker endorsement. Your comprehensive training will teach you to:
- Execute required vehicle maneuvers
- Perform a 6-point air brake test and pretest inspection on a commercial vehicle
- Understand and complete a log book
- Navigate intrastate and interstate highways by reading a roadmap
- Comprehend the rules and regulations of driving a commercial vehicle in 成人每日大赛sylvania
For more information or to register for classes, contact 成人每日大赛 Commercial today.
