USPS Publication Number 16300
T h i s C om mu n it y Ne w s p a p e r i s a p u bl i c a t ion of E s c a m b i a-S a nt a Ro s a B a r A s s o c i a t ion
Se r v i ng t he Fi r st Jud icia l Ci rcu it Section A, Page 1
Vol. 22, No. 20
V isit T he S ummation W eekly O nline : SummationWeekly.com
May 18, 2022
1 Section, 12 Pages
PENSACOLA STATE COLLEGE GEARS UP TO OPEN NEW TRUCK DRIVER TRAINING FACILIT Y by Morgan Cole
P
ensacola State College (PSC) is gearing up to open its new $7.8 million Truck Driving Training facility in Santa Rosa County this fall.
Construction is now well truck drivers. The ATA underway at the site of the predicts that if the current new 13,000-square-foot trends hold, this shortage commercial driver’s license will increase to more than training (CDL) and testing 160,000 by the year 2028. facility and driving range. “Shortages in truck drivThe facility is located on a ers are a real problem and 15-acre parcel in the Santa not just for Florida, but Rosa Industrial Park off also throughout the rest of Jeff Ates Rd. in rural East the country,” PSC DirecMilton. Construction is on tor of Workforce Educatrack to have the new facil- tion, Michael Listau said. ity open by early August of “We have all experienced this year. the supply chain shortages “This is such a great occa- and I look at Pensacola sion for us,” PSC President State College as being a Ed Meadows said at the solution in trying to solve groundbreaking press confer- the issue we are currently ence. “There is a tremendous all living through.” need for truck drivers, both The facility is funded nationally and locally.” by a $3.8 million Triumph The training and test- Gulf Coast grant, a $1.6 ing facility was specifically million U.S. Department of designed in an effort to help Commerce grant, as well as fill this critical workforce state and local funding. The gap, which has continued to PSC truck driving program increase since the onset of also received matching the pandemic in early 2019. funds for the project from a According to a recent esti- $250,000 GREERS Rapid mate released by the Amer- Credentialing Grant, a ican Trucking Association $125,000 Florida Gover(ATA), the country currently nor’s Job Growth Grant and needs an additional 60,800 $49,500 from the Santa Rosa
County Board of Commissioners. “The new facility includes everything we need to train and test students in obtaining their CDL license,” Listau said. “Once the new facility is completed this will help to increase our training capacity to include different training options for both new and experienced drivers. We will offer both a new driver program, as well as an expedited training program to help meet the demands of local employers.” The Truck Driver Training facility will feature truck bays, three classrooms, a large driving range with a half-mile asphalt driving loop and a concrete driving pad. The program currently uses two state-of-the-art Virage Truck simulators, which will also be used for training at the new facility. Students who complete the 320-hour certification course will be required to drive at least 1,000 miles as part of training. After completing 1,000 miles, students can then apply for a Florida Class A Commercial Driver License certification. Program graduates will become eligible for a variety of commercial driving positions from long-haul trucking and local deliveries to Pensacola State College (PSC) President President Ed Meadows led the groundbreaking ceremony at the future site of the new PSC Truck Driver Training facility on September 30, 2021, in East Milton.
school bus operators. PSC also provides job placement assistance to students that successfully complete all of the required coursework and training. The total cost for Tuition and fees for the New Driver Program for Florida residents is $2,500. Several grant and scholarship opportunities are also available to students that qualify. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the May 2020 median pay for heavy tractor-trailer truck drivers was $22.66 per-hour or $47,130 per year, with the top 10 percent of U.S. truck drivers earning about $70,000 or more. Since first launching the Truck Driving Program in 2019, enrollment numbers have continued to steadily increase. According to Listau, nearly 100 students have completed the training program to date. Listau also said that the College is currently taking cohorts of eight students every eight weeks. Once the new facility is complete, the College plans to expand the program to include additional classes with both day and evening class options. Through an agreement with NAS Pensacola, the College’s truck driving program currently operates at Bronson Field near Blue Angel Recreation Park—just west of the PSC Warrington Campus. In 2019, the College purchased a 53-foot, caband-trailer training vehicle
with the $125,000 Governor’s Job Growth Grant from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. A second trailer-truck was donated by the Lewis Bear Company. Both vehicles are currently used to train students in a variety of needed skill sets, from driving and safety techniques to cargo handling and document procedures for overthe-road preparation to obtain a Commercial Driver License (CDL.) The new facility will allow PSC to continue growing this critical training program, adding more instructors and admitting more students each semester. The college also hopes to acquire two new trucks in order to provide students with additional hands-on learning opportunities as they prepare for the opening of their new state-of-the-art facility in early August. “I encourage anyone considering a career in truck driving to contact Pensacola State College and go through our training program. We offer an affordable option for people to complete training and get out on the road in a short amount of time. Additionally, PSC has many resources to support students enrolled in the program, including job placement assistance,” Listau said. For complete details on the PSC Truck Driver Training program, visit pensacolastate.edu/academic-programs/ cvd-vc. •
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