Photo courtesy: Austin Hornbostel/Journal World
Peaslee Tech is filmed on Wednesday, October 5, 2022.
The United States faced a record shortage of more than 80,000 truck drivers last year, according to the American Trucking Association, and Peasley Tech, Douglas County’s only commercial driver’s license instructor, wants to fill the gap. thinking about.
The college was selected as one of 14 external agencies to receive US Relief Plans Act funding in July. Peaslee Tech was awarded $190,750 to expand its CDL training program. This includes the cost of purchasing two used trucks to make training vehicles his four vehicles, resurfacing and expanding the parking lot used for training, and hiring his CDL coordinator full time. to cover the costs of
result? Peaslee Tech’s training capacity will skyrocket compared to his 60 people trained for commercial driver’s licenses in 2021.
Peaslee Tech CEO Kevin Kelley told Journal-World on Wednesday: “It could hold 150, 180 people.”
Photo courtesy: Austin Hornbostel/Journal World
Peaslee Tech is filmed on Wednesday, October 5, 2022.
Photo courtesy: Austin Hornbostel/Journal World
One of Peaslee Tech’s two newly acquired used trucks is pictured in the school’s main parking lot on Wednesday, October 5, 2022. Commercial driver license training capacity nearly tripled last year.
It’s a far cry from when Peaslee Tech’s CDL program started nearly five years ago in December 2017 with just one truck. Kelly said the school had a slow start, training only 20 to 25 drivers in its first year, but numbers quickly ballooned.
“Previously, someone passed the test about every five or six days to keep up with our requests,” says Kelley. “Now it’s down to every two-and-a-half days. On average, twice a week, someone gets a license.”
Kelly said there was also no evidence that the demand for new drivers had died down. In fact, the American Trucking Association predicts that the driver shortage will hit over 160,000 by 2030. Kelly said this is due to a number of factors, including the older average age of his drivers at the current track and his COVID-19 pandemic.
With that in mind, Kelley said the funding could not have been better. Additionally, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration passed new entry-level driver training regulations in February. Until then, any company could train their employees for CDL certification, but new regulations require instructors to provide safety courses as well as driver training, and FMCSA-registered providers Peaslee Tech is the only instructor in Douglas County registered with the FMCSA.
Employers wanting to offer that training will have to do so through Peaslee Tech, which has mostly happened since February, or set up their own driving schools to be certified instructors, Kelly said. Local employers such as the Douglas County Government and the City of Lawrence, which previously offered their own CDL training to their employees, now rely on Peasley Tech.
Photo courtesy: Austin Hornbostel/Journal World
The parking lot used for CDL training will be resurfaced and expanded starting Monday.
But tougher training is good for the industry, says Kelley.
“Upgrading your education level in any field helps you specialize in that field,” Kelly said.
Andrea Chavez, executive director of grants and administration at Peasley Tech, said most of the work to use the ARPA dollars has already been completed, or at least will be completed in the next week or so. A CDL coordinator has already been hired and began working in late September.Two additional trucks for training vehicles are parked outside Peasley Institute of Technology.Pavement work will begin on Monday, Chavez said. It starts and ends within a few days, and the new lot is ready for classes within a week.
One of the two remaining steps is to register the newly acquired trucks, which should be completed by the end of October, Chavez said. A welding student at a technical school, he is already working on one step. We have installed gates on the east and west sides of the building to block truck access. This is also due to be completed by the end of this month.
“By the end of October, we plan to fulfill the grant,” said Kelley.
Going forward, Kelly said he believes there is plenty of room to add more to the CDL program. For example, Peaslee Tech has already added weekend classes. In the future, additional lighting in the training parking lot will further expand the school’s training capacity.
