VGCC Plans Commercial Driver Course To Respond To Acute Area Needs

Local employers have expressed a need for several hundred operators of specialty-type trucks, and Vance-Granville Community College plans a course to respond to this need.

There is a current and near-future need for drivers and operators of trucks such as tandem-axle dump trucks and concrete-mixer vehicles, and VGCC is exploring offering a Class B and C Commercial Driver’s License Preparation course, if sufficient interest exists. Successful completion of the course would also qualify persons to drive school buses.

The course would provide 50 hours of instruction. Eighteen hours of classroom instruction would prepare students to take the state exam for their CDL, and that would be followed by 32 hours of practical experience in truck driving and operation of vehicle functions, including dump trucks and concrete mixers. Much of the instruction would be held on Saturdays.

Instruction will include driving safety, transporting cargo and passengers, air brakes, combination vehicles, and handling hazardous materials.

The course will provide an opportunity for displaced workers in the area to train for new careers. Average salaries for drivers of ready-mix concrete trucks in this area range from $11 to $14 an hour, plus benefits.

It is planned to begin the first course in early summer. Cost of the course will be $60.      

Anyone interested in attending a Class B and C Commercial Driver’s License Preparation course should call Garland Elliott, VGCC Director of Economic Development Services at (252) 738-3288.