CTC to offer CDL training to prep drivers for trucking jobs

The Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center soon will offer a commercial driver’s license, or CDL, training program — a boon to Cape Girardeau and the region, officials said.

Rich Payne, director of the Career and Technology Center, or CTC, said the program is designed to fill a void in the region’s economy.

This will be the only public program in Cape Girardeau, and “there’s always been a need,” Payne said.

Cape Girardeau has access to Interstate 55 running north and south, and smaller highways running east and west, he said, including access to U.S. 60 by way of U.S. 61 to Sikeston.

Logistics companies and manufacturers already are operating in the area, he said.

Supplying those companies with well-trained, capable workers seemed like a good fit for the CTC, Payne said.

“If you’ve ever driven down the interstate, you’ve seen a number of trucking companies represented,” Payne said.

To drive on the interstate is to see the job opportunities, Payne said.

“To you, they [might be] only a distraction. Most people don’t think about it, but in my job, I start looking around the region, asking, ‘Where are career opportunities?’” Payne said.

The jobs are there, he added.

MTC Truck Driver Training based in Hazelwood, Missouri, will provide the training, Payne said.

The CTC is part of the Cape Girardeau Public School District. At Monday’s regular meeting, the board of education approved the partnership between the CTC and MTC Truck Driver Training.

Payne said he now can move ahead with firming up plans.

He said he hopes to have the program ready to roll within 60 to 90 days and encouraged anyone interested to contact the CTC for more information about enrollment.

People interested in the program need to keep a few things in mind, Payne said.

“You need to have a clean driving record, be drug-free, those kinds of things,” he said.

Payne said Shad Burner, vice president of business development for the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, approached him about a year ago after speaking with company leaders in Cape Girardeau who expressed a need for trained CDL operators.

“People see a truck going down the road; they don’t see all the things that happen before and after that trip, which is very extensive,” Payne added.

Among many other steps, a checklist of safety and equipment checks must be completed before every trip, Payne said.

“One of the biggest areas CDL students fail in when they take the CDL exam is not driving. It’s the pre-trip,” Payne said.

There also are different endorsements on commercial driver’s licenses, Payne said, including operation of a school bus, hazardous-material transportation vehicle and a heavy truck, such as an 18-wheeler.

That means there are a lot of options and opportunities in the field, he said.

Several regional companies are in logistics, Payne said, and they’re not necessarily visible because they don’t put up a billboard or marquee sign, “but they’re very, very, very vital to our economy, and we need to continue to provide them with good, well-trained workers.”

Payne said once a student has the training, opportunities within the career are wide open.

Being an over-the-road truck driver, which Payne said a lot of people think of as a typical trucking job, is definitely an option.

He said a CDL holder also could work as a local hauler, which is a good option for someone with a family or who has other reasons for wanting to stay close to home.

Local haulers tend to operate in Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois and western Kentucky, Payne said.

Shad Burner of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce said Tuesday the CTC’s training program could be hugely beneficial to the region.

“We have logistics companies in our area who are in desperate need of trained CDL drivers, so this is a really big deal,” Burner said. “Even further, when our logistics companies can get the drivers they need, they can better serve our manufacturers, which is a critical element to our economy.”

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

1000 S. Silver Springs Road, Cape Girardeau, Mo.