Vance-Granville Community College recently celebrated the graduation of the second class in the short history of its Truck Driver Training, or CDL, program.

The program includes a combination of classroom instruction, range driving and road driving. With the end of training, students have successfully completed their DOT exams, making them eligible for their “Class A” Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDL-A) and fully employable as truck drivers.

Students in the second graduating class of the VGCC CDL program pose on the college campus.

Kyle Burwell, Director of Occupational Extension for VGCC, said that college officials were “thrilled” to see the 15-member second class of students complete the program. “Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have to keep our enrollment numbers at a minimum, but even with pandemic delays, we still had 15 successful students,” Burwell said. “We continue to appreciate all of the efforts of our lead partner school, Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute, which provides the DOT examiner-certified instructors for the program.  To date, we have a 100% pass rate with our Truck Driver Training Program.”

One of the recent graduates, Antwoine Huntley of Durham, reflected that “the truck driver training program at Vance-Granville Community College was just simply excellent. I learned so much, and the instructors were wonderful and knowledgeable about everything we needed to know to help us be successful and get our CDL-A licenses.”

“I would recommend this program for recent high school graduates just starting out or those seeking a career change,” added graduate Leslie Starner of Franklinton. “It is an accredited school with knowledgeable, personable, seasoned educators who themselves have been long-distance truck drivers. There is such a range of resources from the instructors that can help prepare people for success, from start to finish. In addition, the tuition costs are much more reasonable than other private trucking schools in the area and across the region.”

VGCC is scheduled to offer another such nine-week class in early 2021, starting with a mandatory orientation session on Tuesday, February 23, 2021 at 10 a.m.

The program, certified by the Professional Truck Driver Institute (PTDI), is considered essential to meeting the needs of many companies who need drivers to move goods across the country. Local employers have shown strong support for VGCC’s program and have spoken to students about job opportunities.

To enroll in the program, students must be at least 18 years old, have a valid North Carolina driver’s license, and be able to read and speak English well enough to take instructions from highway signs, to converse with officials, and to complete the required reports.

For more information on the Truck Driver Training Program, please visit www.vgcc.edu/cdl/ or contact Kyle Burwell, Director of Occupational Extension, at 252-738-3276 or burwellk@vgcc.edu.