Fourteen Students Graduate from Surry’s Truck Driver Training Program

Fourteen students recently graduated from Surry Community College’s Truck Driver Training Program at the Yadkin Center.

The graduates include Kyle Dowell, Michael Jones, Emily Parker and Justin Smith of Mount Airy; Ardella Walsh of Pilot Mountain; Christopher Moore of Siloam; Marcie McKinney of Elkin; Osiel Burgos of Jonesville; Stacey Deel of Yadkinville; Jeff Lowe of Boonville; Tosha McCoy of Purlear; Travis Booth, Jay Murat and Michael Norrell of Winston-Salem.

Surry Community College will be offering another section of Truck Driver Training starting in the summer. The class will run from Monday, August 1 through Tuesday, October 4, and will meet from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Median pay for truck drivers is $47,100 per year, according to the United States Department of Labor. Drivers with experience can make more than $50,000.

With a shortage of up to 12,000 truck drivers in North Carolina and as many as 200,000 nationally, CDL-certified drivers will easily be able to find jobs. The U.S. Department of Labor says the profession is expected to keep growing – by 6 percent during 2020-2030.

“There are currently job openings for truck drivers locally and nationally. We developed this program as a direct response to the requests from local truck driving representatives who need skilled applicants to fill job vacancies,” said SCC President Dr. David Shockley.

The SCC Truck Driver Training Program teaches proper driving procedures, safe driver responsibility, commercial motor vehicle laws and regulations, and the basic principles and practices for operating commercial vehicles. The coursework includes motor vehicle laws and regulations, map reading, vehicle maintenance, safety procedures, daily logs, defensive driving, freight handling, security and fire protection.

Highway driving training exercises and classroom lectures are used to develop the students’ knowledge and skills. Graduates are qualified to take the Commercial Driver’s License Test and are employable by commercial trucking firms. They may also become owner-operators and work as private contract haulers.

Special admission requirements include official driving record; physical examination; reading placement test score of 40 or higher; disclosure form; high school transcript; and drug testing.

For more information about SCC’s Truck Driver Training Program, contact the Yadkin Center at (336) 386-3580. The tuition is $1,876.00. You may qualify for a tuition scholarship. To see if you are eligible, please visit www.surry.edu/funding.