A California high school may be the first in the country to offer a commercial driver training program to its students.
Dave Dein, a teacher in Patterson, California, has helped establish a student driver-training course. As a former truck driver, Dein believes that the training he received early in his career gave him confidence. Therefore, he wanted to offer a similar benefit to current high school students showing an interest in the driver field.
While he also operates an adult driver-training program, Dein focuses on younger students who may need a non-traditional outlet for learning aimed at “[those] that needed to find something they could connect with,” according to the March 29th issue of Fleet Owner.
The students undergo 180 hours of classroom instruction before spending 20 hours in a truck simulator. After completing the program, students may obtain free behind-the-wheel training with Morning Star Trucking or enroll in Dein’s adult education driving training program.
Also, Morning Star, a former employer of Dein, is additionally offering students summer employment transporting tomatoes. The graduates of the high school program can earn more than $10,000.
Other program participants are Penske Logistics and Worklete, which teach ergonomics and injury-prevention skills. For more details on this junior training program, please click here.
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