Elbert County Campus

Commercial Truck Driving Program

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The Commercial Truck Driving Certificate program is a sequence of courses designed to prepare students for careers in commercial truck driving. Learning opportunities develop academic, technical, and professional knowledge and skills required for job acquisition, retention, and advancement. The program emphasizes specialized training in the fundamentals of CTD, basic CTD operation, an advanced CTD operation, or a CTD internship with a company to provide the advanced training, which focuses on developing driving skills.

• 98% of CTD students gain their CDL
   
• 86% Job Placement Rate: Many of the students who completed the program gained employment with local employers and more recognized employers such as Auto Zone, McLane Southeast, Swift, U.S. Express, and Werner Transportation.

Helpful Documents
Fact Sheet with full program details
Calendar of upcoming session start/end dates

Frequently Asked Questions about the Industry.

Why Get a CDL?

Regulations govern the credentials and standards for truck drivers. All drivers must obey Federal regulations and any State regulations that are stricter than Federal requirements. Truck drivers are required to have a driver’s license issued by the State in which he or she lives, and often employers call for a clean driving record. Drivers of trucks intended to carry 26,000 pounds or more—including most tractor-trailers, as well as bigger straight trucks—must acquire a commercial driver’s license (CDL) from the State in which they reside. All truck drivers who drive trucks transporting hazardous materials must acquire a CDL, regardless of the size of the truck. To be eligible for a commercial driver’s license, applicants must pass a written test on rules and regulations, and then demonstrate that he or she can drive a commercial truck safely.

What Do Potential Employers Look For?

Taking truck driving courses like the one at Athens Tech is a sought-after method of preparing for truck driving jobs and for obtaining a commercial driver’s license. At Athens Technical College Students learn to maneuver large vehicles on busy roads and in highway traffic. He or she will learn to inspect trucks and freight for compliance with regulations. Athens Tech's program provides only a limited amount of actual driving experience, and completion of a program does not guarantee a job

Other suggestions:

• Drivers must get along well with people because they often deal directly with customers.
• Employers seek driver/sales workers who speak well and have self-confidence, initiative, tact, and a neat appearance.
• Employers also look for responsible, self-motivated individuals able to work with little supervision.
• Various firms call for drivers to be at least 21 years old, be able to lift heavy objects, or have driven trucks for 3 to 5 years.
• Several prefer to employ high school graduates and mandate annual physical examinations.
• Companies have a financial reason to employ safe drivers. Safe drivers operate more efficiently, they cost less to insure, and they use less fuel.

What is the Job Outlook?

Job opportunities should be favorable for truck drivers. In addition to growth in demand for truck drivers, numerous job openings will occur as experienced drivers leave this large occupation to transfer to other fields of work, retire, or leave the labor force for other reasons. Jobs vary greatly in terms of earnings, weekly work hours, number of nights spent on the road, and quality of equipment operated. Because this occupation does not require education beyond high school, competition is expected for jobs with the most attractive earnings and working conditions.

Overall employment of truck drivers and driver/sales workers is expected to increase as fast as the average for all occupations through the year 2012, due to growth in the economy and in the amount of freight carried by truck. The increased use of rail, air, and ship transportation requires truck drivers to pick up and deliver shipments. Demand for long-distance drivers will remain strong because these drivers transport perishable and time-sensitive goods more efficiently than do alternative modes of transportation, such as railroads. Job opportunities for truck drivers with less-than-truckload carriers will be more competitive than those with truckload carriers because of the more desirable working conditions for less than truckload carriers.

Faster than average growth of light and heavy truck driver employment will outweigh relatively slow growth in driver/sales worker jobs. The number of truck drivers with sales responsibilities is expected to increase more slowly than the average for all other occupations as companies increasingly shift sales, ordering, and customer service tasks to sales and office staffs, and use regular truck drivers to make deliveries to customers.

Job opportunities may vary from year to year, because the strength of the economy dictates the amount of freight moved by trucks. Companies tend to hire more drivers when the economy is strong and deliveries are in high demand. Consequently, when the economy slows, employers hire fewer drivers, or even lay off drivers. Independent owner-operators are particularly vulnerable to slowdowns. Industries least likely to be affected by economic fluctuation, such as grocery stores, tend to be the most stable places for employment.

From the Occupational Outlook 2004-05 Edition, U.S. Dept. of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics