INDIANAPOLIS — Ivy Tech Community College has been awarded an $85,071 Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training (CMVOST) grant, to offer free CDL-A training. The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
Ivy Tech Community College is one of 20 educational institutions nationwide to be awarded a CMVOST grant for the 2020 fiscal year. The free training is intended to increase road safety and reduce crashes involving commercial motor vehicles for West Central Indiana residents.
Grant funding will cover 100% of CDL-A training, permit and licensing costs for 20 students. Residents of Indiana’s Clay, Greene, Knox, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Vermillion and Vigo counties are eligible to apply for training. Current and former members of the U.S. Armed Forces, including National Guard and Reservists, their spouses and children, will be prioritized for consideration.
“Ivy Tech is fortunate to receive a grant that will allow us to provide free job training while also increasing road safety in West Central Indiana,” said Lea Anne Crooks, chancellor of Ivy Tech in Terre Haute, Indiana. “The Terre Haute campus is well-positioned to offer this opportunity to military members, with six military installations within a 10-mile radius of campus. We plan to work closely with these organizations and our partners in workforce development to identify those in our community who will benefit from free training in one of Indiana’s most in-demand careers.”
Training will be provided by Ivy Tech Community College in Terre Haute and the Driving Dynamics Center for Transportation Safety program. Students will complete four weeks of full-time training, as well as 30 to 40 hours of one-on-one driving instruction, at the Terre Haute campus. In addition, Ivy Tech will help graduates find employment through the college’s network of hiring companies, which includes national carriers along with regional and local trucking companies.
According to a 2016 Indiana Employment Outlook Projections study conducted by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development and STATS Indiana, the number of occupations requiring a CDL is anticipated to increase by 6.6% by 2026. In West Central Indiana, commercial vehicle drivers are calculated as a five-flame career, the highest-rank provided by the INDemand Jobs Indiana Flame Ranking system. In addition, 24,861 heavy-duty and tractor-trailer truck drivers are projected to leave the occupation between 2016 and 2026, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
For more information about the program, click here.
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