Area CDL training demand remains robust amid freight recession
by May 1, 2024 11:53 am 508 views
Logan Conner of Cane Hill has been training at the commercial driver's license program at Northwest Technical Institute in Springdale. He said he's worked in construction most of his life and is excited about a career change to the trucking industry.
According to a new report from the National Transportation Institute, companies are pausing training programs and hiring partnerships with commercial driver’s license (CDL) schools as a downturn in the freight market persists. However, CDL schools in Northwest Arkansas continue to see steady applicant supply and demand for newly trained drivers.
The 2024 Driver Market Forecast report shows that new drivers are struggling to find trucking jobs, and even if they do, they “become quickly disillusioned with their new career and leave the industry. Churn among new drivers is immense and significant in the first 120 days.”
Still, leaders of area CDL schools said truck driving jobs are in demand, and companies are hiring new drivers as quickly as they’re trained.
Michael Dewberry, director of workforce development and special programs at Northwest Technical Institute (NWTI) in Springdale, leads the school’s CDL program.
Dewberry said that the staff of the trucking companies with which NWTI works told him that now was the best time to hire drivers. He said companies typically partner new drivers with experienced drivers as mentors for up to 90 days.
“When things kind of slow down a little bit, now is the best time to train new drivers,” Dewberry said. “Freight getting to our stores … that is slowing down, but the opportunity for them to train drivers has not really slowed down that we have seen in Northwest Arkansas.”
He said he has multiple emails from employers seeking validation of CDL training for new drivers going through the hiring process. Drivers who trained there are finding jobs not only in Northwest Arkansas but also across the region, including in Joplin, Mo.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Tulsa, Okla.
Dewberry said training numbers are affected by the weather and the holidays. Program enrollment is lower during the holidays and when the weather becomes colder. Training largely takes place outside.
On average, the program receives 12 to 18 applicants monthly, and the same range of drivers complete it over the same period. The 160-hour program is completed in about four weeks. Capacity is 20 students. Dewberry said the school has 14 trucks and five trailers; two are on loan from J.B. Hunt.
“Since we started this program two and a half years ago, we’ve trained almost 300 drivers,” he said. Class A CDL training costs $3,500, but Dewberry said grants are available to cover this.
TRAINING RULES
In February 2022, rules set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration required CDL training to be uniform across the United States. The NWTI program has trained students from across the country, from California to New York. The program has four staff.
Logan Conner of Cane Hill said he’s enjoyed the NWTI program and was in its second week as a student. He said he’s worked in construction most of his life and is excited about a career change.
“Trucking is one of the major backbones of our country,” Conner said. “Without it, food stops. People go hungry, so there’s always a demand.”
Conner looked to switch careers for better pay and job security. He said he’d likely haul goods using a box trailer or handle hazardous materials like propane. Also, he said that if he doesn’t take an over-the-road truck driving job, he has a dump truck job available through construction industry connections. He said the pay scale is larger for over-the-road drivers.
“There’s nothing that you use day to day that doesn’t get hauled by a truck at some point,” said Lonnie O’Bryant, head instructor for NWTI’s CDL program. O’Bryant joined the NWTI program from the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith and worked in the trucking industry most of his career. He’s worked as an over-the-road, regional and local driver and has hauled dry box, flatbed and tank trailers.
“Most companies are still begging for drivers,” O’Bryant said. “I get job offers twice a week … The jobs are there.”
RECRUITMENT SLOWDOWN
Billy Pemberton, director of training for Fort Smith-based CDL Academy Network, has led the CDL program there for five years. The company also has a Searcy location and a pop-up site in Little Rock.
Pemberton said some large carriers have slowed their driver recruiting. The carriers used to send recruiters to the school monthly, but the frequency has slowed or stopped. To offset that, he’s looked to other companies that are still hiring.
“It does kind of take its toll,” he said. “It hasn’t really impacted how many students we’re training because there are still companies out there hiring.”
Pemberton said the school works to have a job lined up for each student by the time they complete the four-week program. He said the job might not be local or the one they want, but it will be available.
“All you have to do is fill out the application and file the paperwork,” he said.
CDL Academy Network receives between 250 and 300 applicants monthly and currently has about 40 students enrolled. Student capacity is 10 in Fort Smith and eight in Searcy. In Fort Smith, new classes start biweekly, while they start monthly in Searcy. Between 150 and 300 students complete the program annually. The cost is $6,500 or $5,500 cash for Class A CDL training.
The school also has a Class B CDL program and offers training for students without a commercial learner’s permit. Training includes logbooks, both paper and electronic.
CDL Academy Network has five instructors in Fort Smith and two in Searcy. The company’s instructors have at least seven years of experience. Pemberton also has six part-time trainers whom he can call on if needed. The school owns 10 trucks and three trailers. It also leases trailers.
STRONG INTEREST, DEMAND
Evetta ‘Eve’ Aldridge, dean of workforce development at NorthWest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville, said its CDL program for entry-level drivers started in 2023. The school also provides refresher training and restrictions removal training for existing truck drivers.
Aldridge said the CDL program comprises 160 hours of classroom, range and behind-the-wheel training. The school owns two trucks and a commercial truck driving simulator. Its two instructors are industry professionals, and the school plans to hire three more instructors as it expands to other area sites. Also, it will add another truck and a bus after being awarded a $380,000 grant from the Department of Labor.
Asked whether companies are pausing their driver training and hiring partnerships with CDL schools, Aldridge said, “Not at all. We have daily inquiries for prospective students. Regarding companies reaching out, I receive notices every week of openings. And it hasn’t stopped.”
Aldridge said an area company wants to participate in every CDL class NWACC hosts. The company looks to interact with students either via Zoom or in person.
Starlinda Sanders, associate vice president for workforce at NWACC, noted a recent conversation with a waste removal company needing more drivers.
“We need more training. We need more drivers,” Sanders said the waste removal company told her. When she asked how the company is currently meeting its needs, she was told that “we continue to cannibalize each other, so somebody is short all of the time.”
NWACC also looks to help school districts meet their bus driver demand and has plans to start programs in Benton and Washington counties to train bus drivers, who require a Class B CDL.
“Our school districts … in the Northwest Arkansas region holds one of every five students in Arkansas,” Sanders said. “So we have a lot of buses on the road.”
Aldridge described a “competitive landscape” for drivers in the region and said that “they have the choice to where they’re going to work for either benefits, hours and pay — with the average pay starting at $24 an hour minimum for local jobs here.” Salaries for short-haul jobs range from $45,000 for entry-level drivers to up to $88,000 annually, she said.
NWACC’s Class A program is about four and a half weeks. The Class B program is about a week shorter.
“Our goal is to have them employer-ready,” Aldridge said. “They do all their preadmission and acceptance documentation – getting their permit. They have their Department of Transportation (DOT) medical card. We have them drug tested. We get their driver records. We have them fully ready to apply to an employer.”
Aldridge said that, on average, the program’s graduates find a job in about three days. In its first year, the program had 15 graduates. It averages between 25 and 30 applicants monthly, but this number has been as high as 60. Student capacity is up to nine students per class. The CDL program is $4,200, and financial assistance is available.
Sanders noted that the number of graduates could surpass 200 in a year after the new training sites are opened. She added that the program isn’t limited by demand but by instructors. The school recently increased instructor pay by 20% with bonus opportunities. She said that at capacity, the school could host up to 16 sessions annually and still not meet demand. Aldridge said that within a 50-mile radius of Bentonville, about 700 driver jobs are currently available.