On the Road to Success

Justin Brown, Harbinger
Monday, Nov. 2, 2015

The Illinois Central College Professional Development Program is steering students towards a new career in only four weeks.

Every fourth week, a Truck Driver Training class begins, classes meeting Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The first week of training focuses on preparing students to receive their Class A CDL permits from the state of Illinois as well as some preparation for the hiring process and ensuring the student is marketable.

According to Ellen George, Dean of Corporate & Community Education, the Truck Driver Training program is classified as a PDI program due to the short amount of time it takes to complete the course.

“One of the first things we work on with the students is [that] you have to have an instruction permit in order to get behind the wheel,” said Steve Bilbrey, one of the coordinators of the program. “If we can work with the student out of the book and in the classroom we’ve got a pretty good handle on how they are going to do. Generally, if this is a day class, by Wednesday noon we have the students ready to go to the driver’s bureau.”

Students of the program will also learn a lot about the trucking industry, DOT rules and regulations, learning to read road maps and hours of service logging. Once a student is able to successfully complete a proper pre-trip inspection, they can then climb behind the wheel.

Students start off driving the tractor alone before learning how to properly connect and disconnect from a trailer.  From there the students continue working on obtaining their Commercial Driver’s License, according to program coordinators, Bilbrey and Connie Smith.

Students must complete 160-hours of training to qualify them to complete the course. The course requirement of 160-hours qualifies the ICC program as one of many nationally accredited programs throughout the U.S., according to Smith, which also helps with the marketability of the students.

The students then begin to spend their days on the road in a modified tractor-trailer that can hold an additional three students. Students rotate the driving duties, traveling to places such as Galesburg and Lincoln, Illinois. Students are also learning to understand how the truck operates and learning the basics of truck maintenance, such as dashboard warning lights.

“When a student leaves training here they have the basics,” Bilbrey said. “We have them prepared in general to go out to the industry and then the company takes them and fine tunes them. A lot of it is how to do things their way.” Bilbrey said students usually enter into either flatbed, dry van, or refrigerating jobs–all of which require additional specialized training.

The truck driving industry is always looking for new drivers, so whatever the route they chose, it is almost certain they will find a place of employment. According the most recent survey from the American Trucking Association, “the shortage of truck drivers has grown to about 48,000 and could increase as the industry expands and existing drivers retire.” Bilbrey is an advocate for a career in trucking.

“It’s reliable, stable and it’s on point,” Bilbrey said. “If you buy it, wear it, sell it or eat it you can bet your life it was trucked before, in between and after.”

“So, it’s one of the most stable employment arenas out there. And, it’s a relatively short period thing. I mean how many places can you go and train for four weeks… and parlay that into $38,000, $40,000, $42,000 or $45,000 the first year?”

ICC also offers this training in an eight-week evening course.

Instructor Mike Burke is very familiar with the PDI program, being a graduate of the program 12 years ago. When Burke is not helping with the instruction of driver trainees, he is hauling raw milk for Zimmerman truck lines. Burke credits the program for his success and is taking the opportunity to give back.

“It gave me the basic skills to build my experience upon. I noticed right from the start that I was a little farther ahead than some of the other applicants,” Burke said. “I know what they are going through, because I went through the program. I am kind of just passing my skills that I have acquired onto them so that they can take care of their families… Gives you a great sense of accomplishment to help somebody out.”

Trucking attracts a diverse crowd. Two recent graduates, from different walks of life, took the course for very different reasons.

Jason Bernard, 45, of Morton is recently retired from the coast guard and, with the help of the Illinois Veterans Grant, he now has many options when thinking about his future.

“It’s something I always wanted to know how to do and the opportunity was there,” Bernard said. “I’m in a position where I am not in a pinch right now, so I am going to weigh my options and see what I want to do with it (CDL).”

Fellow graduate Nick Englebrecht is in a very different situation. Engelbrecht, 19, of Pekin is attending the course to provide his current employer with a much more versatile employee. At 19, he will not be able to cross state lines due to current regulations that prohibit him doing so but he does say it is something he may consider in the future.

For more information regarding the program contact Connie Smith at (309) 694-8555.