Stafford Technical Center in Rutland recently celebrated expanding its Commercial Drivers License (CDL) program from a high school certification curriculum to one open to adults, whether or not they have high school diplomas.
The program first took root when entrepreneur John Casella of Casella Waste Systems in Rutland approached the school, offering financial and other support to create a program that would train CDL Class B drivers; a Class B license is needed to drive a number of the large trucks used by Casella’s company.
Class B license holders may drive vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing a vehicle not in excess of 10,000 pounds of the gross vehicle weight.
The program quickly gained interest recruiting its third group of youths, said Lyle Jepsen, school director. Casella lets the program use of one of the company rear-end-loading vehicles to practice with, and has donated about $50,000 to Stafford over a three-year period.
His ingenuity and generosity have made Stafford the only high school in the state with a truck school. “All Casella asks is an opportunity to pitch Casella to students once they graduate,” he said.
Taking the notion of CDL training from idea to fruition required seeking direction from the state Department of Motor Vehicles’ Marty Dexter, commercial driver training schools and third-party testing coordinator. Among the physical qualifications was a practice yard no smaller than a 200-foot by 100-foot site equipped with a berm.
Students in the program receive 18 hours of driving time, nine hours in the practice yard and nine hours on the road.
Kent Belden of Belden Construction offered use of his facility in North Clarendon, converting the existing structure to meet the school’s needs and assisting in developing a building-sharing arrangement with co-tenant VermontWoodPellet Company.
Stafford used the celebration to announce that the school is now “opening bothBand A (big rigs) classes. Although the state of Vermont provided CDL requirements, it was Bill Lucci, Stafford adult education/evening division, director who wrote the curricula for both A and B licensure.
Lucci also noted support from a number of businesses in the greater community including Kinney
Motors and the state’s Act 46 for adult technical education as the program expands to include both truck-driving training for adults and automobile driving training for adults who may not know how to drive. The program uses “not a dime from Rutland County tax payers,” Lucci said.