MIDLAND, Texas — Midland City Council will be voting on whether or not to approve a potential expansion to Midland College's Transportation Training Program.
Midland College, alongside the Permian Basin Workforce Development and the Midland Development Corporation, believe the expansion will get more students into their program and onto the road.
Jennifer Myers, the Associate Vice President of Workforce Education at Midland College, is hopeful that an expansion will allow more students to graduate from their program.
“We're hoping to be able to graduate more students for the region," Myers said. "So currently our current capacity we can graduate about 120 students a year. In our current capacity, the addition of trucks and the addition of some scholarship dollars will allow us to serve more students.”
Students spend about a week in an online course, learning the rules and regulations of the road.
This helps them get a learner's permit, which they need before they can get behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler.
“The Transportation Training Program at Midland College prepares students to sit for their CDL (Commercial Driver License) exam for their licensing exam," Myers said. "Once they get their CDL, they can drive all variety of large trucks.”
After they get the license, students can get into a truck with an instructor. When everything is done, the students then get to experience life on the highway as truck drivers.
Each of them are graduating into a career that is in high-demand.
“It's a high demand occupation right now," Myers said. "A lot of companies, like oilfield companies and beverage companies, anyone who needs a lot of stuff is using these trucks and so the demand for drivers is high.”
Of course, all of this needs to be approved by Midland City Council first. Midland College has some plans for what to do if the expansion gets approved.
“So the next steps would be to purchase a vehicle. We do have to modify the bench seat in the back so that three students can sit in the truck and be instructed," Myers said. "Then the remainder of the money after we purchase a new truck would be would go to our scholarship fund for students.”