Commercial driver training program to expand at WNC

CARSON CITY – Workforce Innovations for the New Nevada (WINN) this week received a $400,000 grant to expand the commercial driver’s license program at Western Nevada College. The funds were provided by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED).

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the shortage of commercial drivers nationwide has been made worse, and this program seeks to address Nevada’s shortage of drivers. American Trucking Association, in a 2021 report, estimated the shortage at 80,000 drivers, with the potential for that shortage to more than double.

“Our In-Demand Occupation analysis shows that Nevada is 4,509 jobs below the national average in licensed commercial drivers,” said Stacey Bostwick, GOED Director of Workforce Development. “This program in Carson City will create 100 training slots for jobs with an average starting wage of $24 per hour and begin to address the deficit in an area of critical workforce development need.”

Officials at ITS Logistics, which also partners with Truckee Meadows Community College, said truck driver wages can range from $65,000 to $115,000 per year plus full benefits.

The commercial driver’s license program at WNC’s Carson City campus will build upon the successes of the existing CDL program at the college’s Fallon campus.

Source: GOED