SCCC and 160 Driving Academy celebrate partnership at ribbon cutting

SCCC and 160 Driving Academy Celebrate Partnership at a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Sussex County Community College and 160 Driving Academy have teamed up to offer a Truck Driver Training course to prepare students for trucking careers requiring Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDL).

The official announcement was made during a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony last week. College Administrators, board of trustees, faculty, staff and members of the 160 Driving Academy attended the celebration. Guest speakers, along with SCCC President Connolly, emphasized the importance of this type of skilled labor for the area.

“We knew that this was something that community colleges do, that we should do,” Dr. Connolly stated. “The 160 Driving Academy knew the only to accomplish getting skilled drivers on the road would be to have an instructional model that would be incredibly robust. It is based both on online and face-to-face instruction, and it is a deep consideration of that preparation for permit and licensure.”

Sussex and the 160 Driving Academy partnership began in the spring of 2018. Academy founder Steve Gold and east coast regional manager Kaylee Peterson visited the College to discuss the program and options available.

SCCC’s dean of program advancement, Dominic Carbone, noted that this program provides an opportunity for workers to earn the credentials necessary to become truck drivers, therefore filling a crucial need throughout the state.

New Jersey has one of the highest employment numbers of Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in the United States, according to the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2018, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers made up 12 out of every 1,000 jobs in the state, with about 48,760 drivers employed in the industry. The average wage of these drivers was thousands above the national average.

According to the Bureau’s projections, the demand for drivers nationwide is estimated to go up by hundreds of thousands over the next ten years as need for transportation grows.

Students with little or no commercial driving experience can excel in this course. Classes meet starting in early November, five days a week. The 40-hour a week program runs for 4 weeks. After successful completion of the course, students will take the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission Class A test and receive a completion certificate. 160 Driving Academy will also work with students to help secure job placement.

For more information, contact Linda Connor at lconnor@sussex.edu, or 160 Driving Academy at (973) 721-9689. To register, visit www.160drivingacademy.com.