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Transition program helps turn veterans into truck drivers

Posted at 9:40 AM, May 14, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-14 10:40:06-04

The Skills for Transition Program at Del Mar College (DMC) is custom-made for recently or soon-to-be discharged service members who want to start a new career in the trucking industry.

Courtesy of a grant from the Texas Workforce Commission, DMC is offering the program as a no-cost route to a career that seems to be a particularly good fit for veterans.

Recently or soon-to-be discharged service members who want to earn a Class A Commercial Driver’s License (the type required to drive a tractor trailer rig), will spend just four weeks of daytime classes or 10 weeks of evening classes acquiring the necessary skills to become highly marketable in a field where the demand for drivers is great.

U.S. Xpress, Inc., one of the largest trucking companies in the country, is offering an apprenticeship program that enables veterans to earn money while they’re in training.

Generally, the program is open to military service members preparing to separate from service within the next six months (180 days), or who have been discharged within the past six months and plan to remain in Texas.

Other requirements include:

  • Service members must have obtained career counseling in order to determine suitability towards specific training.
  • Service members on active duty will be required to receive permission from the commanding officer to participate in training. Separated service members must have a DD-214. 
  • Veterans must not have received a dishonorable discharge. 

Active duty service members must contact the Command Transition Officer at Naval Air Station-Corpus Christi at (361) 961-2372; Veterans may contact the Del Mar College Veterans Center at (361) 698-1683 for enrollment information. 

According to the Texas Workforce Commission, close to 20,000 service members transition from Texas military facilities to civilian life each year. Currently, close to 40,000 veterans are searching for employment in Texas.