FREE COMMERCIAL DRIVER TRAINING FOR VETERANS
(York, Pa., September 23, 2020) — For the second year in a row, the York County School of Technology (YCST) has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, to fund the Veteran Driver Training Project. The initiative will continue to help address the unemployment and underemployment of local veterans, while also addressing a shortage of professionally trained drivers with commercial licenses (CDL).
The new Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training (CMVOST) grant will enable the Adult & Continuing
Education Center at YCST to continue to offer free commercial truck driver training to current and former members of the U.S. Armed Forces, including National Guard and Reservists, as well as their spouses and children. The grant will cover full tuition for the training program.
“Based on feedback from our workforce and community services partners as well as input from local employers
and residents, we recognized two issues,” explained Merideth Edgar, YCST, Workforce Development and Outreach
Coordinator. “First is the lack of qualified, safety-focused commercial drivers. Second is the need to alleviate the
unemployment and underemployment of local veterans. The goal of our Veteran Driver Training Project is to increase the number of CDL holders who are current or former members of the U.S. Armed Forces and other qualified individuals.”
YCST, in collaboration with regional partners, provides sustainable educational solutions to some of the barriers facing today’s veteran population. The Veteran Driver Training project will address the needs of local veterans and their qualified dependents through:
1) targeted recruitment efforts to locate and enroll appropriate students;
2) close monitoring and follow-up for individual qualified students to address barriers to educational and employment success;
3) providing resources, materials, and training that focus on safe operation of commercial motor vehicles; and
4) providing high-quality job placement assistance such as individual career services, job fairs, employer recruitment sessions, and networking.
YCST is the longest-running commercial driver training facility in York County, Pennsylvania, and demonstrates a
strong commitment to its community. The Veteran Driver Training Project will build upon the long-standing success and sustainability of the school’s CDL program, in existence since 1969.
Classes for commercial truck driving training run throughout the year at the YCST campus in York. Day classes meet
Monday through Friday from 7 a.m.–5 p.m. for five weeks. The next classes begin in October. For additional information, call the Adult & Continuing Education Center at YCST at 717-747-2130.
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kirk D. Schlotzhauer
Director of Adult & Continuing Education
717.747.2134
kschlotzhauer@ytech.edu
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2179 S. Queen St., York, PA 17402 | 717.747.2130 | 717.747.0426 fax
