Hundreds of Oregonians receive free CDL through training program

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon has more than 300 new truck drivers thanks to a federal grant that helped pay for their education.

Oregon Workforce Partnership received $3.5 million as part of the American Rescue Plan’s Good Jobs Challenge. 325 Oregonians successfully obtained their Commercial Driver’s Licenses through the free training program, which takes about four weeks to complete. Many drivers who participated said becoming a truck driver wasn’t something they had ever seriously considered before, but now they’re happy and grateful they did.

“There's lots of opportunities with your CDL,” said Amanda Larson, a truck driver who got her CDL through the program. “You can go anywhere with it, you can work for a private company, you can work for over the road, you can work for the government, you're not really limited to anything with your CDL.”

Truck drivers are in short supply in Oregon and around the United States. It typically costs about $5,000 to attend school to get a CDL. Ashley Espinoza with Lane Workforce Partnership said program participants can make competitive wages, along with paid sick and vacation leave, 401k retirement plans, and medical, dental and vision coverage.

“Transportation is a cross cutting sector, and it affects so many things in our livability,” Espinoza said. “Really being able to provide those opportunities of not only a good paying job, but something that really supports demand of our community. If you look at manufacturing or any of the goods that are being distributed across communities across the country, transportation is so essential to getting us the things that we need.”

All of the participants in the CDL program have already secured jobs, some paying as much as $80,000 per year with benefits.