The Truck Driver program at El Camino College teaches students the necessary skills needed to qualify for a California Commercial Class A license.

Class A licenses allow drivers to operate any legal combination of vehicles, including large commercial trucks. Students who pass and earn their license can then apply to jobs previously inaccessible to them.

In the three-part program, students earn their learner’s permit and then perform behind-the-wheel operations and driving skills throughout 10 and a half weeks.

Community Education Program Director Betty Sedor said the program has had success with students.

“The El Camino truck driving program has a pass rate of 99%,” Sedor said.

To register for the program, students must have a valid California Driver’s license and provide a copy of their DMV driving history.

Due to the number of retiring truck drivers and the lack of people going into this career field, there is a current shortage of drivers in Southern California and the U.S.

The program’s application states the need for truck drivers and entices students with an advertised average hourly wage that ranges from $28.40 to $42.55.

The morning class begins at 8 a.m. and ends at noon. The afternoon class is from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. while the evening class starts at 6 p.m. and runs until 10 p.m.

There is high demand for the program. Each class is at maximum capacity and the program has a waiting list.

“At one point we had a waiting list of 100 people,” Sedor said.

Instruction hours for the program are mandatory because El Camino has to track and report them to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Kenneth Patterson, a student truck driver, said he joined El Camino’s truck driving program to learn skills and have better job opportunities.

“You can be a lineman, you can [transport] heavy loads, hazard loads, liquids and food,” Patterson said. “There are different endorsements you can get and different paths you can take.”

A lineman is someone who constructs and repairs electrical poles. One requirement needed to be a lineman is to have a commercial truck driver’s license.

Another student in the program, Joshua Gutierrez, is hoping to get a commercial truck driver’s license to become a lineman after practicing his driving skills every day.

“The instructors are amazing and it is a really solid course, I recommended it to everyone that I know,” Gutierrez said.