For those of you who don't want to click the link, this is a repost of the article.
By BILL ROGERS
Highlands Today
Published: June 6, 2010
AVON PARK - George Hernandez wants to be his own boss.
Daris Harried wants to make more money.
Hernandez and Harried believe they can find what they want in the trucking industry. Both men are taking the commercial driving class offered by South Florida Community College Crews Center in Avon Park.
According to the Associated Press, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects overall growth of 9 percent in truck-driving jobs between 2008 and 2018. Since the trucking market nationwide is huge, that's significant, representing about 291,000 new jobs. Trucking is one of the largest occupations in the country, with 3.2 million jobholders.
Marty Hegwood is the instructor for the 10-week course at SFCC. Hegwood said there is some classroom work but most of the 320 hours is "hands on" behind the wheel.
The classroom work involves teaching the student how to obtain a temporary driving permit. A permit is required before training can begin on the truck. Hegwood said it is "kind of like a restricted driver's license when you were 15 years old."
The student then has 180 days to train and get a commercial driver's license.
Hegwood, who said he worked for a contractor for FedEx and ran time-sensitive freight all over the United States and Canada, became the commercial driving instructor at the college in 2001.
The first thing Hegwood teaches the students once they have gotten the temporary permit is the pre-trip inspection.
"Today it has become one of the most important things because 99 percent of the time when someone is stopped by the Department of Transportation in a commercial vehicle, the officer is going to be looking for the amount of knowledge that person has about that vehicle," he said. "Do they know what the requirements are on that vehicle that are required by the state of Florida in order for that vehicle to be safe such as tread depth, how tight the belts are?"
Characteristics that Hegwood believes drivers need are patience, being independent and the ability to make split decisions. The person should also be confident, not cocky.
Hegwood said people take driving for granted but they need to have a different mind set when getting behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound vehicle.
"You have to learn how to do it and have to prepare yourself," he said.
People think shifting a big truck is the hardest thing to teach a student. It isn't, Hegwood said. Getting them to understand the difference between driving a car and a truck is.
"We can't stop on a dime; we can't take off like at a drag strip; and we can't make turns at the normal speed limit," Hegwood said. "We don't treat on and off ramps the same."
Hegwood said a lot of his students are in their 30s and 40s and even in their 60s. They have driven a regular vehicle all their lives and have developed some habits they are not aware of. His job involves breaking old habits.
One is making quick stops. Hegwood said the average loaded truck takes between 490 and 500 feet - almost two football fields - to stop.
"Empty vehicles, believe it or not, are even harder to stop than loaded vehicles because they have no traction," he said. "The airbrake system that we use on our vehicles today is so tremendously powerful that if you don't have a lot of traction bearing down on those vehicles you have a tendency to slip and slide if you hit the brakes too hard.
Once they get out there in traffic and the light turns green, everybody starts to drag race to the next light," he said. "They think they have to keep up with traffic. They come to find out that our trucks are not designed for speed; they are designed to pull and it takes time for us to get up to speed. I have to teach them you don't have to keep up with traffic."
Hegwood believes the most important aspect of driving a truck is backing up.
"Out on the road when I was back on the road we used to call guys that couldn't back up 'steering wheel holders;' they weren't truck drivers," Hegwood said. "Truck drivers can back their own rigs into whatever they need to as long as that vehicle will fit. If it fits, you should be able to back it in.
"I highly emphasize backing," he added. "I'm not going to speak for any other schools, but I've seen products of those schools and to me it doesn't look like they have as much emphasis on backing as I do."
Hegwood said he thinks there are a lot of "moms and pops" on the road now.
Ellen Voie, president/CEO of Women in Trucking Inc., said there were 180,000 women over-the-road drivers in 2009. Fifty percent of those are what Voie called "team configurations" that could include a husband, boyfriend or another woman.
Hegwood said women make good truckers because they are more patient, very determined and don't become upset as fast.
Voie agrees with Hegwood. She says women are "risk averse."
"Girls don't have that testosterone that makes them take chances," she said.
The challenges for women, she said, are backing the truck and map reading.
According to the Associated Press, experts say the hiring outlook is improving for trucking, and it is attracting many people from fields where jobs have dried up. As many professions become more specialized, truck driving continues to require few classroom-based skills.
Hegwood said he has taught store managers, construction workers, electricians and people who never have had a job. A retired postmaster, an optometrist who didn't like what he was doing and a school teacher in his mid-30s who wanted to leave the classroom were also students.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, median hourly wages for heavy truck drivers were $17.92 in May 2008, according to the AP.
Daris Harried is enrolled in the summer class. The Sebring man who said he was working part time as a security guard, sees the trucking industry as an opportunity to make more money.
"There weren't any jobs that paid what I wanted," Harried said. "It's hard to find a good job with benefits."
Harried said he sat in a semi truck for the first time during the class. He noted that he had driven a backhoe and a forklift before so that helped a little.
Hernandez said he spent 22 years in prison. He had been back in Sebring for 27 months and was unable to find work.
Hernandez went to Heartland Workforce and learned about a program for ex-offenders.
Roger Hood, CEO/president of Heartland Workforce, wrote in an e-mail that using Workforce Innovation Act funds received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Tri-County Human Services Inc. submitted a proposal. The Heartland Workforce board approved a contract with Tri-County for the purpose of providing educational and training opportunities for offenders and ex-offenders in DeSoto, Hardee and Highlands counties that will run through Dec. 31, 2010.
Hernandez said the program is paying the tuition for the commercial driving class. The cost is $3,670 for the summer term.
Hernandez said it's a "great opportunity" for him and he appreciates it.
"This class has showed me a lot," he said. "It's not a game."
Hegwood said an appealing aspect of the trucking business is career security.
"If you are in this industry and got any experience whatsoever you are never going to be without a job unless you want to be," he said.
"Because if you think about it, and many people are starting to realize and see this ..., if you shut this industry down, you shut the entire nation down," he said. "Everything that moves or has moved has been on the back of a truck at one time. Trains, planes and ships go to a point. From that point a truck has to take it into the rest of the country."
HIRING OUTLOOK
According to the Associated Press, experts say the hiring outlook is improving for trucking, and it is attracting many people from fields where jobs have dried up. As many professions become more specialized, truck driving continues to require few classroom-based skills.
Bill Rogers may be reached at 863-386-5825 or wrogers@highlandstoday.com
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