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Employer Partnerships Address Demand for Truck Drivers

Employer Partnerships Address Demand for Truck Drivers

| By: Britten, Casey

The FVTC Truck Driving program was highlighted recently in an article featuring Sargento Foods employee Amanda Lytle, the first female truck driving apprentice in Wisconsin.

A longtime employee at Sargento, Amanda was interested in transitioning to a truck driving career so she decided to take advantage of a new training opportunity offered by her employer. It’s a partnership between Sargento, Fox Valley Technical College and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. FVTC provides the initial truck driver training.

After this four-week training portion at FVTC, Amanda earned a perfect score on her CDL tests. The remainder of the training will take place at Sargento foods with a mentor, and after 2000+ hours of behind-the-wheel training, she could be driving on her own next year. “It's a rigorous program, but I like the challenge,” says Amanda.

While this is a new program for Sargento, FVTC has been providing contracted truck driver training with employers for several years—in addition to offering a traditional technical diploma in Truck Driving—addressing the demand for qualified drivers. There aren't enough new drivers to replace those entering retirement. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers will grow by 5% over the next eight years. 

Learn more: Truck Driving Industry Partnership Program >


In The News:

Read more in the Sheboygan Press:

This Sargento worker is the first female professional truck driver apprentice part of Wisconsin's workforce program >