YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Truck driving schools are enjoying rising enrollment because of increasing gas and oil production and the need for more truck drivers in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
“We’ve definitely gotten busier in the last four to six weeks,” said Michael Lattavo, president of Big Rig Truck Driving, Canton.
The demand isn’t just for standard truck drivers, however.
Mary Ann Kochalko, chief operating officer of the One-Stop workforce system in Mahoning and Columbiana counties, relayed what she heard from Pennsylvania agencies similar to hers: gas and oil companies want workers with a certified driver’s license.
Part of that license – or CDL -- requirement is based on insurance requirements, she said.
Companies also prefer nontruck driving personnel to have CDLs so they can drive or move a truck should the need arise. They prefer drivers to have hazardous materials handling certificates as well.
The shale industry needs drivers who can haul waste, water and equipment.
“For those who are eligible and want to do it, there are a lot of opportunities out there,” Kochalko said.
She’s seen many more people interested in obtaining a CDL come to One-Stop because they see the explosion of job openings.
OhioMeansJobs.com lists more than 2,000 openings in Ohio for those with a CDL and more than 200 within 30 miles of Youngstown.
“Those numbers are increasing as the shale industry comes in because every thing is on wheels,” Kochalko said.
One-Stop helps job seekers find the employment they want and are qualified for in the Mahoning Valley.
Big Rig Truck Driving, TDDS Technical Institute in Lake Milton, Career Driving and Learning Centers in Akron, and New Castle School of Trades in New Castle, Pa., are all on Ohio-One’s approved training provider list for schools that offer CDL Class A courses.
Big Rig began providing training in January for Class A CDLs at the Steubenville campus of Eastern Gateway Community College.
“We’ve been working with Eastern Gateway for the past few years,” Lattavo said. The move was prompted most in Big Rig’s efforts to find a suitable site to hold the classes.
New Castle School of Trades offers certificates that cover CDLs, heavy equipment operations, and handling hazardous materials, all necessary for shale employees at a well site.
For people getting only their CDLs from New Castle, half go into standard truck driving, the other half look for jobs in the shale industry, Giovannelli said.
“We are pretty aggressive placing graduates and we’ve never had a major problem filling trucking positions,” he said.
Several companies working the Marcellus shale interview students on the New Castle campus, he said.
Gary Lopuchovsky, president of TDDS Technical Institute, said companies working in the shale plays recruit from TDDS as well, but the biggest influence on where truck driving students choose to apply after graduation is former students who return to campus.
Between 80% and 90% of TDDS graduates start out by working on the road, he estimates, but after a year can do more of what they want.
Some of his graduates are out at shale sites, but students currently enrolled will chose their jobs based on what they want to do. Some are undecided and simply see the numerous job openings while others come in with a plan, he explains.
Lopuchovsky can only guess the extent of the demand the oil and gas industry will have on truck drivers because it’s still in its infancy in Ohio.
After seeing what’s happened in Pennsylvania, Lopuchovsky believes the “transportation industry is ready to boom in this area,” putting pressure on more students to get their CDLs and gain experience.
“Once you get that CDL, you’re pretty marketable,” he said.
However, industry standards are a major obstacle for some people looking at driving a truck. A less than clean driving record, a less than ideal work history and failing to pass drug and alcohol screenings impede, if not block, people from getting a job, even the opportunity to become certified.
Greg Beshero, a manager at R&J Trucking, Youngstown, said there is always a demand for good CDL drivers. He emphasized on the word “good.”
At R&J, a dump and bulk carrier trucking company, applicants must have clean driving records, a year of experience and no history of jumping from job to job, HazMat certification and those 23 and older must meet an insurance guideline.
His trucking company hasn’t been hit by the shale industry, Beshero said, because Marcellus isn’t big here but expresses high hopes for the Utica.
Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.