Like most industries, transportation took a hit during the recession, but it is moving forward again, said Consuelo Espinoza-Godden, director of the Regional Transportation Training Center at DeKalb Technical College.
“Rail has slowed, but trucking and transit opportunities are increasing,” Espinoza-Godden said.
She expects the transportation industry to grow.
“One reason is that there is more manufacturing taking place in the U.S. and all those goods will have to be transported,” she said. “Another is that the transportation work force is aging and that creates a greater demand for new workers.”
DeKalb Technical College has the only Regional Transportation Training Center in metro Atlanta. With industry support, DeKalb Tech built the facility which includes more than two acres of concrete and asphalt. Tractor trucks, straight trucks, buses, a bucket truck and a derrick truck provide students with hands-on training in commercial truck and bus driving.
An on-site pole yard provided by Georgia Power Co. is used to train students in the electrical line-worker apprentice program.
“We recently entertained a delegation of 17 technical college directors and presidents from China who wanted to see our facility and to learn how we operate through partnerships between industry and education,” Espinoza-Godden said.
The transportation center offers credit programs in Commercial Truck Driving (Class A) and Commercial Straight Truck and Passenger Driving (Class B).
“In addition to earning their Commercial Driving License, our students graduate with a defensive driving certificate,” Espinoza-Godden said. “Class B students also learn how to operate concrete mixers, tankers, dump trucks, as well as 18-wheelers, transit and coach buses.”
The electrical line-worker apprentice program is a 16-credit hour course that prepares students for entry-level jobs with utility companies. Students learn climbing skills, the fundamentals of electricity and electrical components, and how to safely operate the equipment.
“In addition, we provide them fork-lift, flagging and defensive driving certifications, as well as learning how to operate a back hoe,” she said. “We try to make them as marketable as possible.”
The center also provides customized business training for MARTA and other transportation companies.
“At the moment, we’re training MARTA transit operators and mobility operators, and MARTA is hiring,” she said.
People interested in applying for transit jobs can take the transit coach operator continuing education class.
The college also offers a GED program, so that displaced workers without a high school diploma or GED can earn the designation and enroll in college courses.
Transportation jobs offer good pay and benefits, Espinoza-Godden said. Truck drivers start at $30,000 to $35,000 a year, and can make more than $80,000, depending on the company and whether they become owner-operators. Bus/transit drivers and line workers start at about $18 an hour.
“Our job-placement rate is 95 [percent] to 98 percent for drivers, and there are good opportunities to move up,” Espinoza-Godden said.
The center is preparing to offer diploma programs for some of those positions, including bus maintenance technician, mobility and light vehicle transit technician, transit electronics technician and electrical power and equipment technician.
For information, go to www.dekalbtech.edu or call 678-526-7384.
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