(HARLINGEN, Texas) – Texas State Technical College’s Professional Driving Academy recently updated its four-week, 160-hour commercial driver’s license (CDL) training in accordance with the newest federal mandate that took effect in spring 2024 to meet compliance as an accredited program for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Entry-Level Driver Training.
The mandate is intended to create a simpler yet effective testing process to assess an applicant’s readiness to safely operate a commercial motor vehicle (CMV).
The initiative entails three areas: modernized protocols for a CMV pre-trip inspection and basic control skills testing, a checklist for a pre-trip vehicle inspection test as an aid to applicants, and an updated CDL manual.
“For the new, modernized pre-trip vehicle inspection, a student will only inspect critical items with the help of a guide that will let them know what to inspect,” Juan Hernandez, TSTC’s manager of Professional Academies Operations and a state-certified examiner, said.
“For the new basic control skills test, a student will perform a forward controlled stop by positioning the front-most part of their vehicle in a three-foot box before doing a straight-line reverse backing,” he said.The mandate will be administered at TSTC’s campuses in Abilene, Brownwood, Fort Bend County, Harlingen, Marshall and Sweetwater, each of which has a Professional Driving Academy.
TSTC’s CDL program offers an in-house written exam and a hands-on driving test, and it serves as a third-party Texas Department of Public Safety testing site.
For more information on TSTC’s CDL classes, contact Janeth Robles with TSTC’s Workforce Training and Continuing Education department at 956-364-4567 or janeth.robles@tstc.edu.
To learn more about TSTC, visit tstc.edu.
