(HARLINGEN, Texas) – Six La Feria Early College High School seniors are getting a real-world perspective on what it takes to become a truck driver through their school’s partnership with Texas State Technical College’s Professional Driving Academy at the Harlingen campus.
The collaboration includes the students’ participation in the TSTC CDL (commercial driver’s license) training, as well as forklift training provided by the college’s Workforce Training and Continuing Education department that will begin in May.
The students are Nathaniel Alonzo, Victor Flores, Scott Hernandez, Brandon Lopez, Jose Mejia and Joseph Soto.
“The hands-on training the students will receive will help make them marketable in the workforce before they graduate,” Juan Hernandez, TSTC’s manager of Professional Academies Operations and a state-certified examiner, said.
Cassandra Zuvieta, college and career readiness director at La Feria Early College High School, said it was important that the school partnered with a program that would help students succeed.
“The end goal is that our six students will earn a Class A CDL license and a forklift certification,” Zuvieta said.
Juan Hernandez said the truck driving training will cover two specific areas.
“Students will learn about the theory of truck driving and have behind-the-wheel portions for four hours every afternoon during the week except for spring break,” he said.
Two of the students shared their thoughts about the CDL training.
“There are intricate details such as memorizing the distance of a semitruck to other vehicles on the road, understanding why temperatures have certain readings and numbers that pertain to those areas,” Scott Hernandez said.
Soto said the instructors evaluate their errors and tell the students how they can improve.
“The modules give us information to comprehend, such as vehicle malfunctions and how to check areas in the braking components,” he said.
TSTC’s CDL program includes 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 at 956-364-4567 or janeth.robles@tstc.edu.
To learn more about TSTC, go to tstc.edu.
