Early this year, Chisolm Trail Technology Center wanted to offer Class A CDL training in the district. The desire got one step closer to reality Monday when the official groundbreaking ceremony was held on the site north of town.
New regulations require drivers to complete a training course whereas before, they could simply test and get a CDL. This doubled down on the driver shortage plaguing the country and companies that need drivers, closing an avenue to licensing.
To implement a driving class, CTTC needed a large lot – 4 or 5 acres – with a hard surface on which to train students. And it needed to be close to town so that the students could find places to eat and stay, if needed.
That proved to be a tall order.
“If we did see something for sale it was higher than (what) we could spend,” said Kurt Thomas, superintendent at CTTC. “Fortunately, a resident of Watonga stepped up to find a resolution.”
That resident was Alan Bernhardt who agreed to lease property to the school for 30 years. The area is next to a golf driving range, on the east side of Highway 8, across from Watonga Regional Airport. CTTC will continue to partner with Watonga High School to keep the driving range watered and mowed for practices, according to Paul Hursh, business and industrial services
director for CTTC.
The lease option saved CTTC a chunk of money and had a building on site to be remodeled into classrooms. Additionally, it is near town and on a major highway, all benefits to the school.
“Without Mr. Berhardt’s generosity this project most likely would not yet have started,” Thomas said.
The plan from the beginning was to work with Central Technology Center, in Drumright, using its trucks and instructors at the CTTC location to give the classes. Central is the largest trucking school in Oklahoma, teaching for more than 50 years. Career techs are created to work cooperatively with one another to provide training.
While CTTC was looking for a site, Pioneer contacted them because that company was experiencing its own difficulties getting drivers trained.
Thomas said a districtwide meeting of many companies showed that most of them would support a training facility in Watonga and would send drivers or prospective drivers there to be trained. The 28-day program is eight days of classroom instruction and 20 days of hands-on work. Hursh said there will be eight students at a time and four trucks on site.
With so many companies lining up for space in the classes and a location selected, construction began in November. Dirt work was done and covered with asphalt milling.
In addition to supporting the project, Pioneer made a donation that provided the fence and gates around the range. Cimarron Electric will install lighting on the range.
“Partnerships, donations and generosity have been great examples of people in our district pulling on the same rope to make this happen,” Thomas said.
Classes are currently being scheduled. One of the challenges to scheduling is that Central Tech is slammed the increased demand since the change in licensing requirements took place. Sharing equipment and teachers is tricky, considering that demand.
When classes are scheduled, Thomas said, companies in the district will get the first openings, followed by students who haven’t already been hired, but want to obtain a CDL. There are some 30 individuals on the waitlist from area companies, according to Hursh.
The long-term plan is to make the program available to CTTC dual enrollment high school students as an additional program.