Niagara County is looking to establish a new position that delivers the training truck drivers need to get their Commercial Driver’s License.
The position would pay $42,477 a year and two existing part-time driver positions, paying $20,909 per year, would be abolished.
Public Works Commissioner Garret Meal said the highway department has had challenges hiring truck drivers with a CDL over the past year, so administrators are considering a program to offer on-the-job training for the special license.
“We’ve come to the best conclusion that we’d be best served by having an individual employed by the department whose responsibility is the CDL training,” Meal said. That person would also be a driver, he added.
Currently the county employs about 30 drivers with a CDL and there are six openings. CDL drivers plow roads, help lay asphalt, maintain ditches and perform other tasks related to road maintenance and construction.
The training program would take place in a classroom setting for a few hours a week, for six to nine months, compared to private programs that immerse students for two weeks. The trainees would drive trucks for the county while they’re preparing for the CDL test.
According to Meal, the program has some protections built in to help ensure drivers keep working for the county after they get their CDL. Trained drivers are expected to stay with the county for a minimum of three years after they get their license, he said; and they’d receive a one-time $1,500 bonus after one year of employment.
“Even if some of them do leave, Niagara County doesn’t have enough CDL drivers,” Meal said. “If we can get more CDL drivers in the county in a way that enhances the talent pool, it’s a win-win.”
The county legislature’s administration committee recommended the program this week. Now, a hiring resolution will go to a vote of the full legislature.
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