BARNSTABLE — Doug Crook has been trained to expect the worst in his new “career.”
He’ll have to expect cars cutting him off. He’ll have to cut speeds going on highway ramps to avoid tip-overs. He’ll have to be all eyes and ears on the traffic around him in his travels.
The oysterman is scheduled to take a Commercial Drivers License Class B test in the coming week and intends to put it to use driving shellfish products to Boston and around Cape Cod.
Crook and three others participated in an on-Cape, six-week CDL training program, supported by the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. The pilot program brought trainers, trucks and tracks — or practice lots — to trainees, rather than having them travel off-Cape.
CDL training on Cape: Why does it matter?
The nation is suffering from a severe shortage of Class A and B CDL-licensed drivers, according to the American Trucking Association, an industry trade group. The Association’s chief economist Bob Costello estimated the shortage was 80,000 in 2021 and could increase to 160,000 in 2030.
“The need on the Cape is slightly different,” said Katy Acheson, economic development director for the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. “We’re talking about companies moving, delivery product. The CDL is a weight issue.”
Jim Connolly, an owner of Eldredge & Bourne Moving, and a member of the Board of Directors for the Chamber, agrees. His company buys one to two trucks a year, and five years ago it started buying trucks that did not require drivers with Class B licenses because it was so hard to find properly licensed employees. Four of 27 employees have CDL licenses who can drive two CDL trucks. The company owns 18 trucks.
“With a CDL you can haul more weight,” Connolly said. “Everyone desperately needs drivers.”
And Connolly is convinced that more CDL-licensed drivers will be needed because of proposed work on the Bourne and Sagamore bridges, installation of sewer lines and systems, and landscapers needing to haul weighty excavation equipment.
Pounds and pay: Higher earnings tied to heavy loads
With class B licenses, the four men will be able to haul 26,001 pounds and more. The license allows them to drive straight trucks and buses, among other vehicles. A Class A license allows drivers to operate multiple types of commercial trucks and tractor trailers.
Doug Crook wanted to get his license so he could increase his shellfish business, the SandSpit Oyster Company. He has two trucks which he uses to haul products to Boston and around Cape Cod, but he is limited by weight regulations. He cannot carry loads over 26,000 pounds.
The license will also help him increase his annual earnings. He’ll be able to haul construction materials when the shellfish business is slow, he said.
How much does it cost to get a class B or class A license?
Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce CEO Paul Niedzwiecki said members supported the program with CMSC Parker Professional Driving School. They said getting drivers and training them was a problem for Cape companies because of both time and money. Training for a class B license costs about $5,000. For a class A, the costs run more than $8,000.
And six weeks of training translates into a significant loss of income if they aren’t getting paid.
“We saw that as an important economic development step,” Niedzwiecki said in a phone conversation Jan. 22.
Cape Cod seeks $500,000 workforce development grant for truck driving training
The Chamber is applying for a $500,000 workforce development grant through the Commonwealth Corporation and should hear by mid-March if it will receive it. The money would pay for a training program for class A and B licenses, Niedzwiecki said. He expects it could translate into 45-50 drivers at the end of two years.
Four students and four employers, including the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office, are interested in future training programs, according to Acheson. She’s working on leasing areas on the Cape big enough for students to practice maneuvers.
“Finding a parking lot is harder than it sounds,” Acheson quipped.
Truck driver stipends for training? ‘No one can afford not to work’
She’s even working on getting money to pay student-drivers’ stipends while they train. Not getting paid while training is a legitimate concern she said.
“What I’d like to do, either through agreements with employers, or for someone unemployed or underemployed, in partnership with someone like MassHire, is be able to pay a training stipend,” she said.
Connolly has one driver in the program and that driver is getting paid while he trains.
“No one can afford to not work,” Connolly said.
Denise Coffey writes about business, tourism and issues facing Cape Cod residents and visitors. Contact her at [email protected].
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