Commuters should be used to seeing semi-trucks and big rigs on the road with them. They hold a big responsibility inside, often transporting the goods our community needs with the goal of doing so safely.
“Truck driving is completely underrated, unfortunately,” said Russell Hoyt.
The American Trucking Association said they were down close to 80,000 drivers last year and that problem is expected to accelerate by the year 2031 to about 160,000 drivers not behind the wheel.
Hoyt tells ABC15’s Operation Safe Roads team he opened up a school in Glendale to combat this just a few weeks ago. He serves as the Director of Education at MG Truck Driving School.
“To change the industry and make it better … make it safer – not just for the student and entry-level driver, but the public as a whole,” Hoyt explained.
MG Truck Driving School offers a four-week program. It includes one week in the computer lab, while the rest of the time is hands-on.
But what makes this school unique is that the first steering wheel students will touch is in a simulation.
“From my understanding of the statistics, it drops the rate of accident for a new entry-level driver by 80%,” said Hoyt.
Hoyt said this even gives them the ability to help drivers experience poor weather conditions, like snow and rain.
“It makes it safer for the student,” Hoyt said. “It makes it safer for the public as a whole while they’re being trained.”
They said they are the only school in the state to have a simulator tool for students to learn on.
“It’s an amazing thing to get to learn how to operate something that’s just a big, massive machine like that,” said new student Rodney Cuthbertson.
He said, as he makes this career shift, tools like the simulator help him feel more confident as he prepares for the road.
“You don’t really get any feedback to know you did something wrong,” Cuthbertson explained. “On the simulator, it lets you know really quickly when you make little mistakes like that. It’s a good way to kind of pull those mistakes out and kind of hone the… your skills on that.”
Drivers-to-be, like Cuthbertson, can be prepared to be in high demand.
Hoyt said most drivers he knows start making between $80,000 and close to $150,000 a year without a college education.
“The wide range of jobs… I mean, everything from home every day, working for a masonry company, or you know, over the road… going around the country,” Cuthbertson explained. “There’s just a thousand different options.”
MG Truck Driving School’s program is about $4,500 and they do have financing available.
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Have a road issue or a question for the Operation Safe Roads team? Call 833-AZ-ROADS or email [email protected].
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