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match something up with some smaller “We said, ‘You were willing to Franco, manager of driver recruiting
occupations, but it’s going to be really spend XYZ to get those jobs, when we for Tyson Foods, which hired several
tough,” he said. The grants typically have these trucking jobs already here TDTPI graduates. “We went through
have tight restrictions, he said. that we can’t fill because of barriers to an interview process to see who was
“It would be great if they didn’t entry,’” Newton said. “We justified the really serious about it, and if we did a
put this many restrictions on it because money as an economic development good enough job there, we had pretty
there are probably a lot of long-term tool.” good success. One of our drivers of the
unemployed people out there who The math is pretty clear, Summers quarter was a lady who came from that
would make great truck drivers,” he said. program last year.”
said. “It’s a transformative program,” Summers said enrollment in ASU-
There is some money still available Summers said. “Because there’s not a Newport’s truck driving program fell
through local Workforce Investment lot of funding for the students on their by about half after the TDTPI funds
Boards around the state for people who side, it was a really helpful program for dried up. Losing that many students
meet eligibility requirements, Kennedy people who need employment in the could threaten the very existence of the
said. state. If you can spend less than $6,000 school’s program, he said.
That money comes from the and get someone in a job that pays “Trucking programs are very, very
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 $50,000 pretty quickly, that’s a benefit expensive,” he said. “Just my fuel bill
which has been extended on a short- to our communities.” approaches $100,000 a year. That
term basis a number of times since The first funds for the TDTPI came doesn’t count service costs, vehicles,
2003. Under that law, the federal in 2008, and the program operated off tires. So funding assistance, especially
Department of Labor distributes about and on until earlier this year, when with student numbers declining, can
$3 billion a year for job-training pro- the funding was cut. It was successful, help determine whether the program
grams, most of which goes to local though, and Newton said she’s hopeful survives or not.”
Workforce Investment Boards to pro- efforts to restore funding next year will The TDTPI program was ideal for
vide grants to individuals, schools and succeed as well. people who might not have considered
non-profit organizations to be used for About 97 percent of all students truck driving as a career and so might
job training services. Arkansas received who came through ASU-Newport’s not have been as aggressive about find-
about $19.5 million for job-training truck driver training school on the ing other ways to pay for training,
services through the WIA in the most TDTPI passed their written and skills Franco said. And it’s important to reach
recently completed program year (July tests to get their Class A commercial those people too.
2012-June 2013), which was down licenses, Summers said. “That’s pretty “We’ve got some guys driving from
almost $200,000 from the year before. high.” this Arkansas program who had never
Congress last year began work on And if the goal of workforce thought about driving a truck before,
bills for another reauthorization of the training programs is to prepare work- and they love it,” Franco said. “They’ve
Workforce Investment Act. Work on ers for jobs that are currently in gone from making hardly anything to
the bills has stagnated, though, with no demand, truck driving definitely fits making $50,000 their first year.”
action since mid-December. the bill. About 50,000 people gradu- Other states have noticed the
If any federal money does become ate from Commercial Vehicle Training success of the program Arkansas put
available, Newton said, Arkansas Association member schools nationwide in motion. In early April, Wisconsin
already has a successful program model and more than 90 percent of them find Governor Scott Walker announced up
for training new truck drivers. In 2007 jobs in the trucking industry. to 300 Wisconsin residents will be able
— before the economy crashed — the In 2013, about 60 students attend- to earn a commercial driver's license
Arkansas Trucking Association worked ed ASU-Newport through the TDTPI, in a four-week training course and be
with Governor Mike Beebe to create the Summers said, and their retention rate guaranteed a trucking job through a
Arkansas Truck Driver Training Pilot is higher than the norm: Approximately new program.
Initiative (TDTPI) program. The TDTPI 50 percent of the graduates from the “Arkansas is a leader in the truck-
provided money to recruit, screen and TDTPI program remained employed ing industry as a whole, so it’s not
pay tuition for selected applicants who with their original employer for more surprising others would follow our
wanted to attend truck driver training than one year, compared to an average example,” Newton said. “It’s a great
programs in Arkansas. retention rate in the industry for new program with proven results and we
The idea originally came out of see- drivers of about 30 percent over the look forward to reviving it in the
ing how willing the state was to invest same time period. future.”
enormous amounts of money to land a “We participated in it and had
Toyota manufacturing plant. reasonable success with it,” said Mike

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