Author: Ashley Thornton
In Greenville, NCDAC, in partnership with TransTech, celebrated its inaugural graduating class of offenders who obtained their Commercial Drivers License (CDL) while incarcerated.
Graduates Herman Castelli, Jr., and Graham Patterson completed the month-long commercial driver training program, which provides offenders training and education needed to earn the official, “NC Class A drivers license.” CDL drivers are in high demand, as the American Trucking Association estimates that the industry is short over 80,000 drivers currently.
Torrey Leach, NCDAC workforce development manager, played a crucial role in the pilot of the groundbreaking program.
“It’s been a long road to get to this moment - as the department has been working towards this for over two years,” Leach said. “Now that it’s up and running, there has been quite a bit of interest in the program from our offenders.”
Leach says the program overcame several obstacles before the program could even begin. With close coordination with Greene Correctional Institution and the NC Division of Motor Vehicles, the program came together.
The program has a firm set of qualifications that must be met for those who wish to join. Offenders must be within one year of release, have a spotless disciplinary record for the past six months, have a current NC drivers license, and pass a US Department of Transportation physical and drug test. Offenders train on late-model equipment and get hands-on training from experienced TransTech instructors.
Leach is hoping to have between four to eight participants in each cohort in the future and eventually expand the program to facilities across the state. The next cohort of eight individuals is set to being on April 15.