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In an effort to assist veterans and their family members to obtain commercial driver’s licenses and find new jobs, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced it will contribute nearly $1 million in grants for transportation training projects.
The grants will go to six colleges throughout the country that will then provide easier access for veterans to begin pursuing their new career in the transportation world. The funding from the FMCSA will be offered as part of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training (CMOVST) grant program.
By providing these grants, the goal is to help meet the rising need for commercial truckers in the coming years for the high-growth industry. Nearly 300,000 jobs are expected to be filled by 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, which produces a huge need for drivers to be trained immediately.
Veterans Trucking Training: Where the Money is Going
A grand total of $973,461 will be used to help the following six colleges train veterans who want to join the trucking industry:
- Long Beach, CA - Long Beach City College received $211,733
- Joliet, IL - Joliet Junior College received $176,427
- White Bear Lake, MN - Century College received $120,000
- Orangeburg, SC - Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College received $150,000
- Woodlands, TX - Lone Star College received $184,260
- Aberdeen, WA - Grays Harbor College received $131,041
Assisting Veterans in Transportation Careers
The grants offered by the FMSCA are just the latest step in helping veterans transition from military to civilian life. Previously, the FMCSA created a commercial learner’s permit rule, which was a policy that allowed states to waive a skill set test for any veteran seeking to earn a commercial driver’s license, provided they had military experience operating commercial vehicles for at least two years.
Along with assisting individual veterans, the United States government also offers tax credits to employers who hire veterans that were previously unemployed. Furthermore, federal grants are being made available for organizations which perform any number of initiatives.