ABOVE: DACC CDL Program Director Pete Powell and student Chris Suchaczewski
During a presentation before the Danville Area Community College Board of Trustees Monday (July 29th) evening, DACC CDL Program Director Pete Powell said that yes, a lot of his recent students in the program have been former Danville Quaker Oats plant workers. And they’ve done very well.
AUDIO: They are getting out; they’re getting jobs lined up. I’m talking to them just about every week; and yes, they’re having a lot of success out there. Some go work for farmers; some are working more for companies. But a lot of the guys; they come in, they know they’re going to have work when they get through. And the work is there.
Danville Area Community College Board of Trustees and DACC President Dr. Stephen Nacco.
DACC’s CDL program can be a step forward for so many people in so many situations. One of Powell’s current students, Chris Suchaczewski, works on a family farm. They hired a truck driver last year, and he thought, “I’d like to have this job.”
AUDIO: You never know what the future’s going to hold, and I figured I might as well get it done. We got a semi last fall, and we hired a guy for the fall season, and after that I’m like, “I can do this.” This is the start of my fifth week; and I’m hoping to be done right on track, on the sixth week.
Powell says there’s a reason DACC’s program can do this in six weeks.
AUDIO: We have our classroom portion online now. That gives us more opportunity to get the students out with the trucks more. We want them getting out on the road, having more time in the trucks prior to getting out there and being on their own. That way they’ve got that time with the trainer; time to work with maneuvering the trucks.
There are day classes, night classes, and even opportunities for weekend classes. If interested in the program, give Pete Powell a call at 217-443-8565, or look for him on DACC’s website, at dacc.edu.
