TEMPLE, Texas — As Christmas nears, a nationwide pandemic of its own continues as trucking companies struggle to find qualified drivers with the proper endorsement to hit the road and deliver goods to Americans.
A national shipping crisis has left thousands of shipping containers stranded in ports across the U.S. while cargo ships sitting off the coast for days wait to be unloaded.
"It's obvious to most people given the supply chains and the challenges but I don't think everybody understands that locally, in Central Texas, how much of a deficit there is," said DeDe Griffith, the Vice President of Workforce Development at Temple College.
Temple College is hoping to alleviate the crisis locally and get qualified people on the road driving and they are doing it by offering CDL classes.
However, despite the promise of high wages and instant job offers, enrollment hasn't bumped up.
"In terms of prospective students, I feel like we just have not connected with them to let them know, you know, I just jotted down at least seven different options to pay for tuition," Griffith said, acknowledging the financial worry could be causing a problem.
Griffith said there are many options to look at to help students, including grants and some potential employers reimbursing students for the cost.
Another reason, Griffith told 6 News, is they feel potential students aren't enrolling is because they don't feel they qualify. She said the trucking industry has changed.
"Previously when you came out of CDL you were automatically over the road and you were driving long distances and that was kind of, people didn't necessarily want to do that, but I will tell you there is so much work centrally that is not even a burden anymore, local drivers are need it as well," Griffith said.
Temple College said CDL classes take about four weeks and they have new classes starting every month. Griffith said their next class begins on December 6. Weekend classes are also available.
As the nationwide struggles hit close to home, Griffith agreed when asked if truck drivers are the heartbeat of America and added now is the time to do more for an industry that can't seem to get the rubber to meet the road.
"It is life sustaining, I mean, how do we get medication's? How do we get medical supplies? I'm not really sure if everyone has a good understanding of how important our commercial truck drivers are. They really do keep all of us going every day and everything that we do, yeah know, deliveries. You don't think about it until you don't have it," she said.