2023 - ECC’s SBCT division expands truck driving program

Truck driving students can get trained and on the road faster with Elgin Community College’s new 8-week CDL program. Students interested in a career behind the wheel can enroll in this new accelerated session, which provides the same comprehensive training, smaller class sizes, and behind-the-wheel training with experienced, dedicated instructors as the 16-week program.

“Truck drivers are in incredibly high demand, and ECC is responding,” said Cathy Taylor, dean of sustainability, business, and career technologies. “The accelerated learning path provides high-quality training to get more truck drivers on the road and keep our local economy moving.”

In addition to the accelerated training option, ECC is adding two more course sections alongside the traditional evening sections. Through ECC’s partnership with the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), a federally funded program to help students start, continue, or finish their education, the college is opening up day sections to accommodate increased student demand.

ECC’s truck driving program prepares students for the State of Illinois CDL Licensure test. Graduates often leave with several high-dollar job offers, and some even return to ECC to teach the next generation of truck driving professionals.

ECC is utilizing a ‘grow-your-own’ approach to recruit new instructors for the expanded program. ECC alum Ryan O’Neil graduated from the truck driving program in August 2022 and has been working as an adjunct instructor since fall 2022. “When I was a student here, I learned immensely from a lot of the instructors that have real world experience,” said O’Neil. “It was a very inviting environment to come back to and give my knowledge that I had learned to future students here at ECC so they can have a rewarding experience just as I did.”

For more information on ECC’s truck driving program, visit elgin.edu/truckdriving.