Taking the class

Hernandez was a truck driver before becoming an instructor at SCCC. He hauled loads for oil field companies and says he somehow ended up becoming an instructor at Seward. In his class, the students begin learning from the handbook. Once they complete the book, Hernandez sends his students to take the test at the Department of Motor Vehicles for their permits. Once they pass, he takes them to finally learn how to drive. 

To sign up for the class, contact the SCCC admissions office. The class lasts for six-weeks. 

“Being in this class, you have to have common sense. If you don’t have common sense, then you basically can’t do this job. You have to listen, pay attention and be in class, because when they say something, it’s for safety reasons,” Burger says. 

Trucks can be scary vehicles on the highway. Though they look and feel like they are traveling fast as they zoom right beside you, they are only able to only drive up to only 60 miles per hour, at most 65. Because of this, the weight that is added and being hauled can make the truck difficult to stop. It takes the distance of almost two football fields to get a truck to break to a full stop.  

“When you stop a truck, there’s no way you can stop as quick as a car. We train our students to know this, so they could be aware of what’s in front and around them while driving, which is where common sense takes place,” Hernandez says.  

The back roads behind the industrial school are used as a course for the CDL students to drive on. The students are able to drive around in a circle until they have the hang of things.

During the driving portion of the training, Martinez says that they begin by moving the trucks forwards and backwards. Once they learn the gears and how to turn, they take them on the back roads, which is currently where they are at during the course. After the back roads, they’re finally able to learn the routes that trucks take in town. 

“It’s truly a powerful feeling to drive a truck. The fact that it’s not just driving a car, but a 129,000 pound vehicle feels empowering once you learn how to drive and how to keep yourself and others safe,” Burger says. 

Learning how to keep others safe is a big part of the class. Colliding with oncoming vehicles is the last thing a driver would want to happen, but a lot of the time, it can’t be helped. Hernandez  always advises students to steer the truck to the right if something happens, since the vehicle cannot stop in less than 10 seconds. According to McAleer Law, around 500,000 trucking accidents occur each year in the United States, with about 5,000 per year resulting in death.