HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Wallace State Community College recently received $129,500 in funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) through a Commercial Motor Vehicle Operational Safety (CMVOST) grant for fiscal year 2024. WSCC Diesel by Distance Project Coordinator Anna Beard said the funding will provide 37 people with scholarships to be fully covered for the commercial driver’s license (CDL) program.
“For this specific grant we are trying to recruit veterans, service members and their family members,” Beard said. “ But also, any non-traditional student interested in trucking (women, minorities and people with disabilities) will have the opportunity to apply for the scholarship.”
Beard said the program funds organizations that recruit and train individuals to obtain CDLs to operate large trucks and buses, with a specific focus on providing opportunities for veterans to transition into the trucking industry.
“Wallace State offers CDL classes here at its main campus in Hanceville, as well as in Oneonta and Winston County,” Beard said. “The Wallace State CDL program also has the ability to train persons with paraplegia or other lower-body mobility issues. If there is anyone interested in applying for this scholarship, please reach out to me for the application.”
The CDL course has several time options including a day course for four weeks and a night/weekend course that is six weeks.
“CDL training is normally $3,500 plus an additional $200-350 per person for the additional fees,” Beard said. “We have a soft deadline to apply: Oct. 22. We have a review process with the committee, and those selected will be notified by Nov. 1.”
CDL instructor Steve Adams assists with testing standards and actual instruction on the vehicles.
For more information or to apply, email Beard at Anna.Parrish@wallacestate.edu.
