Bureau of Prisons expands CDL training for women

From Transport Topics. Efforts are underway in federal and state-level prison systems to help inmates train for and transition into careers in trucking upon their release, with the Federal Bureau of Prisons expanding its commercial driver license programs to focus on women, and Connecticut working on a new driver training program at its state prisons….

trucks in highway traffic

From Transport Topics.

Efforts are underway in federal and state-level prison systems to help inmates train for and transition into careers in trucking upon their release, with the Federal Bureau of Prisons expanding its commercial driver license programs to focus on women, and Connecticut working on a new driver training program at its state prisons.

“CDL training is a career field which is in high demand throughout the U.S.,” said Donald Murphy, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Information, Policy and Public Affairs Division, in an interview with Transport Topics. “Inmates who complete this training are gaining valuable career skills which afford them the opportunity to earn livable wages to support themselves and their families upon release.”

BOP has basic education requirements for inmates lacking a high school diploma or verified general educational development credential to attend adult literacy programs for at least 240 instructional hours or until a GED is earned. In addition, non-English-speaking inmates must take English as a second language instruction, according to BOP.

“Over the past year, the BOP has doubled its CDL programs which offer the possibility of obtaining license, and is working to actively expand it over the next year. Additionally, there are 32 institutions, male and female, which offer the instruction portion of the CDL program,” Murphy said.

The six CDL programs that offer licenses are in federal prisons in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas.

See the complete article online at Transport Topics.

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