Dive Brief:
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration officials promoted a grant program for truck driver training during the Mid-America Trucking Show last month, noting $3 million is available for schools and certain businesses.
- The program changes lives by funding CDL training for military members and their spouses, as well as those from underserved communities and refugees, said Patrick Nemons, FMCSA director of safety programs.
- “It pays for you to go to school to get your commercial driver's license,” Nemons said during a panel at the trade show. “Entities that can apply for this are community colleges, vocational schools [and] trucking schools.”
Dive Insight:
Nearly all of the 20 beneficiaries from that funding last year were community colleges, but money from the Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training Program also reached a handful of driving school businesses.
“People think, ‘Well, it's not for me. There's no possible way I'm gonna get this grant. It's very competitive,’” Nemons said. “But out of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, FMCSA over a five-year period has $3.2 billion.”
For those unfamiliar with the grant process, the agency’s technical assistance website can bring applicants up to speed with tutorials, videos and examples, Nemons said. A deadline to apply is April 19.
This year, the FMCSA has more than $180 million in total grant funding, Acting Deputy Administrator Sue Lawless said at MATS, speaking alongside Nemons and others from the agency. Other grants largely serve schools, nonprofits and local, state and tribal governments in initiatives regarding safety, training and technology.
“We want to make the most of our funding,” she said.
