After graduating from college, Braxton Fuller of Lexington was dissatisfied with the job market. Struggling to find employment that paid a living wage, he bounced between several different jobs before eventually finding himself unemployed.
He’d heard that the trucking industry could be a great way to find steady, full-time employment that pays well. Recent driver shortages, coupled with projected industry growth due to increasing e-commerce, have made trucking an excellent employment prospect.
Braxton soon found Community Action Council’s (the Council’s) Commercial Driver’s License (CDL-B) training program. The Council’s CDL-B training program is self-paced, expert-led, and can be completed in just two months. The timeline can also be extended to work around employment and parenting schedules to ensure that everyone who enrolls is able to complete the program.
A CDL-B license allows drivers to operate commercial vehicles such as straight trucks, delivery trucks, dump trucks, and similar vehicles. With an added passenger endorsement, a CDL-B can allow you to operate coach-style buses. A CDL-B can also be upgraded to a CDL-A, which can allow drivers to operate tractor-trailers.
Thanks to the federal Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and a workforce grant from the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG), the Council is able to provide the training at no cost to eligible enrollees. This ensures that as many people as possible have access to the program and that they can start their new careers without debt holding them back.
Braxton completed the 40 hours of classroom work and the 120 hours of required supervised on-the-road practice in a Council-owned vehicle to earn his permit in just three months. After passing his test, Braxton was fully licensed and ready to get to work. Two weeks later, he was employed full-time with Coca-Cola, earning $18 an hour.
But Braxton didn’t stop there! He set about building his own trucking company, Buck Logistics. He found his first customer in Amazon and joined the Amazon Relay program for owner-operators. Buck Logistics is now transporting goods and delivering on Braxton’s dreams of business ownership.
Braxton says that without the opportunity provided through the Council, he would not have been able to afford the cost of CDL school or find a job in the trucking industry. Owning a business seemed so out of reach to him before enrolling in the program that he did not think it was even truly an option for him.
The Council’s CDL program, driven by CSBG and an investment in the local workforce by LFUCG, is creating long-term success for families and the private sector while also developing small business owners.
“We are grateful to the City of Lexington and LFUCG for their investment in this program,” said the Council’s Director of Sustainability, Melissa Tibbs. “Partnerships like these allow us to maximize federal and local funding to deliver high-quality programs designed to capitalize on the local job market and drive economic growth.”