Chisholm Trail Technology Center was already in the process of trying to organize a local Class A CDL training when Supt. Kurt Thomas received a call from Pioneer Telephone Cooperative last March.

Thanks to new regulations implemented by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in February, Class A and B commercial drivers licenses are no longer obtainable through testing alone.

Drivers now are required to first complete a training program prior to testing and licensing.

“This created a challenge for many of the employers in our district,” CTTC Superintendent Kurt Thomas said. “Not only is there a shortage of drivers, but it became more difficult for individuals to obtain their CDL after the regulations changed.”

Thomas and Dan Craig, Cobb for training, Thomas said. Alan Bernhardt of Watonga stepped forward to offer “a generous 30-year lease” on a five-acre tract east of the Watonga airport. A building on the site will be remodeled as a classroom and Central Technology Center in Drumright will CTTC small business manager organized a meeting in April of companies within the district who utilized commercial truck drivers.

“We needed to know if we invested the money into building a five-acre range for truck driver training that it would be supported and companies would send students to the program,” Thomas said. “We felt like all the companies in the room were on board.”

Local employers currently send drivers as far away as Tulsa, Drumright and Ft.

bring trucks and instructors to teach the classes.

Pioneer Telephone Cooperative and Cimarron Electric Cooperative are donating toward the project, Thomas said.

About 30 people are already on the waitlist for the school, which will serve in-district companies first.