Cherokee Nation, Werner Enterprises partner for new trucker program for young drivers

TULSA, Okla. — There’s an image some may have of a truck driver, the hat, the beard, and the grit of years on the road. But these days, truckers may look more like your neighbor who recently graduated high school or Arbuckle Truck Driving School

“It is definitely an issue and something we are working really hard to tackle,” said Amber Wall, an instructor at the Arbuckle Truck Driving School.

She told FOX23 that 18-year-old drivers aren’t new here, but the school does have a new opportunity for them. People older than 18-years-old. She says its newest program is basically hooking new students up with a job at Werner Enterprises before they even start training on the gravel lot.

“They come into school day one and the confusion and worry about finding where they are going to work is already taken care of, they are going to go to work for Werner,” Wall said.

The school is well known for its success rate in Oklahoma. That’s why Wall says Cherokee Nation and Werner Enterprises wanted to start a new pre-apprentice program to get students from its school right into a job at Werner Enterprises.

“When they leave the school training is not done. They are still training. They are going to go through weeks of orientation and weeks of training with a driver in the truck,” Wall said.

Three of the newest students are Cherokee Tribal citizens, all older than 18 this time, but new to driving. Cherokee Nation Tribal Council Member Joe Deere says this is what Cherokee Nation was looking for its Tribal citizens, especially young people looking to learn a craft rather than go to college and instead get right into the workforce.

“Cherokee Nation is on the reservation. Our people exist in the community with other people in our community, so we work together,” Deere said.

He says they are even willing to help pay for some students.

“This could be part of grant money, part of money from the budget, several ways we can go about making this happen,” Deere said.

So trucking companies can move goods and tribes likes Cherokee Nation and this truck driving school can find the best people to do it.

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