This post is from 2014 and Bergen Community College no longer offers this program.
LYNDHURST, N.J. – This morning, Bergen Community College and Jersey Tractor Trailer Training officials announced the establishment of a workforce development initiative that will enable local residents to earn both a Commercial Driver License (CDL) and a General Education Diploma (GED) as part of the joint program offered by the organizations.
Highlighting the need for CDL-holders, in 2012, the state’s transportation, logistics and distribution cluster, which includes CDL truck drivers, employed 11.2 percent of the state’s private sector workers, according to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
“This is about developing the economy in our region,” Dr. B. Kaye Walter, Bergen’s president said. “The members of our communities are our partners in doing that.”
The $3,925 program offered as part of the school’s Division of Continuing Education, Corporate and Public Sector Training, features six weeks (155 hours – 80 CDL hours/75 GED hours) of classroom instruction that will prepare students for the state’s CDL assessment and GED exam. Jersey Tractor Trailer will administrate all facets of the CDL curriculum, while the College will oversee the GED component. The State of New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development has accepted the program for its Eligible Training Provider List.
The agreement, signed at the College’s Lyndhurst location – Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands – begins Jan. 15 and will continue through June 30 with the option to renew annually. Select students will receive contextualized support services. Classes will take place at the school’s Meadowlands location and Jersey Tractor Trailer Training’s Rutherford facility.
Groundwork for the partnership began with Assemblyman Gordon M. Johnson (D-Englewood), a longtime supporter of the College and friend of Jersey Tractor Trailer Training President Bill Oliver, who helped connect the groups. In just two months from the initial meeting, the agreement became a reality.
Jersey Tractor Trailer Training remains one of the oldest CDL programs in New Jersey, responsible for training more than 7,000 men and women in its 27-year history.
Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu) based in Paramus is a public two-year coeducational college, enrolling nearly 17,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip J. Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields.
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