The Baxter Public Works Department’s new CDL Training Program seeing success in making employees truck certified.
Baxter Public Works Director John Ramsey said the city originally started the program to help city employees obtain a CDL certification to drive trash and dump trucks. Ramsey said the program helps the employees study and gather hands-on experience while being on the clock.
“When we hire someone new I like to get them through their probationary period and then we’ll start them out,” Ramsey said. “If I’ve got an employee that needs them we try to get them in as soon as possible to try to get them where they need to be.”
Ramsey said he hopes the program will be a long-term solution to the truck driver issue the city has faced for the last several years.
“A lot of places when it comes to a CDL you’ve got these construction companies or over-the-road drivers that pay little more than what the city does,” Ramsey said. “A lot of times you get people that come in that don’t have a CDL and they work out to be good employees and we just go ahead and put them through the program.”
Ramsey said the amount of time to complete the program depends on the individual.
“The time varies,” Ramsey said. “I think the last two guys that we did put through it I think it took somewhere around three months maybe a little less than that. It takes a little while to get everything going.”
Ramsey said the program is off to a great start as the program has already helped two employees become CDL-certified.
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