FSCJ opens Nassau County’s first state college commercial truck training center

The rumble of commercial trucks passing along I-95 and Florida 200 has long been part of life in Yulee, as the interstate ribbon heads north and south past the first major crossroad in Florida.

Now a new program to help those in Nassau County secure a commercial driver’s license to handle that open road nearby has been opened at Florida State College at Jacksonville’s Nassau Center.

Set at FSCJ’s satellite campus on William Burgess Boulevard, the college’s second (the first is at Cecil Center) Commercial Vehicle Driving program includes classroom time as well as driving practice to secure certification to fill the demand in the commercial vehicle driving field, FSCJ Instructional Program Manager Joe Lackey says.

“There are a lot of underserved people who would not go to FSCJ and live up here simply because of the drive to Cecil. Now it’s in their county, right up the street,” Lackey said. “And I think that because this the short-term training, one of the shortest paths to business ownership. It really lends itself to people in need – go to school in eight weeks, and have a credential and get a job.”

A $3.18 million state grant helped FSCJ create Nassau County’s first state college truck driving training facility. State officials visited the FSCJ Nassau Center on Dec. 16 to present the award to help establish the Nassau County Transportation Education Institute. The grant is from the state Department of Economic Opportunity to support expansion of its Commercial Vehicle Driving program.

FSCJ established its first commercial driving training program in 2007 at Cecil Center. The state grant allowed expansion in Nassau County with new industry-standard equipment and tools, classroom space, and ability to expand the program to handle up to 400 students annually at both campuses. It also paid for construction of the driving pad that has all of the striping, cones and markings required for entry-level driver training and Florida Department of Driver Safety and Motor Vehicle testing, Lackey said.

“So not only can they be trained here to meet all of the entry-level driver training requirements, then we can actually test them here at this site, approved for state testing,” Lackey said. “When they leave here, all they will literally have to do is pick up the hard copy of their license.”

Along with the classroom and driving pad with 18-wheelers and box trucks in Yulee, the new Nassau County program will use a driving simulator. The program also offers experience on a school bus, Lackey says.

He plans to begin meeting with area business leaders to see what FSCJ’s new Nassau facility can do to help them.

“There’s a lot of unrealized and untapped opportunity and potential here with the port, lumber mills, the Crawford Diamond Industrial Park, and then just Rayonier — there’s a lot of business opportunities,” he says.

The C ommercial Vehicle Driving Career Certificate program consists of four 80-hour courses totaling 320 hours. The first two-week course introduces students to the commercial driving industry to prepare for the state written examination required to obtain a Class A driver’s permit. The second two-week course includes instruction on vehicle design, inspection and preventative maintenance, as well as tractor-trailer operation through the driving simulator.

Then comes a four-week block of instruction focused on fundamental and advanced driving skills like vehicle control that leads to driving on public roadways throughout Northeast Florida. The program costs about $2,300, the college’s website says .

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