Job seekers looking for a Commercial Drivers License but can’t afford the training classes are in luck.
The Berrien County Road Department is offering to pay for CDL training for new employees, with the condition that the new employee stays with the department for two years. The department also is willing to hire people without their CDL as long as they sign a contract stating they will have the CDL within a year.
“Not everyone has that money just to go front [the money] and then go find a job – especially in this environment,” said Berrien County Road Department Engineering Supervisor Kevin Stack. [The Michigan Department of Transportation] is giving some very, very gracious raises right now to their staff. As a county, we have to keep up to try and be competitive, but it’s tough right now. We’re doing everything we can to try and recruit, and more importantly, retain our staff.”
Stack said their need not to the point where there are trucks going unused, but the department may not be able to get to some projects in a given time frame because of the open positions.
“When you talk about trying to get roads done … it’s a struggle,” he said. “People ask ‘why aren’t you fixing my roads?’ Well, we ran out of time.”
The department currently has nine open maintenance positions which require a CDL, and about 15 total open positions. For more information, visit bcroad.org.
