Linn-Benton Community College received $130,543 in funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration through a Commercial Motor Vehicle Operational Safety grant for fiscal year 2024, the school announced this week.
“We are incredibly appreciative of the support from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the advocacy of Sen. Jeff Merkley for educational initiatives like ours,” Tatiana Wicke, Linn-Benton Community College’s Special Projects and CDL program coordinator said through a news release. “This funding will allow us to serve 20 veterans and their families in our community, making it possible for them to attend our CDL program and achieve their career goals.”
The mission of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities involving large trucks and buses. The agency is awarding more than $3.5 million to states and other entities through the grant, which seeks to reduce the severity and number of crashes on the nation’s roads involving large trucks and buses by expanding the number of CDL holders possessing enhanced operator safety training.
The grant program states that it has three goals — to expand the number of CDL holders possessing enhanced operator safety training, to provide opportunities for current or former members of the U.S. Armed Forces (including National Guard members and reservists) and their families to enter the trucking or busing industry as drivers and to help increase training opportunities for candidates from rural, refugee and underserved communities.