A California high school may be the first in the country to offer a commercial driver training program to its students.

Dave Dein, a teacher in Patterson, California, has helped establish a student driver-training course. As a former truck driver, Dein believes that the training he received early in his career gave him confidence. Therefore, he wanted to offer a similar benefit to current high school students showing an interest in the driver field.

While he also operates an adult driver-training program, Dein focuses on younger students who may need a non-traditional outlet for learning aimed at “[those] that needed to find something they could connect with,” according to the March 29^th issue of Fleet Owner.

The students undergo 180 hours of classroom instruction before spending 20 hours in a truck simulator. After completing the program, students may obtain free behind-the-wheel training with Morning Star Trucking or enroll in Dein’s adult education driving training program.

Also, Morning Star, a former employer of Dein, is additionally offering students summer employment transporting tomatoes. The graduates of the high school program can earn more than $10,000.

Other program participants are Penske Logistics and Worklete, which teach ergonomics and injury-prevention skills. For more details on this junior training program, please click here.