The Richland Correctional Institution in Richland, Ohio recently launched a Commercial Drivers License Program where prison inmates can earn their CDL A license.
While incarcerated, prison inmates must pass a written exam then they can apply for a 4 week training program by local CDL school, Trainco. When they are released from prison they can choose to sign with program sponsor, P I & I Motor Express, as full-time trainee drivers.
During their training period they gain experience by doing short hauls and staying at a local halfway house until they are fully rehabilitated and ready for life outside of prison. After their training period they can choose to stick with the company or test the waters and look for employment with other carriers.
The president of of P I & I Motor Express, Joseph Kerola, says that the drivers aren’t bad people and hopes that by offering them employment it will prevent them from going back to prison again.
In an interview with the Norwalk Reflector he says “People deserve a second chance. None of us are perfect. None of us have done everything right.”
“The demand for skilled truck drivers is going up and up,” Kerola said, adding that there are over 250,000 unfilled truck driving jobs across the nation.
According to Kerola, P I & I trainees earn slightly more than $30,000 a year, plus benefits, and eventually may earn up to $80,000 a year.
