Picture: Wor-Wic’s commercial truck driver training instructor Mark Miciotto, left, helps student Carlos Briddell practice driving on the CDL simulator. Wor-Wic’s CDL training is designed to prepare students for a successful career in the trucking and transportation industry. It includes both classroom instruction and hands-on experience.
Truck driving classes take place year-round, but there’s something students in the eight-week commercial truck driver training course could easily miss, depending on the weather: driving in snow or heavy rain. But that’s not a problem for commercial driver’s license (CDL) students at Wor-Wic, thanks to a new, high-tech simulator that gets students behind a virtual wheel to practice in all kinds of conditions.
“The simulator has been great,” said Mark Miciotto, continuing education and workforce development CDL instructor. “It gives students a chance to get used to all of the controls before getting behind a real wheel — and it saves wear and tear on our training vehicles, too.”
The mobile classroom, housed in a trailer equipped with wraparound screens that simulate the visuals and rumble of being in a big rig, allows students to get familiar with shifting gears in the variety of transmissions available in commercial trucks. Along with variable weather, it also provides experience on hilly or mountainous regions that are out of practice range on the Eastern Shore.
“It has been very helpful,” student Carlos Briddell said of the simulator, which let him get comfortable with the complex truck controls and move easily to one of Wor-Wic’s hands-on, real-world vehicles.
With a nationwide shortage of 80,000 truck drivers, Wor-Wic’s new simulator will help fill the need for skilled drivers in the community. For a free student information packet that includes course schedule, requirements and funding options, visit worwic.edu/cdl or call 410-334-2815.