The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced almost $1 million in new grants to help train veterans and military families for jobs in the transportation industry.  The grants were awarded to six colleges across the country as part of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training grant program.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists commercial trucking as a high-demand job, with more than 300,000 additional positions expected by 2020.

FMCSA awarded the following CMVOST grants, which could provide training for as many as 300 new students across the six colleges:

• Grays Harbor College in Aberdeen, Wash., $131,041

• Long Beach Community College District, in Long Beach, Calif., $211,733

• Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College in Orangeburg, S.C., $150,000

• Lone Star College in Woodlands, Texas, $184,260  

• Century College in White Bear Lake, Minn., $120,000

• Joliet Junior College in Joliet, Ill., $176,427

In May 2011, the FMCSA finalized its commercial learner's permit rule, which gives state driver licensing agencies the authority to waive the skills test portion of the commercial driver’s license test if the applicant demonstrates two years of safe driving experience in military equivalents of commercial motor vehicles. Visit http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration-licensing/cdl/Military-CDL-Waiver.aspx for more information.

To learn more about FMCSA’s commercial truck and bus safety grant programs and other safety initiatives, visit the FMCSA website at www.fmcsa.dot.gov.