Wallace State Receives Grant to Fund CDL Scholarships

Hanceville, AL — Wallace State Community College received $129,500 in funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) through a Commercial Motor Vehicle Operational Safety (CMVOST) grant for fiscal year 2024. The funding will provide scholarships to 37 students and expand the number of commercial driver’s license (CDL) holders who have enhanced operator safety training.

Persons eligible to apply for the scholarships include current or retired service members, nuclear families of current or retired members and individuals from under-represented populations including women, persons with disabilities, and low-income individuals.

Wallace State offers CDL classes at its main campus in Hanceville, as well as in Oneonta and Winston County. The Wallace State CDL program has in its fleet of vehicles a truck designed for persons with paraplegia or other lower-body mobility issues.

“At FMCSA, our job is all about safety – that includes safety of the roadways and safety of our nation’s commercial motor vehicle drivers,” said FMCSA Deputy Administrator Vinn White. “So, we are proud to make this funding available, and are committed to working with the awardees to put it to good use, making it easier for drivers to enter into and stay in the CMV industry.”

The mission of FMCSA is to 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 CMVOST grant, which seeks to reduce the severity and number of crashes on our nation’s roads involving large trucks and buses by expanding the number of CDL holders possessing enhanced operator safety training.

The CMVOST grant program has three goals: 1) to expand the number of CDL holders possessing enhanced operator safety training; 2) to provide opportunities for current or former members of the United States Armed Forces (including National Guard members and reservists) and their families to enter the trucking or busing industry as drivers; and 3) to help increase training opportunities for candidates from rural, refugee, and underserved communities.

“Wallace State is grateful to be a recipient of this grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration so that we may help people who have a dream of entering a lucrative and rewarding career, and one that is crucial to the economy,” said Dr. Vickie Karolewics, President of Wallace State Community College. “Truck drivers perform the important and vital task of moving materials products across the nation, and it is important that they are properly trained to do so as safely as possible.”

Training such as this will reduce the severity and number of crashes on our nation’s roads involving large trucks and buses by expanding the number of CDL holders possessing enhanced operator safety training. The focus on attracting veterans and individuals from underserved communities helps expand and diversify the trucking industry. The grant also highlights the Biden-Harris Administration’s continued commitment to its Trucking Action Plan, increasing the pool of trained drivers to strengthen the trucking workforce. Strengthening our nation’s trucking workforce also improves the resiliency of our national supply chain.

To apply for the scholarship and receive more information about Wallace State’s CDL program contact the Center for Career and Workforce Development at 256.352.7452 or email anna.parrish@wallacestate.edu. Classes are offered day and night and weekends and last from three to four weeks.

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About Wallace State

Wallace State Community College (Ala.), a member of the Alabama Community College System, is a comprehensive community college in north central Alabama offering more than 200 options in academic, health and technical programs of study leading to an associate degree, certificate or transfer, as well as workforce-credit training and adult education. An Achieving the Dream Leader College, nationally recognized by the Aspen Institute as a finalist for the 2025 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, ranked by Southern Business and Development among the Top 3 institutions in the South for workforce development, named a Center of Excellence by the National League for Nursing and the National Security Administration, rated the Top Online Community College in Alabama, a Military Friendly Institution and an All-Steinway School, Wallace State is an outstanding place for students to pursue their education and career goals. Classes are offered online and on campus, day, evening and on weekends, with numerous start dates each year. Visit Wallace State’s beautiful main campus located on 300-acres in Hanceville, Ala., our satellite location in downtown Oneonta, Ala., find us online at www.wallacestate.edu, or call 256.352.8000.