When McCoy Banks walked across the stage last month to graduate from Cody High School, he left with not only his diploma, but the potential for a high-paying job right away.
That’s because Banks is the first Cody High student to earn a Class B commercial driver’s license through the Park 6 Classroom to Career Initiative.
“I think the biggest thing that I like about having the license is that I don't have to go ask someone to do something, I can get on and do it myself,” Banks said. “I don't really need to ask for outside help, and it makes me a lot more hirable to a lot of different companies.
“It also shows that I am worthy of driving for that company, whether it's a big vehicle or other smaller vehicles.”
Ready To RIDE
In the Park 6 Transportation Department’s CDL program, Banks received hands-on learning experiences that translate directly into workforce readiness.
The CDL program is one of many in the Park 6 School District that strives to provide pathways to learning through Gov. Mark Gordon’s Reimagining and Innovating the Delivery of Education (RIDE) initiative.
After Banks and a few other students professed interest in earning a CDL, CHS guidance counselor Corey Young, who coordinates pathway opportunities for students, reached out to make it happen.
“We are set up for Infinit-I truck driving training, and we have trainers that do our own training for our drivers,” Pehringer said. “Then our mechanic Clay Mathews is our state tester.”
Banks said he didn’t have much interest in bigger vehicles until he worked for a crane truck business last summer.
“I didn't really want to stick with driving crane trucks, so I wanted to get [a CDL] so I could drive anything,” he said. “But I actually prefer little trucks. Our family is very big into Toyota Tacomas, so we're not a big family on big vehicles.”
To earn a CDL, drivers need to be at least 18 years old and have to pass a written test, inspection test and test physical driving skills with a driving test.
A Class B license allows the holder to drive any vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 26,000 or more pounds or any vehicle towing a vehicle that does not have a gross vehicle weight rating in excess of 10,000 pounds. Examples include large buses, straight trucks, box trucks and dump trucks with small trailers.
The cost to get a Class B license at various schools around Wyoming ranges between $3,500 to $5,000.
“It was difficult,” Banks said. “But a big thing was getting this done through the high school, not only to get it paid for, but also because I had the time to be there.
“It was built into my schooling schedule, so I didn't have to find time outside of school, outside of my work schedule, outside of family time, to match up with the people at the transportation district.”
Learning The Basics
Cody High School uses a type of block schedule that consists of two 90-minute classes in the morning and four shorter classes in the afternoon.
The longer classes allowed Banks to have enough time for training to complete the program in a semester. Every morning four days a week from mid-January to late-May, Banks went to the bus barn and worked with instructor and bus driver Richard Brown.
“We would go over all the pre-trip inspections that we had to do,” Banks said. “We went over everything that I needed to do for the test, as well as road driving, how to be safe with passengers on board and the online portion of the CDL.”
They started inside the barn with the pre-trip inspection, which is a thorough examination of a vehicle before driving it. From there, Banks progressed to cone driving in the parking lot for the skills test.
Finally, he began earning some hours on the road, driving on area highways as well as some country roads which included railroad crossings, student bus stops and places to make left- and right-hand turns.
“I was only out on the road, probably a total of 15 to 20 hours,” he said. “And then I did countless hours driving inside cones and learning how to move that vehicle around.”
Banks had experience driving a dump truck and crane truck on his family’s property, so he had the basics down, but he said driving something as long as a school bus was a learning curve.
“But they did a really good job at Park 6 Transportation teaching me how to do that safely and smoothly,” he said.
He said driving big vehicles means more blind spots to be aware of, and also making sure to keep more of a cushion with the vehicles in front for adequate braking.
“You got this big, multi-ton vehicle that doesn't stop on a dime like some smaller cars do, so you’re learning how to give a cushion between you and the people around you,” he said. “And not being able to take super tight turns, you have to make them longer.
“You’ve got to plan what you're going to do and think logically if it's safe for you and the people around you to do what you're hoping to do and not just go for it and hope for the best.”
Taking The Test
With his training complete, Banks took the CDL skills test. He said he wasn’t sure he’d passed, and it was a relief when he found out he met all the criteria.
“I thought that I missed a lot of the wording and a lot of stuff that I needed on my pre-trip, as well as some of the driving stuff,” he said. “The biggest issue that I think everyone will run into when getting a CDL and taking tests like this is wording. I felt confident I knew everything I needed to say, but I didn't know the correct verbiage and wording that the state wanted me to say. So that's where I struggled is being able to point everything out with the proper terminology.”
Three students participated in the initial program, but Banks was the only one who completed all the requirements to earn a CDL.
“I’m not sure many students would have such an active role in it right away, but he did a great job,” Pehringer said. “He showed up every day and was very responsible. He showed the appropriate maturity and enthusiasm to complete the program.
“We are incredibly proud of McCoy and all he has accomplished. This is just the beginning, and we look forward to seeing many more students take advantage of the opportunities our CDL program offers.”
Looking To The Future
While he has the license to operate several large vehicles, Banks said his age is an obstacle to actually being able to drive many of them. Drivers with a CDL are not allowed to cross state lines until age 21.
“Insurance doesn't want to cover 18-year-olds, especially 18-year-old males,” he said. “So, even though I have the ability to jump in a school bus and know exactly what I'm doing, because I'm not 21 a lot of insurance companies won't let me drive people around.”
Insurance issue aside, Banks is still excited about future potential employment options that are available to him.
“My dad is currently in the process of getting his class a CDL in Utah,” Banks said. “He was looking at jobs and Maverik is paying upward of $110,000 a year for people to drive at night from hours of, like, 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. in the morning, driving fuel around.
“So, the ability to come right out of high school and get higher paying jobs like that definitely helps me a lot more over some other people that do have to go to college for their career professions.”
Banks is now working for a river rafting company and got his passenger and school bus endorsement to eventually be able to drive people to and from the river. Right now, though, he’s only able to move empty vehicles to the pickup points due to the insurance issues.
He said he isn’t planning to attend college at this time, and after spending his summer as a river raft guide, he plans to go back to working construction with his uncle this fall.
He’s also considering trying to get on with the transportation department for the school district if they could figure out the insurance.
“I'm not sure what next summer brings,” he said. “It might be back to river guiding or finding a job with Boone’s (Machine and Fabrication) or Woodward Tractor and driving a truck for them and delivering stuff. I'm just going to stick around to see where my life takes me.”
Banks also hopes to work toward his Class A license in the future.
