New local truck driving school opens amid driver shortage

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - A new trucking school with potential impacts on the national truck driver shortage opened in Idaho Falls.

Sage has partnered with the College of Eastern Idaho to expand its Blackfoot training program into Idaho Falls.

The program is expected to increase the overall quality of drivers.

“The idea was to just have better-trained drivers and to put a law in place that takes everybody who wants to CDL they will now have to go through a school or a training provider that will provide that training for them," school director Lynn Jorgensen said.

New Federal Government restrictions require anyone applying for a Commercial Drivers License to go through a school or training provider.

However, the new restrictions could initially have a negative impact on the driver shortage according to Sage educators.

“I don't see that it's going to relieve any pressure on the shortage of drivers. They contend that it is anywhere from 80 to 90,000 driver shortage in the United States. But now the federal government has just added one more it's one more step in order to get your CDL so it could slow down the process just a little bit," Jorgensen said.

Despite the driving shortage, the school expects its first 11 students to receive a CDL within four to six weeks.

Several more students are expected at the beginning of spring.