“I’m starting Monday at Taylors Express in Hope Mills,” Matt Canady said.

Freshly graduated and ready to start working, Canady and Aaron Gardener have just graduated from the CDL program at Fayetteville Community College.

And now they will hit the road in a career that needs them more than ever. They understand the pressure of performance.

“Some guys will be out for two to three weeks at a time, making that sacrifice to make sure the shelves are stocked,” Canady said.

Gardener added, “When you deliver on time, plan, plan, plan. It’s all about planning.”

Lack of drivers fuels supply chain issues. Demand is high, but the number of pilots joining the ranks is still low.

Eric Smith is their instructor.

“You can go to work for a company with particular rules that you may not like, but you still have to follow them,” Smith said.

Smith warns his students against all possible scenarios, like the one unfolding just across the border in Canada where drivers are protesting COVID vaccination mandates and creating blockades at the border, preventing certain goods from being transported. entering or leaving Canada and the United States,

In the United States, vaccination mandates vary from company to company.

“If you don’t want to follow their rules, you may have to find a new place to be employed,” Smith said.

Smith knows dozens of his students will hit the road soon after graduation, but he said he knows few will stay on the job long term.

But their help is needed in the short term.

Richard Woollery has two years on the job and he has learned a few lessons. For him, he said he understands safety rules and company policies, as well as the importance of getting his precious cargo where it’s going.

“If you don’t like it, you’re not going to stay there, and I love it, and I can’t wait to go back,” Woollery said with a laugh.

Although the American Trucking Association does not mandate vaccines for companies and drivers, it strongly advises those on the road to consider getting vaccinated if they haven’t already.