The Coca-Cola Company recently made a $1 million donation to attract a new class of truck drivers at a time when the country needs to add upwards of 81,000 people to the workforce.
“As residents and businesses across the state work to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever to invest in our communities and provide opportunities that will improve the lives of our fellow Georgians,” Coca-Cola president Alfredo Rivera reportedly said. “We are proud of our Georgia roots and will continue to do our part to keep Georgia strong.”
Based in Atlanta, the household name beverage company announced the donation to the Technical College System of Georgia Foundation (TCSG) to support its Commercial Truck Driving Program. Coca-Cola also plans to promote trucking as a career choice through the “Delivering the Future: The Coca-Cola System & Technical College System of Georgia Truck Tour.” The technical college system provides everyday people with educational opportunities to secure their CDL and embark on a good-paying career.
“Despite the challenges of the last two years, the trucking industry remained steadfast as a foundational driver of the nation’s economy, delivering essential goods to help businesses stay open and to reopen,” Coca-Cola supply chain chief Mark Rahiya reportedly said. “By supporting TCSG’s Commercial Truck Driving Program trainers and faculty, we’re making sure the next generation of drivers gets a world-class education while simultaneously working to address the driver shortage and provide opportunity for Georgians.”
The $1 million donation supports the creation of 11 new full-time instructor roles and two part-time instructor positions. In addition, $8.32 million will be funneled to the system from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund. That money is expected to improve infrastructure and allow the system to double statewide enrollment from 1,705 to 3,410 in 2023.
“We are grateful for our partnership with The Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola UNITED and look forward to leveraging this investment to attract more best-in-class trainers who are the foundation of our program,” TCSG Commissioner Greg Dozier reportedly said. “With the expansion of the program, this investment will allow us to prepare more commercial truck drivers to enter the industry, helping to ensure the continued transport of goods upon which we rely across the state.”
The long-term goal involves creating an educational pipeline that provides young people with information to make informed decisions about truck driving career opportunities. And Coca-Cola plans to roll out the Delivering the Future tour to raise awareness at the following stops.
- Tuesday, May 17: Southeastern Technical College, Vidalia Campus
- Wednesday, May 18: Central Georgia Technical College, Macon Campus
- Thursday, May 19: Savannah Technical College, Savannah Campus
- Wednesday, May 25: Athens Technical College, Athens Campus
- Thursday, May 26: Southern Regional Technical College, Tifton Campus
Coca-Cola reportedly needs to hire as many as 85 CDL professionals in Georgia across its 30 statewide facilities.
“WOKE” Coke company trying to get itself more drivers 🤣.
Coke doesn’t need to hire more instructor’s because it’s not going to bring in more drivers. What they need to do is pay for the student drivers training. I’ve been driving for almost 16 years. I got my training and CDL from Roadmaster and it cost me $4,800.00 for the 10 weeks (160 hours) of training, I’m sure it’s well over that amount now. The company that the new driver signs on with, tells the student driver they’ll pay the student back for their training. Basically $250.00 a week after so many months of driving for that trucking company and the student has to do everything the company tells the student to do. One thing the company told me was that I couldn’t idle my truck over 10% or else I wouldn’t receive the $250.00. I really hope new drivers read this note and ask questions before thinking about getting a CDL
ufb ,what about the dew drivers ,i used to deliver soda and coke and other beverages ,seems like training and sales ,and other skills needed to be a well qualified cdl big boy cola specialist
I stopped buying coke products after they became a woke company. I sure as hell wouldn’t drive for them. They must need a lot of drivers ad well, so they teamed with more dems in the state to screw over more people to show like they are doing something good, really wonder what kind of kickback they getting for this bs.