Bishop State linemen and trucking students get hands-on workforce training

Yahoo

13-05-2025

MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Students at Bishop State Community College are learning skillful trades to get ready to enter the workforce.
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WKRG News 5's Akievia McFarland visited the truck driving and lineman programs to see the benefits of their hands-on training.
The first stop on this route is the college's truck driving program, the largest of its kind in Alabama.
'We produce more students than any other college,' Transportation Department Division Chair Brad Wallace said.
Over a course of eight weeks, future truckers 18-years and older learn road regulations, different types of trailers, and how to drive a big truck safely.
'The mindset that we give them here makes them very successful when they go out in the field and work for a company,' Wallace said. 'Most of our students don't have any accidents or incidents along the way for the first year of their career.'
Having skills behind the wheel isn't all students want, they're also in it for a brighter future.
'To make more money and things, and explore, see what the world is like,' student Jeremiah Ervin said.
'In eight weeks you can change your career and go to work making anywhere, starting at $40,000 a year to $100,000 a year,' Wallace said.
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Chances for big pay are up for these students as the program has a 98% placement rate and most students are pre-hired before classes end.
This isn't the college's only program taking students to new heights.
Some linemen students are learning the process of hanging insulators and dealing with electricity over 11 to 12 weeks.
'They initially learn how to climb and work aloft off of wooden poles, off of concrete and steel structures and certain types of lattice towers,' instructor Daniel Matson said. 'We teach them the basics of your first day of being on the job to start the apprenticeship program of being a lineman one day.'
With a placement rate of 95% among graduates, these linemen could go on to make upwards of $100,000 annually.
But first, they have to learn the basics, like being able to safely recognize hazards in the field and climb in full gear.
'They always have to wear a hard hat, close toed shoes, long sleeve shirts, they have to wear appropriate gloves,' BSCC Industry Liaison Daphne Stamps said. 'The equipment probably weighs about 50 to 60 pounds that they have to wear daily.'
The equipment is heavy, and the climb might be a little intimidating, but students say you get used to it all.
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'My favorite part is going up the pole now. It wasn't at first. It took me a little minute to ease into it but once you get the hang of it and trust the equipment and stuff while you're up there, it's a breeze,' student Kendall Patrick said.
Whether their career takes them toward the skies or for a drive, students are learning lucrative skills to continue Powering Progress in Alabama`s workforce.
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