Northwest Regional ESD partners with Elite Truck School to help 10 recent high school graduates start a Class A trucking career.
While most of their classmates were packing for dorm rooms, ten Washington County high school graduates spent July earning a commercial driver’s license instead. As part of the Youth CDL Pilot program, they took classroom lessons, practiced backing, drove on public roads, and tested for their license.
All ten students have earned, or are testing for, their Class A Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), and several already had job offers waiting. They are the first graduates of the Youth CDL Pilot program, and their results set a high bar for the classes that follow.
How the Youth CDL Pilot Program Came Together
The students came from Aloha, Banks, Beaverton, Forest Grove, Glencoe, Mountainside, and Sherwood High Schools. The Northwest Regional Education Service District (NWRESD) built the two-month-long program. Elite Truck School in Hillsboro, Oregon ran the hands-on training.
Meet the graduates:
- Daniel Cruz
- Lezlye Rosas Florida
- Mateo Salcedo Hernandez
- Brayden Hamel
- Oscar Sanchez
- Jackson King
- Samuel Stewart
- Aaron Jones
- Walter Dahme
- Caius Dehaart
NWRESD found students who were interested, screened them, and sponsored their spots in the program. From there, students started with classroom lessons, earning a Commercial Learner’s Permit (CLP) before getting behind the wheel of a truck.
On July 13, the student cohort walked through the doors of Elite Truck School’s Hillsboro campus to start the hands-on portion of their training. For three weeks, they trained on the range, practiced backing, drove on public roads, and prepped for pre-trip inspections. The students began testing for their license on July 27.
Employers Were Ready to Hire
Word of the students’ success traveled fast. On July 23, Elite Truck School hosted a career fair built just for the cohort. Trucking and utility companies, along with other local employers, showed up ready to hire. Some employers offered jobs to graduates before their licenses had even arrived in the mail.
That kind of demand makes sense. First-year CDL drivers in Oregon can expect to earn between $50,000 and $75,000, and these students reached that starting line without a four-year degree or student loan debt.
One graduate put it simply:
“The CDL program helped me open my eyes to all the different opportunities that the trucking industry offers. It wasn’t just something you can go in and get. You actually had to want it, show up every day, and work hard for it. This program allowed me to secure a job at Stadelman Valley Farms two months before I even had my CDL. It’s an amazing thing to have if you want it as a career or even just a backup.”
What the Partners Behind the Program Are Saying
Elite Truck School Co-Owner and General Manager Tyler Reisnaur credited the partnership for the results.
“We couldn’t be prouder of what these students have accomplished in such a short period of time. The partnership with NWRESD has been outstanding. They did the hard work of finding and preparing the right students, and we’re delivering the training that will launch their careers,” Reisnaur said.
Jamie Brady works in School Performance and Workforce Development at NWRESD. She has spent years working toward this moment.
“This program has been over two years in the making in collaboration with Washington County Superintendents. Our team worked closely with the Oregon Employment Department and NWRESD Data Analysts to identify commercial driving careers as high demand and high wage in the Portland metro. This opportunity is not frequently offered to high school students, and NWRESD was excited to create a regional industry credential that could support students in transitioning from high school to a living wage career with a wide variety of job opportunities,” Brady said.
What Comes Next
NWRESD already plans to expand the Youth CDL Pilot program into Columbia County for the 2026-27 school year. That means even more students will get the chance to trade a summer job for a career.
The Youth CDL Pilot program is part of a bigger NWRESD effort to connect Washington County students with credentials and career paths in high-demand fields. Elite Truck School is a professional CDL training provider in Hillsboro, handling the range work, road training, and testing that carries students from permit to license.
