Gateway Community & Technical College is enrolling students in a four-week commercial driver's license program at its Fort Wright campus, offering a fast track into one of Northern Kentucky's hardest-to-fill job categories.

The program, based at Gateway's Transportation and Technology Center at 1051 Dudley Road, prepares students for a Class A or Class B Kentucky CDL road test. New cohorts start twice a month on a rolling basis, and evening classes are available for working adults who cannot attend the daytime schedule of Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

No prior commercial driving experience is required.

"You don't need any prior commercial driving experience to get started," CDL instructor Hendrik Kruger said in a Gateway announcement on LINK nky. "We take our students step-by-step from classroom safety and pre-trip inspections to range driving and real-world road practice, so by the time test day comes, they feel confident behind the wheel."

Gateway says the curriculum covers classroom instruction on federal regulations, trip planning and map reading, plus range and road driving in the college's own training vehicles. Tuition includes DOT physicals and drug screenings, though the college has not publicly listed a specific dollar amount for the program. Eligible students may qualify for financial assistance through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act via the Kentucky Career Center.

Enrollment is first-come, first-served.

Northern Kentucky faces chronic labor shortages in logistics and transportation, particularly in Boone and Kenton counties, according to a July 28 report in The Northerner. Employers in those sectors have been forced to recruit workers from across the Ohio River because there aren't enough local residents to fill the roles.

BE NKY research analyst Ashby Drummond said in that July report that there simply aren't enough people in Boone or Kenton County who want to work in logistics and transportation, forcing employers to import labor from across the river. Corry Eimer, associate director of workforce development at the Northern Kentucky Area Development District, warned in the same report that projected population growth won't be enough to fill available jobs across the region.

The program is also open to employers looking to upskill current workers, not just individual career changers, according to Gateway's announcement.

Nationally, the driver shortage has cooled as an industry concern. The American Transportation Research Institute's 2025 annual survey found it fell out of trucking's top 10 issues for the first time in 21 years, though motor carrier executives still ranked it fifth on their own list.

To register or ask about upcoming start dates, prospective students can call Donna Krumpelman in Gateway's Workforce Solutions office at (859) 442-1176 or visit gateway.kctcs.edu.