Coca-Cola pledges $1 million for commercial driver training

The Coca-Cola Company will make a donation of $1 million to the Technical College System of Georgia Foundation to aid its commercial truck driving program.

Additionally, Coca-Cola announced a truck tour to raise awareness of the college system’s commercial truck driving program as well as opportunities with Coca-Cola UNITED.

This announcement comes after Walmart made a pledge of its own to increase pay, benefits and education.

According to a news release on the Technical College System of Georgia website, the state’s trucking industry moves more than 435 million tons of goods across Georgia each year.

“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,” Alfredo Rivera, president of the Coca-Cola Company’s North America Operating Unit, said in the news release.

The $1 million pledge will create 11 new full-time instructor roles and two-part time instructor roles. It will also supplement the governor’s emergency education relief fund which will provide facility upgrades.

“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,” said Mark Rahiya, of Coca-Cola’s supply chain office. “By supporting TCSG’s Commercial Truck Driving Program trainers and faculty, we’re making sure the next generation of drivers get a world-class education.”

By 2023, the goal is to have an enrollment of 3,410, which would be double the current amount, said the news release.

To reach this goal, Coca-Cola is also introducing the “Delivering the Future: The Coca-Cola System & Technical College System of Georgia Truck Tour.”

The free tour will make stops at Southeastern Technical College, Central Georgia Technical College, Savannah Technical College, Athens Technical College and Southern Regional Technical College.

Tour dates and times and additional information is available here. LL