The U.S. Department of Transportation recognizes commercial driver's license (CDL) programs to be beneficial for adequately training professional drivers of commercial vehicles, such as trucks and buses. If you live in California and are interested in this type of program, look for a community college that offers courses to prepare you for the CDL exam. The CDL exam consists of questions that are heavily focused on the mechanical side of large trucks and vehicles.

College of The Redwoods

The College of the Redwoods (redwoods.edu) is a community college located in Eureka, California. The school's truck driver training program prepares college students for careers as professional commercial drivers. Part of the course study work includes introducing students to commercial vehicle braking and shifting systems, teaching mechanics for commercial vehicles, understanding how to read the various gauges on the vehicles and learning all that a driver needs to know to pass the CDL licensing exam and get behind the wheel.

West Hills College Coalinga

At West Hills College Coalinga (westhillscollege.com) in Coalinga, California, prospective commercial driving students can take courses in handling heavy machinery, such as trucks. In such courses, students learn how heavy machinery is used in agriculture and construction, and how to provide mechanical support for operating and repairing such machines. The West Hills College Coalinga teaches students the skills necessary for working with heavy machinery, which is information that will be useful on the CDL exam.

San Bernardino Valley College

The San Bernardino Valley College (valleycollege.edu) in San Bernardino, California offers a technical school program for trucks and buses. In this program, students learn about the technical side of operating trucks and buses, such as how to read their computers, how to operate the electrical systems, how to maintain the condition of the heavy vehicles and advanced coursework in dealing with diesel engines. Such a program prepares students for careers as truck drivers by providing proper training on the equipment that commercial drivers have to operate on a regular basis.

MiraCosta College

MiraCosta College (miracosta.edu) in Southern California is a community college that offers a program in automotive technology. In this technical discipline students learn about maintaining and operating automotive equipment, such as large trucks, and prepares them for obtaining their commercial driver's license. This training program gives students practical application working with heavy machinery for hands on experience that they can relate to the CDL exam when they eventually take it.

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