COEUR d'ALENE - North Idaho College has begun offering a commercial truck-driver training program that can be completed in four weeks.

NIC's first commercial driver's license class was in January through the Workforce Training Center. The course includes 160 hours of classroom instruction, hands-on and behind-the-wheel training and follows the Professional Truck Driver Institute required curriculum, the school said.

"With the looming truck driver shortage, there are outstanding opportunities for employment as a truck driver," said NIC Workforce Training Director Marie Price.

With unemployment numbers still elevated due to the economic slump, truck driving can offer a higher than might be expected entry level wage, and jobs are available locally and nationwide, the college said in its announcement of the new program.

NIC said the profession expects a national shortage of up to 500,000 truck drivers within the next few years, citing Heavy Duty Trucking Magazine.

Alivia Body, a regional economist for the Idaho Department of Labor, said driving jobs for both heavy and light trucks in North Idaho are expected to increase by more than 11 percent in the next five years. That would be 180 jobs on top of the nearly 1,600 that currently exist in the region.

NIC instructor Myra Kearn, who spent 10 years in the truck-driving industry, said the field has come a long way from the life of solitude that truck driving once was.

Many truck drivers entering the industry choose what she calls "over-the-road" driving to gain experience before applying for local driving jobs.

"I don't know of many professions that pay more than $40,000 at the entry level, with four weeks of training," Kearn said. "Putting in six months of over-the-road driving will equip (graduates) for good, high-paying local work."

And it's an industry that will remain relevant, Kearn said.

"If you own it or use it, it took a truck driver to get it there," Kearn said.

One of the NIC program's first graduates, Colin Pickens of Coeur d'Alene, has begun working in the merchandising department at Centennial Distribution Inc., with plans to put in the time necessary to begin driving truck for the Hayden company.

Hal Hughes, of Post Falls, who completed the truck driver training at NIC recently, has already been hired by Watkins and Shepard Trucking as an over-the-road driver.

"I want to become a local driver, but need to get experience first," Hughes said.

The next commercial driver's license class at NIC begins March 14. The program can be customized for those seeking to upgrade their truck driver's license from a Class B to a Class A, or for drivers who have been out of the industry for some time and need to refresh their skills.

Those interested in the course can attend a free information session to learn more about the course curriculum, entrance requirements, class schedule, costs and employment opportunities. The information session will be offered at 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, at the NIC Workforce Training Center in Post Falls. Registration is recommended but not required to attend the information session.

Applicants to the commercial driver's license course must have a valid driver's license and a good driving record, pass a physical exam and drug screen and must be at least 18 years old, the school said.