Celadon Group has opened a new driver training center near its Indianapolis headquarters. The $7 million, 61,000 sq. ft. facility was opened through the company’s Quality Drivers subsidiary.
The center includes dorm rooms, cafeteria, workout room, basketball court, and a state of the art driver training road course. Quality Drivers expects to train approximately 500 new drivers in the first full year of operation at the training center.
“An ever present challenge for everyone in the industry is driver recruitment and driver retention,” said Paul Will, vice chairman, president and CEO. “We recognize that starting the Quality Drivers school in late 2012 and now opening the Quality Drivers training center are the next logical steps in making sure Celadon has enough qualified drivers to fill our seats.”
Quality Drivers offers the driver training classes weekly, which encompass four weeks of basic training toward the CDL exam, a company orientation, and six weeks of supervised driving. The program is free as long as recruits fulfill a contract to log 120,000 mi. driving for Celadon after completing the training. To date, more than 500 drivers have completed the program which has been held at the Celadon headquarters facility.
“We believe the driver training facility is second to none,” said Scott Vogel, Quality Drivers manager. “We asked our drivers to help us decide what resources we needed in the new training center, and they were not shy about providing us suggestions. The investment Celadon has made in the new Driver Training Center demonstrates the company’s commitment to ensuring our drivers are provided the optimum environment for learning.”
The WiFi-enabled facility features:
- Four classrooms each seating 30 students furnished with the latest audio visual equipment
- Driver’s lounge with couches, tables and chairs
- Regulation hardwood basketball court that easily converts to a volleyball court
- Running track that circles the basketball floor
- Racquetball court
- Workout room featuring treadmills, elliptical machines, exercise bikes and weight machines
- Cafeteria serving meals three times a day – seven days a week
- 104 single dorm rooms with a full size bed and a 32” LED television
- On-site medical center staffed with a nurse practitioner and two medical assistants
- Laundry facility with six washers and six dryers
- Business center with nine computers for use by the drivers
- Outdoor driver training road course
