Beyond the numbers, though, Jones is just excited to be on the road. Once he’s a certified trucker, he can expect a starting income of about $60,000, and maybe even more, as the United States expects to be short about 180,000 drivers by 2030. He says, “I really owed it to my mama, because she stayed in my ear about going to school and getting my GED and trying to do the right thing.”Īs part of MIBEST, a Mississippi Community College Board program that seeks to move low-wage and non-traditional students into higher-wage positions, Jones completed a GED and workforce credential concurrently (in his case, the CDL). He knew his criminal history could be a barrier to employment and didn’t want his education to be another one, so just a few weeks after his release, he enrolled in the Mississippi Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (MIBEST) program at EMCC. “We had to take care of her, and I was trying to help my little brother and sister, help them stay in school.” Jones was eventually arrested and went to prison for five years, during which time his mother passed away. “That’s why I ended up selling drugs and taking the wrong direction,” he says. His mom required round-the-clock care, which meant he didn’t have the time to work a steady job. Jones dropped out of high school to take care of his disabled mother and younger siblings. Maybe Jones couldn’t drive a stick-shift a few weeks ago, but now he can parallel park a big rig longer than a bowling lane. He spent this particular afternoon driving a semi-truck on the foggy highways connecting Starkville, West Point, and his native Columbus-a group of three towns in northeast Mississippi known as the Golden Triangle region. From eight in the morning to about four in the afternoon, the 31-year-old Jones is on the road, training for his Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) at East Mississippi Community College (EMCC). “When I started, I couldn’t even drive a stick, and now I’m shifting a ten-speed,” says Gary Jones with the sort of smile you hear before you see it.

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