KaDarius Brooks was born and raised in San Augustine. “We’re small, but we’ve got a big heart,” he said of his hometown of 2,000 people in East Texas. Deep in the pine and hardwood forests of East Texas, near the Louisiana border. San Augustine played a big role in the Texas Revolution and birth of the Republic of Texas.

For Brooks, San Augustine is home, where he’s connected to a rich network of family and friends. Brooks wants to be able to make a good living in his hometown, and a tuition-sponsored CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) program in nearby Pineland, Texas, could be just the ticket.

To get in gear, the Pineland CDL program utilized a $99,000 USDA Rural Business Development Grant and $51,000 from nonprofit Communities Unlimited and the T.L.L. Temple Foundation. They purchased a trailer and a truck with a custom-ordered crew cab for student observers.

As Brooks neared the end of his eight-week CDL course, he prepared to test for his CDL. “I’m kind of nervous about backing maneuvers,” he admitted. “This was my first time ever really touching a standard shifter, so trying to learn the shifting pattern, with putting together the backing maneuvers, it’s been a little rough. But I’m getting way better.”

With a CDL, Brooks can access good-paying jobs close to home and has an opportunity to work his way into lucrative regional and over-the-road driving if he so chooses.

Driving a truck has long been seen as a ticket to a middle-class income. But in San Augustine and Sabine counties, the opportunity is unique. Timber companies in the area want more drivers to meet expanded processing capacities, and there aren’t enough trained drivers to take the jobs.

Unemployment rates in the community are amongst the highest in Texas, and Sabine and San Augustine counties are classified as persistent high-poverty areas by the USDA. About one in four residents live in poverty.  Rural disinvestment has left Pineland residents without the training they need for unfilled jobs in the region.

Photo Credit Communities Unlimited

Tuition-free enrollment in the Pineland program removes a significant barrier to upward mobility for students, as CDL programs in Texas typically cost a student about $5,000. A grant from the state of Texas funded tuition for students in Pineland like Brooks. 

Brooks was scrolling social media when he saw the advertisement for the CDL program. He had previously worked as a coach and a teacher, but he was looking for a different path.

“I have a couple of big goals and dreams,” Brooks said. “If I can get my CDL, I hope to save enough to try to start really funding my small pressure washing business.” He already details cars and pressure washes homes, but he would need more equipment to expand. 

With a CDL and steady income, Brooks can buy a truck and haul the equipment he needs to expand his business. “There’s quite a few people that actually own their trucks, and they’re either able to pay somebody to help them, pick up and take loads,” Brooks said. “It’s always a steady avenue of entrepreneurship because so many companies need truck drivers.”

As Brooks studies to pass his CDL, he sees the road as a way to stay rooted in a community he loves. “I would love to stay local,” he said. “San Augustine is not a huge place, but it always felt like home. You look around, and you know everyone. You have your family that’s still around you. You have a sense of belonging.”