08/23/2024
Yavapai College’s Chino Valley campus has launched an innovative initiative to promote its educational programs by wrapping its Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) program trucks with vibrant graphics showcasing the campus’s diverse offerings.
This effort aims to increase awareness of the Chino Valley center’s unique educational opportunities, which include programs in agriculture technology, aquaculture, linework and equine studies.
The CDL program at Yavapai College is one of the few community college-based truck driving programs in Arizona. Over the past three years, the program has expanded from a single truck to three, with the goal of using these vehicles as mobile billboards to promote the campus and its specialized training options.
“It’s been about a three-year process,” said Steven Josh Hoover, the CDL program instructor who spearheaded the initiative. “When I took over the program three years ago, I had just one truck, and it wasn’t wrapped. Nobody really knows there’s a campus out here in Chino Valley.”
The project, which was finally realized with the support of college leadership, took time to gain momentum.
“It was just a matter of trying to find the funds to do it,” Hoover explained. “It was a combination of people getting together saying, ‘Hey, this is a good thing to do,’ and once you got up the chain of command, they realized, ‘Yes, this is a good thing,’ and they managed to get the funding to get it done.”
The wrapped trucks, which are 40 feet long and 10 feet tall, now travel extensively across the region, serving as moving advertisements for the college. The decision to wrap the trucks rather than use stationary billboards was strategic.
“Billboards are stationary, but if you’ve got a wrapped truck, and that truck is going from Chino Valley to Dewey, Chino Valley to Prescott, Chino Valley up to Ash Fork, the truck is mobile so it’s a mobile billboard,” Hoover said.
The wraps were completed by Auto Trim Plus in Prescott, with each trailer taking about four days to finish. The project was completed in July.
Hoover hopes this initiative will not only increase the visibility of the Chino Valley campus but also boost enrollment across all its programs.
“We’ve had great growth in our campus out here,” Hoover said. “That’s why I have three trucks now, because I’ve had the demand, so we had to get more trucks. As the demand grows and if it gets too much, then we will take the next step forward and get a fourth truck.”
The CDL program itself plays a crucial role in the local economy, providing drivers for various regional companies.
“My students are actually able to graduate here and then go into the workforce,” Hoover said. “I’m in contact with several companies that if they need drivers, they let me know and I send them their way. So, that’s always a good feeling when a student can get a job right out of the gate.”
The public response to the wrapped trucks has been overwhelmingly positive.
“I’ve had a couple of people tell me that, ‘Hey, I’ve seen your trucks around town,’ so that makes me feel good,” Hoover said. “I actually had somebody send a picture of me driving down the freeway.”
As Yavapai College continues to innovate in its outreach efforts, the CDL truck wraps represent a creative and effective way to connect with the community and highlight the educational opportunities available at the Chino Valley campus.
“It’s an integral part of the infrastructure of the United States, I mean, without truckers, nothing gets delivered,” Hoover emphasized. “So, I’m always trying to promote the program and the programs out here for what YC offers.”
