Program trains young garbage collectors amid US shortage

(AP) — Like most little boys, Corey Lever liked trucks and his favorite was always the garbage truck.

After graduating from high school, he bounced between jobs, working for various large companies and attending community college, but nothing was a good fit for the energetic, outdoors-loving guy.

[...] he heard about a new partnership between Waste Management of Alameda County Inc., Oakland Civicorps and unions that gives young adults — often high school dropouts from low-income communities — a chance to become teamster drivers after two years of training.

The American Trucking Association says a shortage of qualified applicants with a commercial driver's license has more than doubled since 2011.

Last year, Civicorps created six apprenticeships in partnership with Waste Management that can lead to lucrative jobs with the teamsters and unions as well as non-union administrative jobs.

Truck driver apprentices earn $20 an hour, and after two years they are eligible for union jobs earning $70,000 annually while working toward a pension, Lessik said.

Operations Manager Hector Abarca earned his high school diploma through Civicorps more than 20 years ago and has a good-paying job that supports his four children.