[article written by Mariano Rubio, 2019 L.A. County Industrial and Technology Education College Teacher of the Year, and auto, medium/heavy truck and power generator instructor at Citrus College; published on LinkedIn on April 30, 2021]

In late April 2021, the Citrus College Medium and Heavy-Duty Truck (MTRK) program received a donated CNG-powered Freightliner Cascadia 113" Sleeper Cab from Velocity Truck Centers and Daimler Trucks of North America. On hand to receive the donation were instructors, Mariano Rubio and Bryce Neighbors, program lab technician, Allan Weaver, and dean of CTE, Michael Wangler.

Accompanying the truck were the Velocity Truck Centers' Jason Shearer, vice president of service operations; Deborah Cegielski, vice president of human resources; and technical support manager, Manny Barba. It was a special homecoming for Jason Shearer who graduated from the Citrus College MTRK program in 2001. He worked as a technician and, eventually, moved up to the position of vice president in the company. Jason is truly one of Citrus College's success stories.

As instructors for the program, there's no better feeling than partnering with a company that provides careers to hard working students wanting to get into the field. The Citrus College truck program faculty are excited to work with the great people from Velocity Trucks. Working together, the need for qualified heavy truck technicians will be met one student at a time!

View the event on Velocity Truck Center's Instagram.