Career Pathways
Your Future, Your Road to Prosperity
How Pathways Work
At Skillful Steps, a career pathway is about more than driving — it’s about economic mobility and opportunity. We equip justice-involved and low-income adults with the credentials, support, and connections needed to compete in today’s trucking economy.
Our model begins with the Class A CDL license, the foundation for a career in transportation. From there, participants can strengthen their employability with credentials like the TWIC card (critical for port access in Houston) and, later in their driving careers, hazmat endorsements.
While Skillful Steps does not guarantee employment, we provide the tools, wraparound supports, and employer introductions that help our graduates pursue local and regional opportunities where new drivers are most competitive.
- 1. Foundational License: Earn your Class A CDL, opening the door to commercial driving
- 2. Expanded Credentials (Optional): Add credentials to expand opportunities. A TWIC card provides access to Houston’s port economy, while a hazmat endorsement can be pursued later in a career. (Most employers require about two years of safe driving experience before hiring hazmat drivers.)
- 3. Employment Readiness: Skillful Steps provides employer introductions, compliance guidance, and coaching — with an emphasis on local and regional routes, where entry-level drivers have the best chance to succeed.
- 4. Growth Potential: With driving experience, graduates can pursue additional endorsements and expand into higher-paying specialized routes, regional dedicated runs, or port logistics careers.
Donate
Your support helps Skillful Steps remove barriers to CDL training through guidance, enrollment support, transportation assistance, and access to key credentials. Our core focus is the Class A CDL license — the foundation for long-term stability and mobility in trucking.
For participants who qualify, we also assist with access to additional credentials, such as TWIC cards, which expand employment potential in Houston’s growing port economy. These credentials are optional, depend on eligibility, and are always secondary to the CDL foundation.
Together, we’re building a stronger workforce and creating lasting opportunities for justice-involved and low-income adults to pursue economic mobility.