160 cdl instructor team

As 160 Driving Academy grew, so did the complexity and opportunity of the organization. To support that continued expansion, the company transitioned to a highly experienced professional management team with deep expertise in vocational education, workforce development, operations, and organizational growth.

Today, 160 Driving Academy combines the entrepreneurial spirit of its founding with the strength and discipline of an established national organization. Backed by leading New York City-based financial institutions and guided by experienced vocational training professionals, 160 has the resources, expertise, and infrastructure to continue investing in its students, instructors, training programs, technology, and nationwide network.

This combination of industry heritage, educational expertise, professional leadership, and strong financial resources has helped establish 160 Driving Academy as a national leader in CDL training.

And while the organization has evolved significantly since 2012, its purpose remains the same:

Prepare safe, confident drivers. Create meaningful career opportunities. Help move lives—and the trucking industry—forward.

Our Journey

  1. 2012

    A New Vision for CDL Training

    160 Driving Academy is founded by Steve Gold with a mission to create accessible, high-quality training for people seeking careers in the trucking industry.

  2. Building a National Network

    160 expands beyond its original footprint, developing a growing network of CDL training locations and serving both individual students and corporate partners.

  3. Growing With the Industry

    As demand for skilled commercial drivers grows, 160 continues investing in instructors, equipment, training resources, technology, and employer relationships.

  4. Professional Leadership for the Next Chapter

    A highly skilled management team of vocational training and business professionals takes the wheel to support the company’s continued national growth.

  5. 160 Today

    160 Driving Academy stands as a nationwide CDL training organization committed to safety, career opportunity, workforce development, and helping prepare the next generation of professional drivers.

Proud of Where We’ve Been. Focused on Where We’re Going.

Our history gives us experience. Our scale gives us reach. Our leadership gives us the ability to continue evolving.

But our students give us our purpose.

Every person who chooses 160 becomes part of a story that began in 2012 and continues every time a graduate earns a CDL, starts a new career, supports a family, or joins the professional driving community.

We’re proud of the road we’ve traveled—and even more excited about the road ahead.

160 truck fleet lineup

Driving Careers Forward. Keeping America Moving.

For years, 160 Driving Academy has helped people turn ambition into opportunity by providing the training, skills, and confidence needed to begin a career in the trucking industry.

What started with a commitment to delivering high-quality Commercial Driver’s License training has grown into a nationwide network serving communities across the country. Along the way, hundreds of thousands of students have trusted 160 to help them take an important step toward a new career and a better future.

But our impact goes far beyond earning a license.

We help prepare the professional drivers who keep businesses supplied, communities connected, and America moving.

Start Your Journey With 160

Find a Location Explore CDL Training
White tractor trailer in parking lot

Built on a Legacy of Trucking

Experience That Runs Deep.

The trucking industry is the backbone of the American economy—and 160 Driving Academy is proud to be part of the industry that keeps it moving.
Our history is rooted in trucking, driver development, and a deep understanding of what it takes to prepare someone for the responsibilities of a professional driving career.

As the transportation industry has evolved, so has 160.

We have expanded our footprint, enhanced our training programs, invested in our instructors and equipment, embraced new learning technologies, and built relationships throughout the transportation industry.

Through every stage of our growth, one thing has remained constant:

Our commitment to preparing safe, confident drivers for meaningful careers.

From One Student to Hundreds of Thousands of Stories

Four CDL students standing beside a truck

  • Every student who walks through our doors comes with a different story.

  • Some are looking for their first real career opportunity.

  • Some want better earning potential.

  • Some are changing careers after decades in another industry.

  • Some want to provide more for their families.

  • Others simply want a career that gives them a greater sense of independence and possibility.

  • At 160 Driving Academy, we understand that earning a CDL can represent much more than learning how to operate a commercial vehicle.

It can be the beginning of an entirely new chapter.

That is why our Instructors, Student Success Advisors, and support teams work together to help students move from the classroom to behind the wheel—and ultimately toward the career opportunities waiting on the other side of graduation.

Truck inspection lesson with two people discussing

Safety Is at the Center of
Everything We Do

Training Drivers for More Than the Test.

Passing a CDL skills exam is an important milestone. But our responsibility does not end there. At 160 Driving Academy, safety is foundational to how we train.

Our goal is to help students develop the knowledge, habits, confidence, and respect for the road that professional drivers need throughout their careers. From classroom theory and vehicle inspections to range maneuvers and on-road training, safety is integrated throughout the student experience.

Because every properly trained driver represents something bigger than an individual career. They become part of a nationwide community responsible for helping keep our highways, businesses, families, and communities safe.

We don’t simply train people to pass a test. We help prepare them for the responsibility of becoming professional drivers.

Training That Changes Lives

lead cdl instructor cab entry

A CDL Can Open More Than One Door

For many students, CDL training is about something bigger than learning to drive a truck.

It is about possibility.

A Commercial Driver’s License can open the door to opportunities across transportation, logistics, construction, utilities, delivery, passenger transportation, government services, and countless other industries that depend on skilled commercial drivers.

And because professional drivers are needed throughout the country, the skills students develop at 160 can travel with them.

We are proud to help people gain a credential that can provide a pathway toward:

  • A new career
  • Greater earning potential
  • Long-term professional growth
  • Increased independence
  • Opportunities in industries across the country
  • The ability to build a stronger future for themselves and their families

One license can change the direction of a career. One career can change the direction of a life.

cdl instructor portrait

Powered by Great Instructors

Experience Passed From One Generation of Drivers to the Next

Behind every successful student is someone who helped them learn.

Our instructors bring real-world commercial driving experience into the training environment, helping students connect what they learn in the classroom with what happens behind the wheel.

They teach students how to inspect a vehicle, master essential maneuvers, navigate the road, develop safer driving habits, and build confidence one skill at a time.

But great instructors do more than teach.

  • They encourage.
  • They coach.
  • They challenge.
  • They find different ways to explain a skill until it clicks.

And they understand how meaningful the moment can be when a student earns their CDL.

At 160, our instructors are not simply preparing the next generation of commercial drivers.

They are helping launch the next generation of trucking careers.

cdl instructor student briefing

Connecting Training With Opportunity

Helping Build America’s Transportation Workforce

Our relationship with the trucking industry does not stop at training.

160 Driving Academy works to build connections between aspiring drivers and the companies that need them.

Through relationships with employers and transportation organizations, career-readiness resources, and job-placement support, we help students better understand the opportunities available after earning their CDL.

At the same time, we help employers connect with a growing pipeline of newly trained drivers ready to take the next step in their careers.

It is one more way 160 helps strengthen the workforce that keeps our economy moving.

More Than a CDL School

ai-hiring-trucking-industry

  • We are trainers.

  • We are instructors.

  • We are career advocates.

  • We are workforce partners.

  • We are members of the trucking community.

  • And most importantly, we are people helping people move forward.

  • Every graduate represents another career launched, another employer supported, another skilled driver entering the transportation workforce, and another story that becomes part of the history of 160 Driving Academy.

  • The road ahead is full of opportunity. We help people get there.

Your Next Chapter Could Start Here

Whether you’re exploring trucking for the first time, ready to make a career change, looking to add skilled drivers to your workforce, or interested in joining the 160 team, there’s a place for you on the road ahead.

Ready to see where a CDL can take you?

Start your journey with 160 Driving Academy today.

Find a 160 Location Explore CDL Training Talk to Our Team