The U.S. trucking industry is still short around 60,000 drivers, according to the American Trucking Association. For Badilla, that shortage became an open door.

“I have an opportunity to do something positive for my life,” he told CBS News. “It feels great to be free.”

Freedom has a deeper meaning for Badilla. After spending nearly nine years in federal prison on drug charges, his return to society came with a new battle: finding a job.

“When you come out of prison, you feel like all the doors are locked,” he said. “Nobody wants to give you a job.”

That reality isn’t unique. Roughly 60% of formerly incarcerated individuals are still unemployed four years after release, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Nearly 70% return to prison, based on data from the Department of Justice. The cycle of recidivism is hard to break without meaningful work and opportunity.

Badilla’s turning point came through a unique CDL training initiative—The Commercial Driver’s License Workforce Development Program. It’s a partnership between New York City’s Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and Emerge Career, a tech-driven education company focused on helping low-risk, formerly incarcerated people find jobs in trucking.

The program equips participants with the skills to earn their CDL and connects them with motor carriers across the country. It’s not just about finding a job—it’s about creating a sustainable career path in a field that desperately needs skilled, committed drivers.

“When you put more barriers in somebody’s pathway, they don’t see a way to actually make an honest living and that doesn’t benefit them, but it also really doesn’t benefit society,” said Deanna Logan, director of the Mayor’s Office for Criminal Justice. “They paid their debt to society and now they need to come back.”

Logan emphasized that trucking stood out as both practical and profitable for those re-entering the workforce.

“We looked at what was lucrative and accessible to people who are coming back from incarceration,” she said. “We don’t have enough people who are skilled, and it’s a very skilled profession… It gave [the formerly incarcerated] a really big opportunity to be part of the communities that they knew they did harm to.”

While some taxpayers may be skeptical about the program’s funding, Logan made a clear point.

“If I have you incarcerated on Rikers, I have to pay for [the] facility, the officers, the food,” she said. “Whereas, when I take a person and give them opportunity, they pay taxes. So now, we as a society are getting taxpayer revenue from a person that is not in a box on a shelf.”

Emerge Career co-founder Uzoma “Zo” Orchingwa sees it as a matter of equity and belief in human potential.

“Our people are just looking for someone that believes in them and someone that can give them a legit chance,” Orchingwa said. “These are people that — for the most part — have not had a fair shot for being able to be successful and contributing citizens. They just need that one opportunity that’s going to support them.”

And the program is showing real results. In the 2024 fiscal year, 94% of enrollees graduated, with all of them receiving job offers averaging $75,000 per year. So far, 260 individuals have completed the program—and every one of them is a step closer to a stable, meaningful career behind the wheel.

“When folks are getting access to job opportunities and income, they’re going to stay out of prison,” said Orchingwa. The program isn’t just about training drivers. It’s about building a future.

For Badilla, it means having the freedom to chart his own course.

“A bird is free,” he said.

Source: CBS News

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