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Self-driving truck company TuSimple and Pima Community College announced a new autonomous driving certificate program for truck drivers.

The will teach experienced truck drivers how to operate and work with autonomous trucks in a 12-credit program that can be completed in as little as one semester. The program requires a Class A Commercial Driver鈥檚 License (CDL) prior to enrollment, and drivers will build on their existing knowledge.

鈥淭oday is another important milestone in the transformation of Pima Community College, as well as the community of Tucson and the greater Pima County and beyond,鈥� said Lee Lambert, chancellor of Pima Community College. 鈥淎t Pima, we鈥檙e not interested in being mediocre; we鈥檙e not interested in status quo. We鈥檙e interested in major disruption that these technologies I referred to earlier are really driving in every sector of our economy.鈥�

and Pima Community College co-created a program curriculum comprising five classes: Introduction to Autonomous Vehicles, Industrial Safety, Computer Hardware Components, Electrical Systems I, and Transportation and Traffic Management.

TuSimple said it will prioritize hiring graduates of the program for jobs at its Tucson .

鈥淚t鈥檚 one-of-a-kind, first of its kind 鈥� and for the whole industry,鈥� said Robert Brown, director of public affairs for TuSimple. 鈥淲e hope this is the basis for a program for other companies to use鈥� Arizona is a Mecca for autonomous vehicles, and we hope that this program grows beyond TuSimple and .鈥�

The program 鈥� and the self-driving truck industry 鈥� is meant to be a 鈥減ositive disruption,鈥� offering new, more exciting opportunities to drivers rather than eliminating the need for them, Brown said.

鈥淲e want drivers to be able to go up-skill themselves, get a better wage, have a better lifestyle and be home with their families every day and every night,鈥� he said.

The program will be offered at Pima Community College in Tucson starting September 2019, with registration opening in August. Pima and TuSimple said they plan to collaborate with other schools to expand the program after it launches.

鈥淲e commend Pima Community College for offering this innovative and exciting program that can help address the acute driver shortage,鈥� said Dr. Xiaodi Hou, founder, president and chief technology officer of TuSimple. 鈥淭he program offers driving professionals a smooth transition into an emerging field that requires different skill sets in addition to existing truck driving knowledge by providing training.鈥�

The that goes into creating autonomous vehicles require advanced degrees, but operating and maintaining the vehicles can be done by skilled technicians, said Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild.

Because of the nature of the new technology, must be created to meet the needs of industry, developing skills specific to emerging technologies, he said.

鈥淲hen we鈥檙e talking to companies, trying to bring companies to this community, one of the things everybody is always concerned about is, 鈥楧o you have the appropriate workforce?鈥欌�� Rothschild said. 鈥淲ell, technology moves so fast now that we can say 鈥榶es,’ but a year from now the answer could be 鈥榥o,鈥� unless we have places of higher education that are willing to go out to these companies and say, 鈥榃hat do you need? We will get it for you,鈥� and that鈥檚 exactly what Pima鈥檚 doing.鈥�