Community colleges in Richmond and across the state are moving to become hubs for obtaining a commercial driver’s license, or CDL.

Under a program announced Aug. 27 by Gov. Ralph S. Northam, community colleges are to be a one-stop shop where students can get required classroom training and hands-on vehicle experience and take the tests to obtain learner’s permits and CDL licenses.

The goal: To quickly boost the number of available trained and qualified truckers, according to the Northam administration.

The program, aimed at addressing the large number of vacancies in the bus and truck driving fields, is the latest expansion of the Virginia Community College System’s FastForward workforce training program.

Created in 2016, the program’s purpose is to provide short-term training programs and speed up a student’s ability to gain essential credentials in a variety of fields, particularly those in high-demand, high-pay fields.

To date, state officials said FastFoward has enabled Virginians to earn more than 16,000 industry-recognized credentials leading to employment in such fields.