Gilco Transport Services
A Veteran-Owned, Premier Entry-level Class A Commercial Driver Training Academy.
At Gilco Transport Services, we saw a need in our community to strengthen the transportation network of the Hampton Roads area. The trucking industry has been inundated with people lacking the experience and knowledge necessary to succeed as a trucker. Doubled with the world’s growing reliance on intermodal transportation, a well-trained workforce is now more important than ever for this industry.
Ryan Gilliland is a Virginia Beach native who grew up in and around the trucking industry. He is the grandson of Shirley Roebuck, the trailblazer for women in the intermodal transportation industry. As soon as he could walk, Ryan was helping drivers couple trailers. If he wasn’t riding alongside them in their trucks, he was sitting in the driver’s seat of a parked truck pretending to be one of them. His father, David Bolen, a third-generation truck driver, would enlist Ryan into helping maintain his fleet of trucks. This gave him the skillset of managing truck and fleet maintenance. From there, he learned the ins and outs of what needed to be done to keep a tractor on the road.
Ryan later joined the army and enlisted to be a Calvary Scout, which is a form of mechanized infantry. During his tour in Iraq, he was tasked with route clearance and convoy operations, which included overseeing truck convoys carrying essential goods to aid winning the war. In 2010 Ryan left the service and returned home to help his parents work the family business, Gilco Trucking Company, which his grandmother started 40 years prior.
To continue his transportation journey, in 2014 Ryan attended Associated Training Services in Wisconsin to learn how to operate and maintain heavy machinery, cranes, and tractor trailers. After schooling, he was hired by Crofton Industries where he became a crane operator and commercial driver. During his 6 years with Crofton, he operated several types of cranes and heavy equipment, obtained the OSHA 30 in Maritime Shipyard Management, and learned how to become a heavy haul truck driver, learning to transport large equipment up and down the east coast. This included cranes, excavators, heavy construction equipment, and items outside the normal scope of a tractor trailer driver, which allowed him to gain vast experience and knowledge.
In 2020, Ryan left Crofton and again returned to Gilco Trucking to help his parents in a time of need. He oversaw all aspects of the company, including commercial driving. The pandemic hit, which caused a shortage in the supply chain and driver shortage. Ryan identified a need for experienced truck drivers, so he took it upon himself to alleviate that need by starting Gilco Transport Services in 2021.
Being an owner operator and a fourth-generation truck driver, Ryan wanted to break the mold when it comes to commercial driver training. He wanted every new commercial driver to be trained as though they were going to become an owner operator. He wanted them to have the skillset to fix maintenance issues, rather than having to rely on the company they work for. This would make the drivers more valuable from an employee standpoint and invaluable as an owner operator.
Gilco Transport Services provides federally mandated, entry level driver training for new Class A CDL drivers. Seeking men and women interested in starting their commercial driving career with a leg up. Their goal is to prepare commercial drivers to eventually become owner operators. They want to break the mold by training new commercial drivers. The students that come through this school not only learn the minimum federally mandated training, but they also learn the skills to individually maintain their tractor, the finances associated with being an owner operator, and other essential aspects of becoming a quality commercial driver. Students will also be given other unique learning opportunities, such as driving in other regions, outside of their locality, including up and down mountains. Each driver will also get the opportunity to take the truck on the road and get real time experience putting 150-200 miles in one day, so they can truly understand what it’s like to drive a tractor trailer.
The commercial driving industry is widespread, because drivers are needed, not only in the trucking industry, but also construction, industrial, governmental services, community services and many other sectors of American commerce. Our goal is to help grow the commercial driving industry with a supply of quality drivers. It is the commercial driver that puts necessities in our hands and by having quality drivers, these processes will operate more safely and efficiently.