ENID — You start up the truck and prepare to drive away, hauling a valuable load. It may be furniture, or food, or any of the thousands of products trucked across the United States daily.

As you start out, there are nine gears and it’s hard to shift from one to the other without knowing how they work. You watch as the smooth terrain flows out in front of you, then feel the bumps as potholes appear in the pavement. Snow, sleet and hard winds that can capsize the truck appear on the screen ahead of you.

Those and other images appeared on the truck driver simulator at Autry Technology Center during its 19th annual open house Sunday afternoon. Autry Tech’s Wes Dotson said the simulator is used by the industry to continue education for companies that employ drivers. Companies such as Groendyke and Advance Food Co. occasionally sent their drivers to the simulator to look at methods for saving fuel and to track driving habits to improve their driving and make it safer.

“It’s designed to make better drivers out of current truck drivers,” Dotson said.

Any type of scenario from snow to rain to high winds can be introduced to the screen, and the simulator responds to the scene so the driver feels the way the truck would react in that situation. The class is part of the tech school’s business and industry services, which consists of 28 full-time programs and thousands of industry training courses involving more than 20 full-time employees, said Autry Tech Superintendent Jim Strate. The school also features a business development center and houses offices of the Enid Industrial Development Center.

Autry Tech partners with a number of companies including Advance Food and Groendyke.

The school also has more than 800 daytime students, Strate said.

An accompanying program at Autry Tech is a heavy equipment simulator, giving an understanding of how to operate heavy equipment including cranes. While the software is not as developed as that of the truck driving simulator, it still shows students what it is like to operate heavy equipment and helps them determine if that is something they want to pursue.

One of the most successful programs at Autry is the graphic arts area, which instructor Cheryl Licklider said includes everything visual.

“If you can see it, we do it,” she said.

Everything is computerized in the 21st century, and classes are about learning graphics with computers. Some have artistic ability, but there also are areas for those with mechanical ability. Students learn how to operate a printing press, do bindery and photography.

Licklider teaches two half-day courses. A block in the morning and a block in the afternoon. She said one of the benefits of teaching is that she has all of the equipment necessary including the ability to teach several kinds of bindery methods.

Autry Tech is the reigning state champion in promotion bulletin boards and also graphic communications state champions for the last 13 years. That category includes designing on computers, running a job-style printing press and binding that job after printing it. Licklider has taught for 17 years and only two of those years did not take someone to the national championship. She received the print education award of excellence in 2009 and has been Teacher of the Year in a number of fields.

“Graphic arts evolved from crafts to technology and has grown a lot,” she said. “Because of the technological changes in the United States, the graphics field has enjoyed good growth. There are young people working because they are not afraid to tackle computers.”

Her students also are placed in jobs quickly after graduation.

Licklider herself has to have continuing education in the field because of its rapid transition. She said the administration believes in continuing education, and she is able to stay current with changing trends.

“We don’t have any trouble placing our graduates. People often are still looking for help and I have no one left,” she said.