Plan will Make It Easier to become Certified, Up Recruiting Efforts

The Biden administration last week announced a plan to address the perceived US truck driver shortage, which it said is partly responsible for recent supply chain gridlock that it alo says is a factor in rising inflation.

Supply Chain Digest Says...   The Transportation and Labor departments will examine how drivers are paid, especially relative to sometimes long wait times to pick-up or unload freight. What do you say? Click here to send us your comments Click here to see reader feedback

The new plan includes financial assistance to state motor vehicle departments to issue more commercial driver’s licenses, increase apprenticeships and hire military veterans, and is backed by at least $30 million in funding from the recently passed infrastructure bill.

“This is the largest action the administration is taking to address supply chain blockages with a goal of reducing prices,” White House press spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing.

The American Trucking Associations (ATS) for many years said there is a large and growing shortage of US truck drivers, with Chris Spear, ATA CEO, recently pegging the current driver shortage at 80,000, a big jump from the ATA’s previous estimate of 65,000. The ATA expects that number to go over 100,000 in a few years.

However, some argue the shortage could be significantly addressed through wage hikes, or note the problem seems to be mostly one for big carriers. For example, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration data shows that small carriers, defined as firms with under 100 tractors, increased their number of drivers by 21% from March 2020 to September 2021. Larger carriers of a 100 trucks or more, on the other hand, saw increase in drivers of just 1.6% over the same period.

The plan has a goal to get more drivers on the road in the coming months by making it easier and faster for them to get their licenses and by expanding apprenticeship programs through carriers and shippers with private fleets. LTL carrier Yellow Freight and grocery chain Albertsons are among the companies that have committed to being in these programs.

The administration also wants to take action to improve driver retention at carriers.

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For example, both the Transportation and Labor departments will examine how drivers are paid, especially relative to sometimes long wait times to pick-up or unload freight. The administration also plans to investigate carrier truck-leasing programs that administration officials and others say can put drivers in a bad financial position.

The plan also includes steps to improve efforts across government agencies and private-sector employers to expand the recruitment pipeline. The initiative will support workforce-development programs, including using some infrastructure bill monies, to attract more veterans, women and young people to become truck drivers.

“We are encouraged that the Biden Administration has not only recognized the importance of adding new and well-trained Americans to the trucking workforce, but has announced a path forward with what we believe will become a robust training opportunity for future commercial truck drivers,” said ATA’s Executive Vice President of Advocacy Bill Sullivan in a statement.

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