ICYMI: Biden-Harris Trucking Action Plan Will Bolster Trucking Industry Through Apprenticeships and Veteran Recruitment Efforts

Today the Biden Administration announced the launch of the Biden-Harris Trucking Action Plan, a multifaceted program intended to recruit and retain truck drivers in roles the provide good pay and that support our nation's supply chain in the short, medium, and long term.

The plan aims to increase the number of registered apprenticeship programs, regarded as the gold standard of recruitment and retention by paying new drivers while they receive high-quality training. The program also bolsters recruitment of veterans, 70,000 of which leave the service every year with military trucking experience.

The Biden-Harris Trucking Action Plan will help meet these needs, and ensure that the good-paying trucking jobs that drive our nation's supply chain will be filled with trained and qualified drivers.

Read More Below:

NPR: The White House aims to boost the ranks of the pandemic-strained trucking industry
[By Alana Wise, 12/16/2021]

In a bid to improve the nation's ongoing supply chain issues, the White House on Thursday announced a plan to recruit and train a new generation of truck drivers to bolster an industry that's been stretched thin during the pandemic.

The Truck Action Plan is part of the Biden administration's Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, meant to address near-term supply chain bottlenecks that were caused or made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.

[...]

The plan includes providing resources and funding to help states expedite the commercial driver's license process, a 90-day challenge to expand a registered apprenticeship program, and outreach to veterans as recruitment for new drivers.

Senior administration officials stressed that though some of the steps are focused on longer-term changes, their proposal includes actions that would support short-term economic recovery and help alleviate supply chain snarls.

Axios: Biden rolls out plan to address trucking workforce challenges
[By Yacob Reyes, 12/16/2021]

The Biden administration will announce an action plan Thursday to address enduring "workforce challenges" in the truck driving industry.

Why it matters: The pandemic worsened existing issues within the trucking industry, most notably in recruiting and retaining drivers. The action plan aims to double down on existing programs and "lay the foundation for a next generation trucking workforce."

• The administration will invest over $30 million in funding to assist states in expediting commercial driver's licenses and increasing communication to reduce delays.
• A 90-day challenge will also be launched in a "national effort" to create and expand apprenticeship programs to ramp up recruitment efforts in the transportation sector.

[...]

What they're saying: Our "economic recovery has two key components, getting America back to work and getting prices and supply chains back to normal," a senior administration official told reporters.

• "Trucking is essential to our economy and truckers are essential workers," the official added. "We're going to take clear steps to attract people into good safe jobs in the industry to support recruitment goals."

Transport Topics: White House to Unveil Plan to Recruit Truck Drivers
[12/16/2021]

The Biden Administration is launching a multifaceted program in partnership with industry that aims to expand recruiting efforts in trucking through various efforts, and elevate the appeal of what one senior administration official described as "well-paying, solid careers."

[...]

A key emphasis is encouraging veterans to consider trucking as a post-military career.

"Every year, roughly 200,000 service members transition to civilian life, and over the last five years, 70,000 veterans left the service with military trucking experience," one official said. "It's an incredible opportunity to do right by our veterans and strengthen the trucking workforce at the same time to ensure there are seamless paths to these opportunities for our veterans. The trucking industry has already taken really important steps to connect veterans to good jobs, but there is certainly more we can do."

[...]

While that program has a rolling enrollment of 3,000 participants, an administration official said apprenticeship programs can help bring more entrants into trucking.

"Apprenticeships are already the gold standard for workforce training in a number of industries, because apprentices earn while they learn, instead of just having to pay or take out debt for a training course," one senior administration official said. "They gain real experience. Something that we have seen in the trucking industry that is critical for the hiring and talent pipeline is not just the credentials in a commercial driver license, but actual driving experience as jobs. Through an apprenticeship, a pool of new drivers will come out connected to a good job and a career."