Administrator’s Answer to Trucker Shortage Includes Apprenticeships, Studies, CDL Changes
The Labor Department and the Transportation Department are pushing a series of new initiatives aimed at mitigating the nation’s crippling shortage of truck drivers.
The two agencies announced Jan. 13 that they’ve taken six steps to expand the pool of available drivers and improve retention of current drivers as the industry continues to bleed talent. By one estimate, the industry has lost 80,000 drivers in recent years due to a combination of factors, including mass retirement and pay levels.
Changes include the following: a pilot program allowing drivers under the age of 21 to apprentice as a truck driver; an expansion of registered apprenticeship programs; money for states to expedite commercial driver’s license (CDL) approvals; the formation of a task force to investigate predatory truck leasing schemes; studies focused on driver pay and time lost waiting to unload cargo; and the creation of an advisory committee to increase the number of women in the industry.
Better Late Than Never
All of these changes stem from an administration proposal dubbed the Biden-Harris Administration Trucking Action Plan that was announced in mid-December, although many of these initiatives were proposed in an administration op-ed column five months prior.
“Making sure truck drivers are paid and treated fairly is the right thing to do, and it will help with both recruiting new drivers and keeping experienced drivers on the job,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in the release.
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh added that the trucking industry “is stepping up to partner and in the last month, we are already working with more than 100 employers to expand registered apprenticeships for drivers.”
Apprenticeship Push
Along with the expanded focus on registered apprenticeships, the administration is also implementing the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot program mandated in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in November.
Under this program, which will be overseen by the Transportation Department’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), drivers under the age of 21 will be eligible for an apprenticeship with participating trucking companies.
According to the release, the FMCSA will outline the safety requirements for participating companies in the near future, as well as screening their eligibility.
Other Initiatives
Another initiative has established a $32 million funding pool for states that improve their CDL issuance rates, either by returning them to pre-pandemic levels or exceeding those rates. FMCSA is spearheading this effort.
Two industry studies are also in the planning phases. The first will contrast two methods of paying drivers — per load or per mile — to determine which is safer and relative hourly wages. The second study will focus on how long shippers force drivers to wait before loading or unloading their goods, known in the industry as detention time.
The administration is also putting together a Truck Leasing Task Force to review truck leasing arrangements with an eye toward making them “more equitable and transparent,” according to the release.
Lastly, the administration is putting together a Women of Trucking Advisory Board to “increase the number of women in trucking by reviewing and reporting on the current challenges facing woman drivers,” the release states.