Biden administration to unveil Trucking Action Plan Thursday amidst labor shortages

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: CNN

Biden administration to unveil Trucking Action Plan Thursday amidst labor shortages

By Donald Judd

Updated 9:03 AM ET, Thu December 16, 2021

(CNN) -- The Biden administration will unveil its "Trucking Action Plan" on Thursday in an effort to address supply chain challenges that have plagued the White House for months.

The plan is the product of the administration's Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, a group chaired by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. According to a fact sheet provided by the White House, the plan will tackle "longstanding workforce challenges in the trucking industry, including high turnover rates, an aging workforce, long hours away from home, and time spent waiting -- often unpaid -- to load and unload at congested ports, warehouses, and distribution centers."

Truckers move 71% of the US economy's goods, per industry estimates, but the Covid pandemic saw a spike in labor shortages for the industry, with one trucking association CEO telling CNN the sector is short 80,000 drivers, a record high. If nothing is done, the latest figures put the industry on track for a shortage of 160,000 drivers by 2030, and the need for a million new drivers over the next 10 years, according to the American Trucking Associations.

Thursday's plan will "focus on improving pathways to entering the industry and improving job quality once in the industry," one senior administration official said Wednesday, taking steps to offer $30 million in federal funding to expedite issuance of commercial driver's licenses (CDLs), launch a 90-day challenge aimed at increasing trucking apprentices through the Department of Labor, increase outreach efforts to veterans through the VA, and establish a joint initiative between the Departments of Labor and Transportations to expand recruitment and advocate for employees.

The administration will kick off the action plan with a White House roundtable Thursday, where Buttigieg, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, and NEC Director Brian Deese will discuss issues facing the trucking industry.

"The meeting will offer an opportunity for business and labor leaders to discuss the challenges they are facing and how they are adapting and innovating to bring long needed improvements to their industry," one official told reporters Thursday.

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Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/16/politics/trucking-action-plan/index.html

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Warnng: annoying autoplay video

I'll update this when the plan comes out.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. The Biden-⁠Harris Administration Trucking Action Plan to Strengthen America's Trucking Workforce

BRIEFING ROOM

FACT SHEET: The Biden-⁠Harris Administration Trucking Action Plan to Strengthen America’s Trucking Workforce

DECEMBER 16, 2021 • STATEMENTS AND RELEASES

Trucking plays a critical role in the U.S. supply chain and economy. America’s truck drivers have been on the frontlines of this pandemic, delivering goods to every corner of this country. Seventy-two percent of goods in America are shipped by truck, and in most communities, trucks are the only form of delivery. A strong, stable, and safe trucking workforce that offers good-paying jobs to millions of truck drivers is a critical lifeblood of our economy. But outdated infrastructure, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a historic volume of goods moving through our economy have strained capacity across the supply chain, including in trucking.

The pandemic exacerbated longstanding workforce challenges in the trucking industry, including high turnover rates, an aging workforce, long hours away from home, and time spent waiting–often unpaid–to load and unload at congested ports, warehouses, and distribution centers. According to one estimate, long-haul full-truckload drivers only spend an average of 6.5 hours per working day driving despite being allowed to drive a maximum of 11 hours. That means about 40 percent of their capacity is not being used. Many truckers also bear the burden of gas, insurance, and maintenance costs, which reduces their take home pay, creating significant challenges in recruiting and retaining drivers with the right credentials and experience into today’s trucking jobs. At the same time, the industry reports historic demand for its services. Reflecting that demand, wages for employed drivers in all trucking segments have increased 7-12% in the last year alone, but employment in some segments is still below pre-pandemic levels.

The Administration is taking action, and now we are asking industry, labor, and all levels of government to partner with us to address these trucking workforce challenges and begin building a next generation trucking workforce. A stronger trucking workforce is one where trucking jobs are good, safe, and stable — jobs that employers can attract a new generation of drivers into while retaining existing drivers to deliver for clients and grow their businesses. The nation’s trucking workforce also demands clear, debt-free paths into these good jobs through high-quality training, such as Registered Apprenticeships, which prepare trainees and provide employers with a steady pipeline of skilled, safe, and experienced drivers.

Trucking employers across the U.S. are taking steps to make trucking jobs better and to develop innovative workforce programs that recruit, train, and retain drivers, especially from underrepresented communities like women, the formerly incarcerated, and service-disabled veterans. But the scale of the challenge means we need action to scale up these strategies.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law creates a pathway to address these challenges in the long-term. Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing a set of concrete actions to address the expansion of trucking. These actions will support the ongoing economic recovery and lay the foundation for a next generation trucking workforce that will strengthen U.S. competitiveness and support millions of good driving jobs for years to come.

Today, the Departments of Transportation and Labor are launching an effort to support and expand access to quality driving jobs now and in the years ahead. The Departments are accelerating the expansion of Registered Apprenticeship programs for drivers that put more skilled, safe drivers on the road; taking immediate steps to address the pandemic-driven delays in getting a commercial driver’s license; curbing the proliferation of low-quality training that increases the supply of less qualified drivers who end up in debt or being exploited; and expanding more seamless paths for veterans and underrepresented communities, such as women, to access good driving jobs.

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing the following immediate actions:

{snip}

[Sherman A1]

2. Hopefully this has some impact

I worked with many drivers over the years as a receiving clerk at a grocery store and in general they are treated pretty poorly by their employer. The general public seems to look down on them as well, never having the light bulb go off in their heads that everything gets to market on the backend of a truck.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

3. And this is exactly why I own my 2 trucks and have a great agent to get me

and my other driver good paying loads.

The general public may think they're looking down at us, but in reality, we're the ones looking down on them, the things truck drivers see sitting up that high are.........well at times, very interesting.

[left-of-center2012]

4. Has Sen Manchin voiced an opinion ?

[Ford_Prefect]

5. I hope they will also address the long term needs to support drivers staying in this work along

with staying both safe and healthy while doing it. I have friends who left Long haul due to health reasons or general abuse leading to serious debt.

One more field of work in which the owners and industry take far too much advantage. They make the work itself more difficult and unsafe than it should or needs to be.

[NurseJackie]

6. I wonder which Biden adversaries and other resentful individuals will try to take credit for it?

And, there will always be those who take great delight when they try to shit on Biden with the predictable response of "Not good enough, Joe! Not good enough."

[IronLionZion]

7. I use "Disable HTML 5 Autoplay" extension

Specifically because of CNN

Good that the Biden admin is removing pathways for people who want to be truckers. It isn't for everyone and some folks decide they don't like the lifestyle. So there have been lots of retirements and quits.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. I don't know if I can do that. I have a work computer, and I get the extensions they say I can have.

Google Chrome is what I'm using.

[Slammer]

9. Help me Rhonda

Want to help out truckers?

Force employers to pay them for loading & unloading time. And don't count that time against the hours they're allowed to drive per day.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

10. White House Revs Up Trucker Recruitment Drive

The Biden administration unveiled a plan aimed at boosting the number of commercial truck drivers as part of a broader push to unclog supply-chain bottlenecks.

Via
@jensmithWSJ

Link to tweet

White House Revs Up Trucker Recruitment Drive

[madville]

11. It sounds small but truck parking is a major issue

Truckers rely on rest areas and truck stops to park at during their breaks and off duty time. There is a major shortage of available parking in many areas of the country, some truck stops are now charging drivers to park at their locations, and if there is no parking available and the driver runs out of driving time, they risk injury/death and tickets from law enforcement if they park on the shoulder of the road.

I’m surprised they haven’t exempted trucking companies from the OSHA vaccine mandate yet, those large companies have such high turnover as it is, a vaccine mandate will drive more drivers out of those seats. Canada exempted their trucking companies from vaccine mandates for that very reason.