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Washington—The US Departments of Transportation (DOT) and Labor (DOL) launched an effort Thursday to support and expand access to quality driving jobs now and in the years ahead.

The agencies are accelerating the expansion of Registered Apprenticeship programs for drivers that put more skilled, safe drivers on the road; taking immedicate steps to address the pandemicdriven delays in getting a commercial driver’s license (CDL); 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.

The Biden administration on Thursday convened trucking companies and industry associations to discuss both near- and longterm challenges the industry has faced meeting the unprecedented demand for goods as the US recovers from the pandemic. The administration announced the following immediate actions:

• Take steps to reduce barriers to drivers getting CDLs. DOT and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) are supporting motor vehicles departments as they return to, or exceed, pre-pandemic issuance rates, which is helping bring more truck drivers into the field. FMCSA will provide over $30 million in funding to help states expedite CDLs.

• Kick of a 90-day challenge to accelerate the expansion of Registered Apprenticeships. This challenge is a national effort to recruit employers interested in developing new Registered Apprenticeship programs and expanding existing programs to help put more welltrained drivers on the road in good trucking jobs.

• Conduct veterans-focused outreach and recruitment. There are roughly 70,000 veterans who are likely to have certified trucking experience in the last five years. The DOL Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) and the Department of Veterans Affairs will work with Veterans Service Organizations, Military Service Organizations, unions, industry trucking association, training providers, and private partners to enable transitioning service members and veterans to attain good jobs in the trucking industry.

• Launch joint DOT-DOL “Driving Good Jobs” initiative. Supporting drivers and ensuring that trucking jobs are good jobs is foundational for a strong, safe, and stable trucking workforce. DOT and DOL announced the launch of the joint “Driving Good Jobs” initiative, which marks a partnership between the agencies that will include: listening sessions that engage drivers, unions and worker centers, and advocates; lifting up employers and best practices that support job quality and driver retention that can be scaled; working together to implement research and engagement efforts outlined in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including studying the issue of truck driver pay and unpaid detention time; identifying effective and safe strategies to get new entrants in the field from underrepresented communities, including women and young drivers between the ages of 18 and 20; setting up a task force to investigate predatory truck leasing arrangements; and identifying longer-term actions, such as potential administrative or regulatory actions that support drivers and driver retention by improving the quality of trucking jobs.

Tom Madrecki, vice president of supply chain and logistics at the Consumer Brands Association, called Thursday’s announcement by the administration “an important step toward building more resilient supply chains. Consumer Brands has long argued that supply chain bottlenecks do not end at the ports, and we are pleased to see that the administration is acting on commonsense solutions, like increasing truck driver recruitment efforts in a labor market that is 80,000 drivers short.

“We urge the administration to continue to work toward solutions, like establishing an ‘air traffic control’ system for ground transport and bringing more flexibility to truck weight requirements, to expand trucking capacity and allow the CPG industry to reliably deliver the essentials consumers rely on every day,” Madrecki continued.

“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 Bill Sullivan, executive vice president of advocacy at the American Trucking Associations.