Dive Brief:

• The American Trucking Associations started an apprenticeship program with the U.S. Department of Labor, inking the agreement with Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Tuesday.
• As a national apprenticeship sponsor, ATA members can now offer apprenticeships to applicants. The ATA and its partner, Fastport, will run the apprenticeship program. Fastport is a software development company that specializes in transport and logistics.
• Chris Spear, ATA CEO and president, said the program is an "earn-while-you-learn program," with potential grants available for childcare and housing. ATA member carriers "will need to meet certain training and compensation standards as they bring in new drivers for a two-year apprenticeship program that will provide graduated wages as drivers develop and expand their skills."

Dive Insight:

The national shortage of Class 8 drivers and diesel technicians has moved ATA to step up its efforts to help the industry meet its needs, partnering with the federal government on the apprenticeship program.

The ATA is getting increasingly concerned about the driver crisis, with many baby boomers retiring as the workforce ages. The COVID-19 pandemic also negatively affected recruitment, slowing down both training and licensing of new drivers. And the FMCSA's new Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse took more than 70,000 drivers off the road for substance violations.

In October, ATA chief economist Bob Costello told reporters the estimated U.S. shortage of heavy-duty truckers was 80,000, up 31% from the ATA estimate of 61,000 in 2018. Costello said the issue was not going away soon.

"Over the next decade, it could ... hit 160,000 at current trends," said Costello, speaking at the ATA's Management and Conference Exhibition. "Let me very clear about that ... This is sort of a warning to the entire supply chain, to the motor carriers, to shippers, to everybody."

In response, ATA has been encouraging apprenticeship programs and recruitment in general. The ATA has also joined with other trade groups to support a proposed FMCSA pilot program to allow select drivers between the ages of 18-20 to deliver freight across state lines. Currently, drivers between the ages of 18 and 20 can drive Class 8 vehicles in the 50 states, if properly licensed. But they cannot cross state lines.

In December, alarmed by supply chain snags, the White House more aggressively entered the recruitment and training fray, starting a 90-day challenge to encourage more fleets and stakeholders to accelerate the "development of new apprenticeship programs and help expand existing ones through new employer and labor partnerships to support recruitment, retention and return on investment in the trucking industry."

In a sign of the urgency of the need for training in the supply chain sector, the White House said they would work with the Department of Labor and Fastport to allow employers to establish recognized apprenticeship programs "in as a little as 48 hours."