White House Hoping Veterans Can Help Trucking Woes

In an effort to fix the country’s ongoing supply chain issues, the White House is launching a plan to get veterans into the trucking industry.

As the Military Times reported Tuesday (Feb. 8), officials from the Department of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Labor and Transportation will soon begin pushing an array of programs designed to help separating service members land careers in trucking.

The move comes just days after officials from the Biden administration met with veterans’ groups to highlight the programs and encourage them to pass information onto their members.

The goal is to help deal with the nationwide supply chain headache faced by businesses, who are dealing with the ongoing pandemic and a shortage of workers in key positions at ports and transit stations.

Late last year, the International Road Transport Union reported that roughly one-fifth of all trucking jobs were open, despite rising wages.

And even before the omicron variant arrived, the supply chain industry was already scrambling to catch up from the original pandemic and the subsequent delta wave.

Read more: By Land or Sea, Shipping Woes Worsen Amid Crew Shortages

The White House says increasing the number of truckers on the road can alleviate this issue, and has offered a number of training initiatives designed to drive job seekers to the industry.

In December, the White House released its “Trucking Action Plan to Strengthen America’s Workforce” proposal, arguing veterans have the skills and experience that make them “excellent candidates to help address these challenges and build the next generation’s trucking workforce.”

The Department of Defense already offers online credentialing for troops before they leave the service, along with trucking-specific classes in the SkillBridge program.

The Department of Labor, meanwhile, has a 90-day trucking program designed to fast-track would-be drivers into jobs. Officials said they’ll try to steer veterans to those openings over the next few weeks.

Meanwhile the Department of Transportation’s Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Grant Program trains service members, veterans, and military spouses in “the safe operation of commercial vehicles.”