President Biden said increasing the number of truckers moving goods across the country is critical to strengthening the supply chain.
“This country will be counting on you more than it has ever has, so you should be able to count on us to keep investing in you and your family,” Mr. Biden told a group of truckers gathered on the White House South Lawn.
Mr. Biden discussed the need to expedite the issuing of commercial driver’s licenses for truck drivers. He also called on the industry to hire more military veterans, women, and people of color.
“It is getting harder and harder to recruit new drivers, particularly people of color, to an industry that this nation, our economy, desperately needs at full strength,” he said.
Truckers move 72% of the goods in America, the White House said.
The push for new drivers comes amid fears that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated supply chain issues that have afflicted U.S. consumers since last year.
Nearly 300,000 companies in Europe and the U.S. have suppliers in Russia and Ukraine that disrupted goods moving across the Atlantic.
The war in Ukraine comes amid China’s new zero COVID policy that has shut down major manufacturing hubs, leading to shortages of iPhones, cars, and other electronic devices.
Fears of increasing supply chain disruptions have forced the Biden administration to address the trucking shortage, but supply chain snarls still remain.
In December, the Transportation and Labor departments announced plans to expand trucking jobs by expanding apprenticeship programs, reducing delays in issuing commercial driver’s licenses and increasing access to trucking jobs for women and veterans.
The White House said those initiatives are helping. Since January 2021, states have issued 876,000 commercial licenses, and trucking employment now exceeds pre-pandemic levels by 35,000 jobs, according to a White House fact sheet.
Still, the trucking industry is facing a shortage of 80,000 drivers, and retention still remains a large issue. The average turnover rate of long-haul drivers was 96% in the third quarter of last year, the American Trucking Association said. The turnover rate for smaller carriers was 73%.
The median pay for truckers, who spend nights away from home and often sleep in their cabs, is $47,130, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is still higher than the median salary for all occupations, however.
SEE ALSO: Biden to unveil plans to increase the number of truck drivers
Long-haul truck drivers are typically paid on a per-mile basis rather than hours worked, and are exempt from receiving overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act. That means drivers earn their pay only when they are delivering cargo, not while they are waiting for a truck to be loaded or unloaded.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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