Tennessee Launches New Program To Train More Commercial Truck Drivers
Image Credit: Wallpaper Flare / Public Domain
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
Tennessee officials are launching a new initiative in an attempt to address the impact of the nationwide commercial truck driver shortage on the state.
According to the American Trucking Association, there are currently almost 78,000 vacancies for drivers across the country. This is the second-highest number of vacancies on record.
The Tennessee Board of Regents predicts that the need for CDL drivers in the state will increase almost 20 percent by the year 2030.
“On the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s website, they had listed about 1100 open CDL driver jobs in the state of Tennessee, but that’s just from the companies who chose to post on the state website. Not all do that,” said TBR Center for Workforce Development Executive Director Jeff Sisk. “I’m sure the number is at least double that in the state of Tennessee – at least a couple thousand CDL jobs right now.”
This issue was compounded by the bankruptcy and closure of Nashville-based trucking company Yellow Corp. The company closed last month, leaving nearly 30,000 without jobs.
Leaders have launched a new website called TruckingTN.com to help provide information to possible candidates. It is one facet of a plan to make CDL training more accessible to individuals through the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCAT).
“The state of Tennessee has made significant investments to help overcome this workforce issue,” said Sisk.
According to Sisk, any occupation that requires a license to work is going to have a more limited pool of candidates. Additionally, truck drivers must be 21 years old to be able to drive across state lines.
“This year, with the partnership of the General Assembly, we are proud to launch the Trucking Tennessee campaign to strengthen our trucking workforce and continue to support this important industry,” said Governor Bill Lee in a press release. “TCATs across our state are now making it easier than ever for drivers to become certified through programs like Tennessee Promise and Tennessee Reconnect, drivers can be certified at little to no cost in as little as six weeks.’
Trucking used to be fun. Most all driving had CBs, we knew where trouble was before we were part of it. Most drivers had affinity for machinery too. That quality can’t be “trained” in.
Driver
Etiquette
Has nearly disappeared, and yes the affinity w.equipment is gone.
The days of the farmer/driver has passed and we now hv cdl drivers trained in Haiti, and many other countries.
I could spend hrs re: then and now.
I was asked abt cdl driving last wk, the best I could say was, “it used to be a blast”.