# Presentation: 757633

## Chris BurrussPresident Truckload Carriers Association

- <date/time>

**Chris Burruss****President**** **Truckload Carriers Association

- Presentation for the
- Department of Veterans Affairs
*Fulfilling the Commitment Initiative*
**October 13, 2005**

## Overview of the Truck Transportation Sector

- <date/time>

**Overview of the Truck Transportation Sector**

- Truck transportation is a $671 billion sector.
- There are 3.24 million truck drivers in the U.S. – close to half of the 8.6 million person workforce.
- No other form of delivery can bring goods door to door.
- Trucks carry nearly all freight at some point in their journey from producer to consumer.

**Notes:**
Page 3

## Types of Truck Carriers

- Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) – provides transportation of partial-load shipments or full trailer-load shipments that go to multiple destinations.
- Typically these drivers have dedicated routes and are home the same day.
- Truckload Carriers – characterized by shipments of 10,000 lbs or more, bound for a single destination, routes tend to be irregular with few terminals.
- Truckload drivers spend a great deal of time on the road and may not always return home after every run.
- Total trucking sector tonnage was 9.8 billion tons in 2004, of that 4.9 billion tons of freight was moved by the truckload segment.

**Notes:**
Page 3-4

## Growth in the Labor Force Will Slow

**Source: Global Insight, Inc. for ATA**

**Demographic trends will not only work against the trucking sector over the next ten years, but all sectors.**

**Rate of Growth**

**Notes:**
Page 6

## Trucking Driver Shortage

**Trucking Driver Shortage**

**Notes:**
Page 6-7

## Truck Transportation Sector Driver Qualifications

- Applicants for interstate driving jobs must be:
- at least 21 years old;
- successfully pass physical qualifications and examinations;
- understand the English language;
- pass a controlled substances test; and,
- if carrying hazardous materials, complete a fingerprint/background test.
- TCA younger driver (ages 18 - 21) pilot program petition turned down by FMCSA.

**Notes:**
Page 8-9

## Critical Challenges to Recruiting Qualified Truck Drivers

- The Trucking Sector Image
- The general public does not recognize the vital role truck transportation plays in the economy.
- The message that truck driving can provide a respectable living is not being effectively delivered through the media or down through to the local levels of employment services.
- Most Americans are unaware that, in 2 – 3 months upon completion of truck driver training and passing a CDL test, a qualified driver could be employed making an average entry level salary of $40,000 with health and retirement benefits.

**Notes:**
Page 10

## Critical Challenges to Recruiting Qualified Truck Drivers (cont.)

- Attracting a Non-traditional Workforce
- The Department of  Veteran’s Affairs
- 			[Military CDL Transfer ]
- The National Council of LaRaza
- The Mature Worker - AARP
- The trucking transportation sector must look to other populations to help solve the driver shortage.

**Notes:**
Page 11-12

## Critical Challenges to Recruiting Qualified Truck Drivers (cont.)

- Funding
- The national average tuition to attend a professional truck driver training school for 4 – 8 weeks is $4,000.
- Many students apply for high interest personal loans or try to find an alternative funding source.
- Some carriers subsidize or pay a student’s truck driving training if the student agrees to work for the carrier for a specific period of time and repay all or a portion of the tuition back.
- To encourage more veterans into the sector, ATA and TCA support H.R. 717. The legislation would allow veterans to apply 60% of their GI bill benefits “up-front” for tuition purposes to a commercial truck driving school.

**Notes:**
Page 12-14

## Trucking Sector Technology Breeds New Opportunities for Drivers

- The cabs of many trucks now more closely resemble an airplane cockpit than a motor vehicle, technological improvements include:
- Onboard communication and navigation systems.
- Onboard weighing and tire-pressure monitoring systems.
- Digital signal anti-lock brakes and collision warning systems.
- Drivers are skilled employees who are capable of growth in the truck transportation sector into positions including:
- Driver Trainer
- Owner Operator/Independent Contractor (own their own business)
- Dispatcher
- Safety Director

**Notes:**
Page 15

## Solution to Attract a Non-traditional Workforce

- Forming Partnerships:
- Department of Veteran’s Affairs
- 		AARP Mature Workforce Initiative
- Department of Labor
- National Council of LaRaza

**Notes:**
Page 15