The vast majority of news concerning the nationwide trucking industry in recent months has tended to center on the national shortage of drivers against an economic backdrop of growing orders and increased tonnage being shipped. Across the industry experts are predicting a shortfall of drivers unlike anything seen in recent decades so it's welcome news that the American Trucking Association has laid down a commitment to hire some 100,000 veterans within the trucking industry and its members.
The announcement was made in conjunction with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's unique 'Hiring 500,000 Heroes' campaign. The campaign itself is well worth learning more about which you can do here, it launched in the spring of 2011 as part of a national program designed to assist military veterans and spoused to find gainful fulltime employment. It's both an ambitious and worthy initiative that if successful would go a long way toward solving what could become an alarming driver shortage currently estimated at 35,000 driver and predicted to increase exponentially over the next few years.
The program brings with it a history of results with more than 350,000 employment positions filled via the campaign and a future commitment to adding more than 200,000 more. Such wide-scale plans have seen universal support with better than 1,700 companies in the US part of the program. ATA Chairman Duane Long and chairman of Longistics said;
"It is rare in business and in life to find an opportunity that is a win-win for all involved, but that's what Hiring Our Heroes is, a win for those veterans returning from service looking to transition to civilian life and a win for the trucking industry which is desperate to find dedicated, hard-working and safety-minded people to fill many thousands of open positions as drivers or technicians"
While the announcement itself does not fill the need for drivers overnight such a positive commitment will certainly be a step in the right direction for the industry and the economy as a whole. Not only that but the initiative is to match skills in many roles other than drivers throughout the industry in terms of logistics, accountancy, mechanics and numerous other affiliated positions. At present we've yet to see an official summary or press release via the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation although I'd anticipate further information will me made available via their site or the ATA later this week.
It's encouraging news for an industry that is poised for strong growth for all types of haulage ranging from local same day delivery, hot shot trucking, short haul and nationwide trucking services plus wonderful news for the thousands who have served the country with honor and dedication.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
As a part of the Expedited Group of Companies, at HotShotTrucking.com we fully understand the hot shot trucking industry as we specialize in the field every single day. You can rely on us to consistently provide;
- Hot Shot Trucking to ensure freight of any size is delivered on-time, every time
- Hot Shot Delivery at the local, regional and national levels
- Full Truckload to ensure reliable, time-sensitive delivery
HotShotTrucking.com was founded by Dan Boaz and is completely dedicated to your success and satisfaction. As your dependable and trusted Hot Shot Trucking company, we work daily to maintain unrivaled service and ensure on-time hot shot deliveries backed by our experts each and every time, locally, regionally or nationally.
We look forward to assisting you so please get started by calling 800-713-1000 or please complete our quick quote form for more information and if you have any questions we'll always be glad to help.
Related Blog Posts
talk to an expeditor now
Get a Quote in Minutes for Your Time-Critical Freight Needs
GET A QUOTE
Call (800) 604-2511