It’s been nearly a month since a bipartisan group of lawmakers urged Labor Secretary Marty Walsh to speed up a federal program that recruits and trains new trucker drivers to help ease the supply chain bottlenecks that are disrupting the U.S. economy.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott, D-Ga., led more than 60 Democrats and Republicans in asking Walsh to expedite the application process for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) grant program, which recruits underprivileged job seekers for different industries. The program provides job training for dislocated workers, low-income individuals, and unemployed youth.
WIOA Programs are designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy. The best part? It’s happening here, in our communities and you can get involved if it’s not already a part of your life. It requires states to strategically align their core workforce development programs to coordinate the needs of both job seekers and employers through combined four-year state plans, fostering regional collaboration within states through local workforce areas.
“With turnover rates for large, long haul truckers reaching the 90 percent mark and the lag time for training and onboarding new drivers lasting several months, it is critically important DOL enact these measures as soon as possible…Unless we exhaust every possible avenue in which to address this crisis, we risk worsening supply constraints for manufacturers and rising prices on consumer goods,” the lawmakers wrote to Walsh.
In a separate letter to the Biden administration, The American Trucking Associations warned that the industry is short 80,000 drivers. The group endorsed the lawmakers’ letter to Walsh.
Appearing with Timothy Dooner and Michael Vincent on FreightWaves’ WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Program, CEO of A&M Transport Andy Owens recently discussed the pivotal role that WIOA can have in boosting trucking industry awareness and employment opportunities. Owens who has served on the Southwestern Oregon Workforce Investment Board since 2015, said that anyone can get involved in a variety of capacities.
“Like with any volunteer position, you’re going to get out what you put into it; you can make it a full-time job or just make it a hobby,” Owens said, adding that appointments to the board are made by a recommendation from a community group like your like Chamber of Commerce and then approved through a county commissioner or its equivalent office. “The idea of workforce boards is to determine what industries or sectors you want to support, and then allocate appropriate funding to the local Workforce or Employment offices to help recruit and train a workforce to support those industries.”
So what’s a realistic goal while we wait to learn what the Labor Secretary will do? Be proactive and get involved in your local workforce development board. You can advocate for the industry and help secure more government funding for employment offices to train more truck drivers and hopefully better promote the industry as a whole. Contact our RBT team of professionals to review your specific manufacturing needs. Additionally, if you would like to submit feedback or topic ideas for future articles our team produces, please feel free to contact us at TLideas@rbtcpas.com.
Sources: DOL, CNBC, Freight Waves