Chris Burruss President Truckload Carriers Association

1
Chris BurrussPresident Truckload Carriers
Association

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

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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.

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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.

4
Growth in the Labor Force Will Slow
Rate of Growth
Demographic trends will not only work against the
trucking sector over the next ten years, but all
sectors.
Source Global Insight, Inc. for ATA
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Trucking Driver Shortage
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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.

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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.

8
Critical Challenges to Recruiting Qualified Truck
Drivers (cont.)

• Attracting a Non-traditional Workforce
• The Department of Veterans 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.

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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 students 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.

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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

11
Solution to Attract a Non-traditional Workforce

• Forming Partnerships
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• AARP Mature Workforce Initiative
• Department of Labor
• National Council of LaRaza