U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is pushing the Under 21 Military Driver Pilot Program. There is a new webpage which has been launched to help attract drivers to participating carriers because, according to Chao, “our country has a shortage of truck drivers.”
The Under 21 Military Driver Pilot Program isn’t new. In fact, it’s such old news that the FMCSA has already had enough time to figure out that the pilot program is fundamentally flawed. It turns out that it’s hard to find 600 drivers to take part in the program who meet the qualifications. Those qualifications include being trained to operate comparable machinery in the U.S. Military, having been honorably discharged or currently enlisted, and being between 18 and 20 years old.
Yet that lack of qualified candidates isn’t stopping Secretary Chao from pushing for armed forces veterans to go and drive for one of the nine carriers who are taking part in the program. Those carriers include Prime, Total Transportation, and Werner.
“Our country has a shortage of truck drivers,” said Chao in a press release put out by the FMCSA. “This resource will help military service members translate their training into good-paying jobs safely operating commercial vehicles across the country.”
Source: fleetowner, overdrive, ttnews, freightwaves, FCMSA
There is no driver shortage. What there is in trucking is a shortage of pay and decent working conditions.
The so called driver shortage was made up by the ATA which is all of the big companies. They claim they can’t get drivers.
Problem is the pay isn’t there and hasn’t been for 30 years. Working conditions are horrible and freight rates are down. Family man can’t make it out here but if you husband and wife team or are single you can do it.
Amen. They’re just skating around the problem and have been for some time now. These carriers participating in these programs are the worst of the worst, and now they’re taking advantage of veterans sounds like, or at least going to try.
Thats right
It’s a simple solution…the trucking companies need to go back to relay…lime they used to do…and the railroads still do. Otherwise the companies will not keep drivers…
How do I know this…Been there Done that. I make more money as a math consultant with a BA in math working only 40 to 50 hours a week instead of 65 plus hours a week as a driver. I am also home every night and get the weekends off.
Trucking companies have been screwing drivers for decades. I lost money working for JCT…$17000 loss for one year.
When the start of the LP is 126k. And one pays 40k on the lease then how come the balance never got below 101k? Do the math…126k minus 40k =86k not 101k. That equals scam!!!!!
The industry will continue to lose drivers as long as the companies keep doing what they have been doing for years.
You are misinformed on pay,I started at 12 cpm 38 yrs ago..I see ads right now advertising 50-55cpm .if you can’t live on that stay home
If you are subjected to federally mandated HOS measured in hrs, min, and seconds – drivers should be paid likewise in the same measurement! Simple and practical. Oh, no! We can’t have this, will be ATA’$ response, because, then the truth will shine through about the poor pay and working condition for Truck drivers.
Absolutely rite! It’s a lousy way to make a living! Young people these day’s” are smarter than we were. Lousy way to make a living” while risking bad health” and death! This generation” hopefully” is smarter” than that!
Has nothing to do with “Brain Power” Robert. It has to do with what’s needed in this current US Economy! Look up; …usdebtclock.org… it’s a page with a ton of #’s an their all moving bigtime! Don’t worry about those, center your eyes to the “Center Right” of the Page! If You’ve never been there, look for 2 Numbers! US Population and Current Labor Force! Subtract Labor Force from Population= Roughly 172 Million People NOT WORKING in the United States today! Due to a Lack of “Livable Wage Jobs” for people! Oh sure, there’s tons of $7.50 to $15.00 an hour jobs out there! BUT NOTHING ANYONE CAN LIVE ON! Since 2007 (05, in Regions of the country like the Carolinas!) and the “Crash” The United States as fell into “The Great Depression II” with 52% of her Population NOT Working!! Hello, that’s ONLY 48% of the Population working! That’s like 26 out of 50 States worth of people Unemployed! A Perfect example! Fall of 1985 to the Spring of 1986. Just as an example! The “Mineral Mining” Part of the “Mining Industry” as a whole, hired 750,000 People at the THEN, $40,000 Yearly Salary Wage, plus Benefits! THAT’S 1 INDUSTRY (NOT EVEN THE WHOLE INDUSTRY ITSELF AT THE TIME, ONLY MINERALS, NOT COAL.) OR A PART OF 1 INDUSTRY! The US Economy “supported around 80% of the GDP’s of Countries in the work! Up until then POTUS Bill Clinton signed NAFTA into force, the US Economy supported itself alone between 150 and 200 DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES, in THIS NATION ALONE! NOT to MENTION Industries outside the US. My Point; Is NOT a History Lesson! But my Point is; EVER SINCE the “Signing of NAFTA” our US Economy has CONTINUALLY CONSTRICTED TO LESS AN LESS INDUSTRIES! OUR ECONOMY TODAY, IS LUCKY, IF WE SUPPORT 20 INDUSTRIES, AS A WHOLE! That’s 20 Robert! No Where NEAR the 200 our Economy Supported up until the NAFTA SIGNING BY POTUS Bill Clinton!! Because I tell you what Bob, I hold 5 Degrees, INCLUDING 2 DOCTORATES, 1 EVEN IN BUSINESS!! I Got News for you! IF I COULD GET Back into my Science Field (The Other Doctorate!) I’d do it in a HEARTBEAT!! BUT, My Field of Professional Training has NO MORE JOBS, HERE IN THE STATES!!! DUE TO The US Economy! I came back to Trucking, since I had Family in the Industry, who BECAME Rich, FROM Trucking! An were those “Millionaire Truckers” Y’all hear about!! A Uncle an a Cousin! Seriously! No Joke! I Listened to Family, an once I got out of Trucking in the Military, some 30 odd years ago, I stayed out! Got an Education (BIG TIME) But then, in 2011 was “Forced” (By the US Economy) to go back INTO TRUCKING! I’ve NOW BEEN BACK IN; “THE FAMILY BUSINESS” FOR ALMOST 9 YEARS! MY POINT BOB, is No, it does not matter how “smart you are or how many degrees you have” it’s called; “Putting Food on the Table, Paying Bills, etc, etc! I’ve Seriously even put thought into becoming an “X-Pat” and moving Overseas. Just to try an do something different and maybe once again; Find, “PAY DIRT” ! But until I decide, it’s the “trucking Life for me”! Lol! Be safe My friend! See you down the Highway! 🙂
Agree with you 100% Robert. Raise the pay and improve the working conditions these younger people will take care of that so called shortage in no time at all.
Exactly right I work 60 hrs a week for a 600 check I’m like let me go work in a warehouse cuz trucking ain’t it
She said right “Driver Shortage” but she forgot to add …” in those companies who buying more trucks that they are able to fill (because of lower pay, or home time policy- you name it)
I so agree there isnt a shortage the only shortage is pay and freight rates are so low doesn’t compute for the fuel mileage detention pay only shortage 8s drivers being treated fairly.
Once again….there isn’t a shortage of truck drivers. What there is a shortage of is drivers that refuse to work the hours and conditions demanded, for the pay offered. Don’t have enough takers for a job? Then raise the pay and / or improve the working conditions. Then there won’t be any shortage. That”s how it’s supposed to work.
There’s no shortage of drivers! The imbiciles @ the FMCSA are making physicals harder to obtain by requiring Drs. to pay to take a quack course & be entered into a National FMCSA Registry who are allowed to do DOT physicals. They still do EXACTLY THE SAME PHYSICAL as they did before but now charge SKY HIGH rates & fail drivers on some bs & not doctor descresion anymore. Bring in all your meds & letter from your doctor & still something bs. You pay $150 for a physical, you expect a DOT card PERIOD! Just like before. All under guise of making roads safer due so many crashes by trucks. Only don’t address the cheap, fly by night truck driving schools who basically hand out CDL’s like candy. Also they trying to weed out & rid older drivers to bring in the self driving trucks where some dude 3k miles away is driving it like a drone.
By your way of thinking there is a shortage.. but the money’s there, the will isnt.. not everyone is meant to be a driver and we see this everyday
Nobody is handing out Cdl’s these days believe me, If anything it 10 times harder than its ever been. This coming February laws are changing for the better. New Cdl applicants must attend and pass a full blown accredited school.
True very spot on
I remember when I used to work for a mega carrier about 10 years ago. Was getting 30 cents mile and working 80 hours a week at least. I figured up my hourly pay one time and it was like 10 dollars an hour. I could work at 7/11 and make more. I was only there 7 months then went ltl where I got paid hourly, and it was way, way more than 10 dollars an hour.
Hello America, There is no driver shortage. Are driver sitting home because the brokers not paying the rate and drivers can’t afford for Fuel, insurance, maintenance and state taxes. The rate they paying less than a dollar a mile. The most shipper and Receiver Warehouse takes 4 to 8 hours loading and unloading, the drivers loose hours in ELD log for going to pick up next load.
I had a mega carrier give me $1200 for a 170 mile load. I asked if they could do any better (only because that’s my job.) He said no we’re getting $1270 for the load, we have to keep at least the $70. When the load was done, he told me he had two more of the same, if I was interested. He told me they’re listed on Carrier … I went to their site and bid $1200 on both loads. They countered me $635! F-in half of the $1270 he told me they were getting. If Chao wants to do something, put a cap on the brokers %. Stop them from ripping us off!
So it’s ok for you to maximize your profit but a broker needs to be limited by the government? It’s called capitalism. Don’t deal with that broker or broker your own freight.
Because of govt control
Cant have people running around the country on their own with no govt interference
It isn’t a driver shortage. It is a victim shortage. Put a hiring freeze on the mega carriers and the turnover rate will drop or they will go out of business. Nobody wants to work for a company that exploits it’s people so badly, they have to replace their entire fleet every year.
LOL – There IS a shortage…. “We DESPERATELY need drivers willing to live in a truck and work for free.”
– Chao..
I used to want to own my own truck, but my wife said I already complain too much.
I run local for JB and made $77k last year. Was home every night, and off weekends. 10-12 hour days, but that was my choice, because I asked for extra crosstowns and longer runs.
That’s a mega carrier and if you think $77k isn’t enough, then maybe you should have gone to school for petroleum engineering, but it’s alright to me.
If your working conditions are terrible, clean your truck.
For all the talk of millennials being whiny and entitled, people just need to listen to old truckers for five minutes and see it’s nothing new.
More people should live in reality.
Always good to hear of truckers making a situation that’s works for them.
All employment should be mutually beneficial and not left to only the employer to ensure that.
I’m in Engineering and took a break and went into trucking.. the mega carrier that I worked for was a joke.. spend close to a year working as hard a possible with little home time.. The poor management of my time beyond my control forced be to leave.. I developed a spread sheet over my experience and averaged $10.50 per hour.. Loved the job but had to leave because it wasn’t worth it.
Wow 77,000 and your healthcare is horrible for what you pay out on that so you don’t make 77,000 you make 50,000 Funny how everyone else says the same thing and always have someone without any guts….
But are millenials doing it for chicken feed,are they required to unload their own trucks, are they required to be a mechanic .the old homers fid what none of you pussies do today, we are the reason it got better..always room for improvement but alot better than 35 yrs ago or 50 yrs ago
😅😅😅😅 if pigs won’t ticket us every time they get a chance probably there would be more driver…
Exactly y’all! Fire this woman already!!!
This broad is CLUELESS and a fool no shortage of drivers maybe a shortage of QUALIFIED drivers there is a difference
You can contribute to killing women and children, but not the transportation of goods.
If my boss killed even a few kids through negligence, I’d quit the very next day. Amen
If you guys would let drivers get the miles in and fix the pay scale that might solve some of your problems. A well experienced driver can do 3600 miles a week with no problem.
We need too fight this under 21 yr olds are not responsible enough too be out here it will be a disaster people like Chao just want too drive our wages under the ground with cheap labor
Only shortage is the pay. Finally hooked up with a company that the pay is great and the line to get in the door is long long long. Get paid over a $1 a mile(because they throw in some money for food and they pay for the fuel win/win) in a company truck. Thats right and this company has no problem getting and keeping company drivers or owner operators. They still are growing but havent heard a complaint from any drivers. Not to mention they are prior military so they always give first crack to the soldiers. So pull out you 348 and dd214 and you are as good as hired
So for all you company drivers not making a buck a mile, start looking for the ones that do pay it.
There is no driver shortage. If there were, store shelves would be empty and the mail would take forever to get to it’s recipients.
Those large carriers who signed up to participate in the program already have a hard time finding more than 2000 to 2300 miles per week to assign to the drivers that they have. They have more trucks than drivers – not because there are too few drivers, but because they have too many trucks. The freight that needs moving, is already moving, and there are more than enough trucks with drivers to get it moved without any danger of running out anyone’s logbook. These carriers just want more drivers in their surplus trucks, to improve their negotiationing position on driver compensation.
Even the Federal Department of Labor figured this out, and published their findings. If the FBI can find drivers to ask for their help on cold cases, why can’t the Transportation Secretary find us to figure out that we *EXIST* in adequate supply? Does *anyone* in the Federal government talk to their coworkers in the next office?
It’s a good thing for her, that Secretary Chao doesn’t have to run for election to her office. It’s similarly a good thing for her, that she can’t be impeached.
With all these companies going out of business does anyone really think there is a driver shortage ?
Let’s see, entered service at 17. Did 4 years. Honorable discharge at 21. Nope. Can’t be in that range unless you got a BCD or a dishonorable. It is a VERY DUNB IDEA!!
That’s what I was thinking…. No wonder our industry is so messed up LOL. This is the kind of crap they want a pat on the back for coming up with. Lord help us!
Its messed up because of govt regs and interference
There is no such thing going on
What it is
Companies don’t paid enough to drivers
Quit lying
There is no such thing going on
What it is
Companies don’t paid enough to drivers
Quit lying
I say HELL NO I had to wait until I was 25 yrs old They can do the same
Lets put it in true prospective the brokers are the scam artists and corporate trucking companies are killing the freight rates. Get the brokers in check from taking their upwards to 60% and get it to the right people.
A new truck was around $135,000 three years ago. Now what basically is a same truck with the same engine and drivetrain but with slightly updated headlights bumpers and some plastic covers costs around $165,000. Let’s brake down some basic stuff
Truck finance payment $3300/month
Truck insurance $500/month
Truck registration $2000/year($166/month)
Truck annual inspection $100/year($8/month)
Trailer payment $1200/month
Trailer insurance $250/month
Trailer registration (no payment)
Trailer annual inspection $100/year(8/month)
Cargo insurance $700/month
Highway tax $550/year($46/month)
TOLL ROADS $?
Oil changes
Tires
Brakes
Maintenance and repairs
Add to that a drivers salary and benefits and. See how much profit each truck has to make after FUEL COSTS just to cover all of that. Also it has to make money to pay salaries to the dispatchers. And cover offices rentals and utility bills. And it also needs to make profit to the owner/s of a company.
Big companies load their tracks with anything they can load them with (low rate loads $$$$$) because they need to keep the drivers running and then they cut drivers pay and keep it low to make at least some profit. And drivers quit and dont want to drive a truck anymore. There are a lot of CDL holders that don’t want to drive. They can make the same money somewhere else and be home with their families every day. So Mrs Chao the problem is not “A SHORTAGE OF DRIVERS ” ITS HIGH COST OF TRUCKS AND FUEL AND ALL OF THE ABOVE AND LOW FREIGHT RATES
IFTA to is ridiculously high
So if there is people out there reading this comments who wants to get a CDL and drive a truck. Don’t just go to any company and just throw yourself in for a year contract coz they provide you a CDL school. Do your research. Do the math. Ask drivers with at least a few years of experience and then make a decision
She needs another face lift. Here families transportation company gets preferred contracts because of her husband Moscow Mitch and the guy in the White house.
There is No driver shortage, made up story being pushed by the mega carriers to get even cheaper paid drivers and move quicker to automation robot drivers.
How did this women get that position first of all , where’s the backbone of the labor industry o that’s right they all vote to give back this industry is a joke, stop all the b.s. and stand up I see all the p bottles you guys leave at truck stops walk across a truck stop parking lot you think your walking in a sewer that goes to show ya that’s a poor outlook for drivers who don’t do that littering and to the public that see’s and smells it to real professionals out there know wander nobody listens and I don’t blame them either so I’m sure we can teach the new upcoming drivers to disrespect the industry also. Lol
Is there anyway we can ask for a formal resignation from the DOT Secretary along with the ATA President. Both have received and ignored statistical and economic data from the department of labor stating that there is NOT a driver shortage but a compensation issue. DOT Elane and ATA President have ignored those reports along with siding with trucking mega carriers. There also needs to be a investigation done to ensure backhanded deals are not being made to line the pockets of Elane and the ATA.
Though I do not believe the the myth of drive shortage, I have no problem with under 21 years driving our highways. I got my first driving job (a Diamond tandom) when I was a summer uni student when I was 17. I got my first chauffeur’s licence on my 19th birthday and was on the highways five months later pulling a 45 footer from New Jersey to Chicago. After fifty-four years of OTR, I retired with two speeding tickets, one falling asleep at the wheel (no damage done) and two accidents. It’s not age that creates highway idiots, it’s the driver’s personality.
Then you did it illegally
21 to do interstate 18 to do intrastate
US Dept. of Labor just released a report a few months ago stating the opposite. There are no shortages, just a shortage of good paying companies. She is in the pockets of big box companies I guess.
Boy these people love lying about a driver shortage. If there was a shortage, the rates wouldn’t be so low. There would be plenty of parking. You wouldn’t have people saying things like “drivers are a dime a dozen”, then proving with their actions. Too many things to name.
Exactly what I said if it’s a shortage why os it no parking
this is silly. you enlist at 17 get out at 21. if you get kicked out you got a problem and don’t follow rules well so don’t need to be driving a truck with a lot of rules. I see a disaster brewing.
Maybe shortage in her brain.
right now there is an over capacity in the trucking industry. too many trucking companies put on new trucks when the economy went up, hence more available trucks, hence lower rates. want to improve driver satisfaction and improve retain ability, cut the size of the fleets and watch rates go up. too many times this year i have sat empty over a day for a reload. it use to be that i had 1 or 2 reloads lined up before i delivered the current load. there is no driver shortage, problem is too many trucks on the road now!
Like most of the comments, there is no shortage of drivers – there is only a shortage of drivers that are willing to put up with the B.S. I have been a commercial driver for 35 years and came off long haul because I was not going to deal with the crap any more. I get to be at home every night and not have to put up with the B.S. from shippers, receivers, trucking companies that treat drivers worse than dog crap and D.O.T. Until drivers are treated like human beings, there will always be the problem of keeping the seat warm.
The driver shortage is this: An overabundance of empty trucks, because the ATA companies buy trucks by the hundred-lot or thousand-lot. They have so many trucks sitting empty that they use any means to get warm bodies in the seats, pay them next to nothing, then sit them because there’s not enough freight to fill their trailers. If these companies would quit this tactic, the “shortage” would go away.
As far as the military program is concerned, you can’t join the military until you’re 18, and while some hitches are 3 years long, most are 4 years. By that time, you’re over the age required by the program..
There is NO driver shortage – only a shortage of just conditions and compensation.
i agree there is no shortage of qualified drivers there are poor pay, poor quality of life for otr, over regulation for driver license requirements pertaining to medical cards, penalties for violations on cdl count on personal license for insurance purposes, parking shortages, and many more reasons and it is a very stressful job overall.
if they pay more money people will come back and drive, instead of 5 day work week for $1000 maybe a 3-4 day work week for $1500 and 3-4 days off would justify the 24 hour per day job it really is as an employee? basic supply and demand economics…. they want to increase the supply by bringing 18-20 year olds to keep labor rates of drivers cheap…. national average income for truck driver $40k per year which is damn near poverty for a family of 4? and folks there trying to get the american wage rates in line with chinas and indias wage rates and theres 4 billion people their and just over 300 million here. why do you think the european union was created ( to maintain a high standard of living and to keep the cheap labor of asia out or at least controlled )! we have our own cheap labor problems with mexico and south america right. is it exploitation of the cheap labor or the greed of the wealthy or incompetent elected officials puppets for the wealthy?
I call BS on the shortage. I recently graduated Cdl school, $8k out of pocket and no success on finding employment yet. I probably should of signed up with one of those concentration camp swift programs like most of the knuckle draggers out there.
Don’t do it military people you deserve much better. They just want to take advantage of people who have that military structure. They know that even if they fuck you on pay etc you will keep on with your work. That’s why they have always geared towards you.
She should be pushing for better pay and job conditions for existing drivers. Instead of trying to make it worse hiring kids !!!
There is a shortage of intelligence in bureaucracy, starting with D.O.T. and FMCSA leadership. I am currious if Elaine Chao has even ever been inside of a semi truck.
I’ve been out here almost thirty years the otr driver’s need a union or something you guy’s and ladies are treated pretty bad I went with a local union job and haven’t looked back. I was a huge anti union person couldn’t stand them but I was told about a local that was union and was surprised bye the way they were treated and the voice you had but it was a education I had to learn. I don’t think people coming out of the service is the answer. Company’s need to treat driver’s alot better and give them a voice.
True
I don’t often reply to a problem that will never go away, but good bye transport industry.Im sick of being in the 65 + hours a week because of the broker and greedy transport conglomerates.
First time in 3 1/2 years and I’ve been out of it for 3 weeks sleeping in my own bed.eating healthy meals and starting to exercise.
brokers and companies you make your bed you lay in it.
There is no driver shortage. It’s just most trucking jobs suck.
Moscow Mitch’s CHICOM wife understands that the answer to the shortage is the market and not manipulation with those that stand to benefit, but that’s what conservatives do. Drivers should be paid more.
I am selling my truck and trailer and thinking about change of profession while I can. Trucking is not profitable anymore. And, the reason is too many trucks and not so many loads. The balance was broken in last decade and it tends to get worse because lies are being spread about trucking.
Low pay too many hours.Drivers waiting time terrible at grocery warehouse.
Raise wages stop companies from cheating drivers and lieing to get them. We are wrking for 1980 wages…In this country everything has changed.It cost more to live..Our healthcare system is a joke and its run by professional crooks.The only thing that hasnt changes is wages for workers.We need people in office that are not so disconnected.
There is no shortage of truck drivers, this is a big lie. All they are trying to do is produce more cheap labor.
No Shortage drivers but the opposite !! Big companies pay very Low cpm , many turn over , they are able to do so because they get many new student drivers every single week ! That’s the fact ! Go to truck stops at night and see the lot always full !
I’m taxed so much, I’m so busy paying for somebody else’s road markers, reflector tape and signs many many signs. CHP, asphalt state fences bridges. Guard rails, highway photo cameras, weigh stations cat scanners, inspections,imaginary stuff and more. I can’t afford to pay for under 21 students to attend driver safety . That old lady needs to stop with her stupid ideas. There are jobs and driver, companies have trucks sitting because those are extras. And if one of those companies collapses there’s all that metal on wheels sitting. All loads are still delivered by truckers.
Off With Her Head !!!
Just another way to make it more dangerous remember this is coming from people that thinks self driving trucks are safer than us not only that but the same people that let the air max kill over 500 people in 2 different incidents with the technology that’s going into self driving trucks all in the name of truckers shortage haha what a joke oh and by the way still have not found the reason the air max went down still grounded good luck for public safety
Cant even get fuel anymore without waiting behind some retard doing a 30 but theres a driver shortage.
The program is a fraud and there is NO driver shortage!
The Army is the only service that has a 2 year enlistment. This was done to bolster Troops on the ground and help relieve soldier rotation. So if a young man or woman did enlist at 18 on a 2 year bid they’d be 20 (or 21) when their time was up.
So realistically, you may only have a handful of drivers who enter Trucking through this “program” on a regular basis, no more than what Trucking get anyway and many Vets enter Trucking daily.
I’d think a young solider gaining whatever experience they did in those two years wouldn’t through it away and become a Trucker to start out earning low CPM’s.
DOT is basically admitting that they can’t BS experienced Truckers so they’re willing to accept under 21 drivers. The attrition rate in that demographic (under 21) will probably be high as well after those drivers see the LOW PAY they’ll receive especially after earning twice as much prior. LOW PAY is the reason for the “shortage” to begin with!
Stop taking loads through and to ct. let um starve.