After Aroostook County pulled a tremendous potato harvest in 2021, growers were stunned to discover much of their crop was going nowhere. National supply chain dysfunction prompted area community members to band together and found viable storage until the record yield of 345 hundredweight per acre could be brought to market.
“The real problem is no trucks to haul containers. That means prices go up for the transportation, prices go up to our consumers for the goods, and we end up selling for less,” Brian Guerrette of Guerrette Farms in Caribou reportedly said at the time.
Mainers are not sitting on their hands waiting for Washington, D.C., politicians to fix an 80,000 truck driver shortage. The Maine Motor Transportation Association launched a marketing campaign on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram last year called “Go. Your Way,” to attract people from Generation Z to take up trucking as a career last year.
Brian Parke, president and CEO of the Maine Motor Transport Association, indicated that not enough people understood how crucial truck drivers are to the country. But trucking garnered national attention after men and women acted heroically to deliver America’s goods and materials during the height of the pandemic.
“One of the positives is there’s a much greater sense of appreciation for what our industry does,” Parke reportedly said. “Our members were out there on the road, implementing safety precautions and making sure the store shelves were stocked, food was delivered, and medicine got to where it needed to be.”
With crops in the ground, Mainers appear to be engaged in another decisive policy initiative. Northern Maine Community College, located in Aroostook County, plans to partner with Eastern Maine Community College and expand its 8-week driving academy. With resources directed from the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan, and Harold Alfond Center for the Advancement of Maine’s Workforce, the truck driver education program will train people for a good-paying career free of charge.
“Good jobs in trucking are easy to find right now. Great pay and benefits are the norm,” Leah Buck, assistant dean of continuing education at the Prisque Isle campus, reportedly said. “These are hardworking professionals who are rewarded for making smart decisions, whether as a long haul driver, local delivery, hauling log, or hundreds of other opportunities for anyone with a great attitude and willingness to work, can evolve.”
Young adults straight out of high school have a unique opportunity to take no-cost courses and earn their CDL. Maine allows adults under 21 to operate Class 8 vehicles within the state. Numerous truck driving positions remain unfilled and agricultural transportation peaks during the fall harvest. The average salary of a Maine CDL holder in 2021 hovered around $46,000, and many anticipate that figure has risen significantly. After turning 21 years old, upstart truckers can put 2-3 years of experience on their resume and earn higher salaries making long-haul runs. While much of the country appears stuck in neutral, Maine’s trucking initiatives are full speed ahead.
Sources: bangordailynews.com, bangordailynews.com, bangordailynews.com
Yeah ok, well I guess I’ll go out and fix my 2020 W900 KW. Only problem is, I don’t own one. How can you fix something that doesn’t exist? Oh there’s plenty of drivers, but not enough experienced, safe, reliable driver. They keep leaving the industry but are replaced with drivers who enter the industry because requirements and standards are lowered making it a lot easier for them to do so. Then the government, trucking companies and 4-wheelers expect the same level of performance and service out of those inexperienced drivers, many of whom don’t even have a passion for the job. Stop with the heavy-handed government over reach that’s making experienced drivers leave?
No body goes there so they need to deliver and pick up their own sh%$&t
Greetings from Maine USA, where our trucking initiatives are indeed running full speed ahead. As a local Class-A driver here myself, I hope lots of folks will learn about this great opportunity and some of the new ways for how drivers with limited experience can get hired through an Academy like what Hartt Transportation has. BTW, if a driver is willing to work hard and drive in a safe and legal manner, s/he can certainly gross over $100,000/year in Maine right now.
Yee haw and tootles to the Maines one crappy place to drive a semi
Thank you
Yes