America’s trucking industry moves 72% of American goods, but needs 80,000 new truckers to keep the country moving. To answer this critical supply chain need, President Joe Biden is launching the Veterans Trucking Task Force to put veterans in driver’s seats.
The Veterans Trucking Task Force will work with national veterans organizations to create a plan to attract vets and separating service members to the trucking industry. A 2019 census report says veterans currently make up 10% of all truckers, but Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says 300,000 truckers leave the industry every year.
“We must do more and do better to recruit more people into the job and support them, so they choose to stay in the job,” Buttigieg said at a ceremony for the launch of the Veterans Trucking Task Force at the White House on April 4, 2022.