Canvass any group of truck drivers or truck technicians – be they freight haulers, dump truck operators, diesel engine repair specialists, you name it – and you’re going to find a large passel of military veterans among them, though not nearly in the numbers once experienced.
For nearly two generations now, no American has been obligated to join up and serve in the military – and, unsurprisingly, few do so now. In fact, less than 0.5% of the U.S. population today serves in the armed forces, compared with more than 12% during World War II.
Yet when it comes to driving and repairing trucks, the skill set possessed by military veterans dovetails nicely with the needs of the trucking industry – being “mission-oriented,” working in all kinds of terrain and weather conditions, knowing how to train and be trained, etc.
[Those characteristics and more were exemplified in this story penned by my colleague Aaron March last year.]
“In our armed forces, our service men and women routinely display character, commitment and other qualities our members tell us they look for when they are hiring drivers, technicians and other staff,” noted Chris Spear, the newly-installed president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations (ATA) trade group, in a statement.
“Our industry is continually facing a shortage of qualified drivers and technicians,” added Kevin Burch, president of Jet Express and recently-elected chairman for ATA.
“Many trucking companies have found that by recruiting and reaching out to our veterans, through programs like Hiring Our Heroes, they can not only hire well-qualified, dedicated employees, but help these incredible men and women transition back to civilian life,” he said
Spear also noted that
new rules are in place to allow veterans with driving experience in the service to waive the licensing skills test to obtain a civilian commercial driver’s license (CDL) and to take CDL tests where they’re stationed, rather than in their home state – all making the process of becoming a driver far simpler.
