Lawmakers and unions urge stronger training, pay and parking to retain truck drivers
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Witnesses urged Congress to expand high‑quality training, apprenticeship programs and pay reforms while addressing parking and safety to reduce turnover in the trucking workforce.
Members of the House subcommittee and witnesses at the hearing said recruiting and retaining qualified truck drivers will require better training, improved pay and safer working conditions, including parking and restroom access.
Several witnesses urged expansion of the Registered Apprenticeship and the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Program enacted under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to bring younger drivers into the workforce with supervised experience across state lines. The Teamsters and other unions highlighted their CDL training schools as models that connect graduates to work and keep turnover low.
Cole Scandalia, representing the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, described the Teamsters’ training approach and its results: "Across the country, we operate first in their class CDL training schools at low to little cost for students. We believe that Teamsters program offers a model CDL training," Scandalia said, and urged the subcommittee to work with union training centers on federal standards.
Witnesses also emphasized retention issues tied to compensation and working conditions. Mr. Pew, a small‑business trucker representative, said pay remains a central problem: "The number 1 thing would be start paying truckers," he said, noting unpaid waiting time at shippers, extended hours and high turnover in some segments.
Members and witnesses listed immediate priorities for the reauthorization: requiring stronger, verifiable behind‑the‑wheel training hours, expanding apprenticeship pathways with clear linkages to jobs, and funding truck parking and amenities to make long‑haul careers sustainable. Several panelists called for federal incentives that connect high‑quality training programs to hiring and to veteran and second‑chance hiring initiatives.
The subcommittee did not vote on any training mandates at the hearing but signaled interest in incorporating apprenticeship and training standards into surface reauthorization language.