The U.S. Departments of Transportation and Labor will be partnering with the American Trucking Association as part of the Biden Administration’s 90-Day Trucking Apprenticeship Challenge as a route to get more trained truckers on the road in good-paying jobs.
Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Secretary of Transportation joined ATA’s Chairman Harold Sumerford, Jr., and President and CEO Chris Spear to discuss the partnership on Tuesday. The ATA said it will push its national Registered Apprenticeship program across its employer members to help expand access to earn-as-you-learn training for workers that will ultimately strengthen the supply chain while expanding the economy.
“We appreciate the American Trucking Associations joining the effort to expand Registered Apprenticeships to meet the needs of the nation’s employers while connecting workers to good-paying jobs and a path to middle-class wages and opportunities,” Sec. Walsh said. “What I love about Registered Apprenticeship is that it is a partnership. When employers and industry step up, we are ready to partner and support them to adopt this high-road training model to meet their critical workforce needs,” he added.
The Biden Administration launched the 90-Day Apprenticeship Challenge on Dec. 17 as a way to involve the trucking industry to address trucking workforce challenges and build the next generation of truck drivers. Building that workforce, the administration said, requires clear, debt-free paths into those jobs through high-quality training, such as Registered Apprenticeships.
“Drivers throughout the country have spoken with me about the rewards and the challenges of this career, and it’s clear we need to do more to build and support the trucking workforce. The Biden-Harris administration is working with the trucking industry and drivers to quickly launch registered apprenticeship programs that provide high-quality paid job training, reduce debt for drivers, and increase the number of drivers who stay in the job,” Sec. Buttigieg said. “This will make things easier for drivers and for the millions of American households that count on their essential work.”