After Harder-Led Letter, Biden Administration Releases New Plan to Fix Truck Driver Shortage

WASHINGTON — Today, the Biden administration announced a new plan to strengthen America's trucking workforce in order to fix the supply chain and bring prices down nationwide. This comes in response to Representative Josh Harder's (CA-10) November 4^thletter in which he and 78 bipartisan colleagues urged the administration to quickly implement the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) Under-21 Commercial Driver Pilot Program and close the 80,000 person truck driver shortage.

"Last month I called on the Biden administration to get government out of the way and let our businesses and workers do what they do best." said Rep. Harder. "I'm happy to say that today's announcement shows the administration is well on its way toward doing exactly what I pushed for: cutting red tape and getting more truck drivers on the road. More drivers mean lower shipping costs for our businesses, and lower shipping costs means Central Valley families paying less at the store."

Today, the Biden administration announced the following actions will be complete in the next 60 days. Read the full announcement including the below and much more online here.

• Acknowledging that safety is the highest priority for truck drivers, FMCSA will launch a pilot for drivers ages 18-21 as mandated by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, incorporating Registered Apprenticeships to ensure rigorous training standards and pairing each young driver with an experienced mentor.

• The Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of Transportation (DOT) will host a series of national Apprenticeship Accelerator meetings to help more firms develop new programs and release a quick-start toolkit for apprenticeships in the trucking sector.

• DOL Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS), DOL Employment and Training Administration, and DOT's Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration will conduct a roundtable to discuss efforts to facilitate a commercial driver's license (CDL) for transitioning service members and veterans. The meeting will include representatives from the United Services Military Apprenticeship Program as well as Veterans Affairs.

• In FY21, VETS initiated and implemented Employment Navigator and Partnership Pilot (ENPP) to more effectively assist transitioning service members with the establishment of career goals and to connect them with best-in-class employment partners to facilitate positive employment outcomes. ENPP is currently at 16 military installations. DOL will expand the ENPP program to now include the trucking industry.

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