Trucking Industry News

U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, a Republican, and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, a Democrat, recently introduced a bill that would speed up the process for veterans to receive the proper CDL training to become a truck driver.

With the Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasting a positive job market for truckers across the United States, those seeking jobs in the Gadsden, Leon and Wakulla counties in Florida would benefit from receiving the proper CDL training.

Electric trucks may play a large role in the future of the trucking industry, if companies are swayed by a recent report by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Coalition for Transportation Productivity has been researching the benefits of increased trucking weights for around three years, and believes it would allow companies to take a number of trucks off the road, reported the Omaha World Herald.

Watsontown Trucking has expanded in recent months, causing the Pennsylvania company to bring on new employees.

According to recent figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the for-hire trucking industry added 5,300 jobs in January on a seasonally adjusted basis, while the U.S. employment rate dropped to 8.3 percent.

Swift Transportation Company recently announced a new website, joinswift.com, which was created to recruit new drivers to the trucking industry, as well as to the company.

A $1 million training program called BuildUP, presented by the Maryland State Highway Administration, recently garnered so much attention that it extended its application deadline to February 3, 2012, reported TheBayNet.

The American Trucking Association recently released its seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index, which found tonnage increased nearly 6 percent in 2011, compared to the previous year.

Members of the California Trucking Association will join the Truckers Against Trafficking initiative, working to stop human trafficking, which the U.S. State Department found affects up to 800,000 victims per year.