American Trucking Associations announced the creation of its Workforce Development Subcommittee to address the issue of recruiting, training, and retaining personnel to work in the trucking industry.

“We have heard about the worsening of the driver shortage, as well as the shortage of qualified diesel technicians, and the impact they have on our industry,” said Chris Spear, ATA president and CEO. “ATA will now, through this effort, fully engage with our local, state and federal leaders to find real solutions to these shortages. Our industry has openings today that could provide a middle-class standard of living to tens of thousands of Americans – we just need to find ways to identify these people and provide them adequate training in order to put them to work building our industry’s future.”

Among the issues the panel will take up to address the driver and technician shortages are job training, apprenticeships, minimum age requirements for interstate drivers, age constraints relating to insurance coverage of drivers and preparing the workforce for the jobs of tomorrow.

“We heard several times during this Management Conference and Exhibition about the impact the shortage of workers is having on trucking,” said Dave Manning, ATA chairman, president of TCW. “It is our hope that by further elevating these issues we can position ATA to address them in meaningful ways so we can continue to deliver the nation’s goods safely, securely and efficiently.”

The subcommittee will be chaired by ATA secretary John Smith, chairman of CRST International and will be a part of ATA’s Labor and Regulatory Policy Committee.

“Attracting people to our trucking should be one of our industry’s top concerns,” Smith said. “By elevating this issue within ATA, I hope we can come to the table not just to further recognize the problem, but to identify solutions.”