White House Launches Trucking Action Plan Targeting CDL Delays and Apprenticeships

In December 2021, with supply chain strain dominating headlines, the Biden administration announced a Trucking Action Plan aimed at bringing more drivers into the industry and keeping the ones already behind the wheel.

The Departments of Transportation and Labor laid out the plan in a White House fact sheet on December 16, 2021. It noted that 72% of goods in the U.S. move by truck. Citing one estimate, it said long-haul truckload drivers spend an average of only 6.5 hours a day driving, despite being allowed up to 11, which leaves about 40% of their capacity unused. It also said driver wages had risen 7% to 12% over the previous year.

Immediate actions

• CDL delays. FMCSA would provide over $30 million to help states speed up CDL issuance and would send all 50 states a toolkit of ways to cut testing delays. The fact sheet said more than 50,000 CDLs and learner's permits had been issued per month on average in 2021.
• Apprenticeships. The Labor Department launched a 90-day challenge to grow Registered Apprenticeship programs for drivers. It said programs could be set up in as little as 48 hours through its FASTPORT partner. Employers including CRST, Yellow, D.M. Bowman, Total Transportation, EVO Trucking, Florida Rock and Tank, and Albertsons committed to taking part.
• Veterans. Federal agencies would step up outreach to the roughly 70,000 veterans who likely had trucking experience in the past five years.
• Driving Good Jobs. A joint DOT-DOL initiative would hold listening sessions with drivers, study driver pay and unpaid detention time, and set up a task force on predatory truck leasing.

The plan also set 30-, 60- and 90-day milestones. They included launching the under-21 apprenticeship pilot required by the infrastructure law and standing up a task force on women in trucking.

According to a White House readout of a roundtable with trucking companies held the same day, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh announced nearly $10 million in Labor Department funding for registered apprenticeships.

What it means for drivers and fleets

The plan pointed to the problems drivers often raise: long waits at docks, unpaid time and the cost of getting licensed. Fleets struggling to hire got possible relief from CDL testing backlogs and a faster route to setting up apprenticeship programs.

Several of the most significant pieces were studies and task forces, not rules. That meant detention, pay and leasing practices were under federal review, but no new requirements were in place yet.