TCA Attends Private White House Event, Registered Apprenticeship Program Highlighted
(Trailer Technician) – Monday afternoon, the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA), alongside the American Trucking Associations and other industry stakeholders, attended an event held by President Biden on the South Lawn of the White House.
The event featured remarks from President Biden, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Veterans Affairs Secretary Patrick Murphy, and professional truck driver Maria Rodriguez. They provided updates on the Biden-Harris Trucking Action Plan ranging from addressing predatory truck leasing arrangements to cutting red tape in commercial driver’s licensing, to its Registered Apprenticeship programs.
President Biden shared that more than 100 companies, both private fleets and for-hire carriers, launched programs as part of the 90 Day Trucking Apprenticeship Challenge. The Department of Labor touted that it significantly reduced the amount of time it takes to become an Apprenticeship Employer Partner from 8 months to as little as 48 hours. Additionally, the administration shared this could result in more than 10,000 additional apprentices.
TCA is helping to support the Registered Apprenticeship program. During Truckload 2022: Las Vegas last month, the association announced that it has officially registered as an apprenticeship sponsor with the U.S. Department of Labor.
As a recognized sponsor at the national level, TCA can now provide its member companies the ability to offer apprenticeships to job applicants while TCA and its partner FASTPORT—a USDOL intermediary specializing in transportation and logistics—administers the program for the participating companies.
Read more about the apprenticeship program here.
TCA sincerely thanks the carriers who originally signed on to the program: Melton Truck Lines, Inc., Tyson Foods, and D.M. Bowman, Inc; and we are excited to see enrollment expanding across the association.
The apprenticeship program comes at an ideal time – new Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) rules have set a national standard for driver training. Industry and safety experts can feel more confident that 18–20-year-old drivers will receive a comprehensive and sound education.
During the White House event, Rodriguez, a first-generation immigrant from Venezuela also addressed the crowd to share her story. She, alongside her husband, recently became a professional truck driver apprentice for TCA member company NFI. She shared the opportunities that trucking has afforded her and her family, from flexibility to financial stability.
The sponsorship is designed to assist carriers with the administrative lift required to become a registered and approved apprenticeship program provider. The sponsorship will also provide participating carriers access to an administrative manager to aid with the structure and reporting requirements and provide a playbook for pursuing tax credits and GI Bill benefits for drivers. This is a great opportunity to target new driver candidate pools while having the support of a Work Process Schedule and Related Instructional Outline, technical assistance, and administrative support.
For more information on federally recognized apprenticeships, visit www.apprenticeship.gov, or contact TCA’s Vice President of Operations and Education Jim Schoonover at jschoonover@truckload.org or by calling (571) 444-0310.
About Truckload Carriers Association (TCA)
Located in Alexandria, Virginia, TCA is the only trade association whose sole focus is the truckload segment of the motor carrier industry. The association represents dry van, refrigerated, flatbed, tanker, and intermodal container carriers operating throughout North America. Founded in 1938, the TCA represents operators of over 220,000 trucks, which collectively produce revenue of more than $40 billion in annual truckload revenue.