TREASURE VALLEY — According to the American Trucking Associations, the industry needed more than 60,000 drivers at the end of 2018 to meet the country's demands for freight services and if the conditions don't change, the industry could be short 160,000 drivers in 2028.
"There's more and more jobs. The problem is just having the people to fill them," said Harry Packwood, owner, Idaho CDL Training.
Hudson Sauer with Idaho Specialized Transportation says there's a misconception that drivers have to be on the road and be away from home. He says there are a lot of local companies in the Treasure Valley that are hiring, companies enabling employees to live lives like other full-time workers.
"They don't have to be on the road you know, six weeks being on the road. They can still come home on a frequent basis and still get good money and still live the day to day lifestyle that they want to," said Sauer.
Packwood says trucking companies are working to recruit more veterans and women.
"Now this is showing them, hey we need to be doing this. There's a lot of people left on the table here that would be great to bring into the industry and would provide a lot of benefit to the industry," said Packwood.
"This country's built on trucking companies. I mean you get your food on your table from trucks. You get the gas in your from trucks. Everything you interact with on a daily basis at some point was on a truck. So, a lot of people just don't realize just how essential they are."
