US truckers are frustrated by more than Covid-19

Those issues were thrust into the spotlight when the pandemic disrupted supply chains across the globe, leaving many American store shelves empty.
The Biden administration has taken several steps to help recruit new drivers and keep experienced ones on the job. The massive infrastructure legislation passed last year also starts to address some of these workforce challenges, but experts say it’s going to take time to rebuild the pipeline of truck drivers.
For long-haul truckers, the job typically consists of multiday trips in which the driver spends nights away from home and sleeps in the cab of the truck.
But long-haul truck drivers are typically paid on a per-mile basis, rather than per hour worked, and are also exempt from receiving overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act. That means drivers are only earning money when they are actively driving and not when they are waiting for cargo to be ready for pickup, or while the truck is loaded or unloaded, for example.
Going into debt for training costs
Some long-haul truck drivers fall into debt trying to get the several months of training they need for the job, according to Steve Viscelli, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania who studies freight transportation and is the author of the book, “The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream.”
Some drivers get trained by a trucking company, but sign a contract promising to pay back thousands of dollars in training costs if they leave the job, Viscelli said, calling the situation “debt peonage.”
“Too many American truckers are set up to fail with financing schemes or coerced into paying junk fees. To keep our economy moving, we must ensure that truckers who work hard don’t face financial ruin,” said Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in a recent news release from the administration.
How Biden is trying to improve conditions
The administration is also sending $30 million to states to help them expedite the issuing process for commercial driver’s licenses.
It created a new federal Truck Leasing Task Force that will focus on predatory truck leasing arrangements, as well as loans and other arrangements between incoming driver trainees and their training schools or trucking companies. It also calls for a Women of Trucking Advisory Board to help inform efforts to increase the number of women in trucking.
The change aims to help alleviate the worker shortage, but safety advocates have raised concerns about allowing younger drivers to make longer trips.
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