Tennessee leaders try to fill thousands of truck driver vacancies
The Tennessee Board of Regents introduced Trucking Tennessee to raise awareness for the need of jobs in trucking.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Across the country, there are well over 70,000 open jobs in the trucking industry, according to data from the Tennessee Board of Regents.
Aiming to fill a portion of those jobs here in the Volunteer State, TBR started a new initiative called Trucking Tennessee to raise awareness and bring attention to the process of applying.
“We’ve got to convince people that aren’t truck drivers that they want to be truck drivers,” said Jason York with Frontier Transportation in Knoxville.
York said it’s an uphill battle to get people to take jobs that keep them away from their families.
The TBR reported that by 2030, there will be a 20% increase in jobs for truckers which means they don’t foresee the need for hiring more people slowing down.
“Will we need more drivers? We will always need more drivers. As we continue to grow as a country, we are going to need more drivers to bring stuff to our door,” said York.
Here in East Tennessee, the Tennessee Truck Driving School offers certification courses and job placements for those who excel at the process.
Copyright 2023 WVLT. All rights reserved.
