Each year, thousands of students rely on funding from the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) program to access professional truck driver training at CVTA schools.
This funding helps connect students to training that allows them to jumpstart their careers.
For these students, this funding is lifechanging. It has allowed fresh starts for people who have struggled to provide for their families, seen their businesses negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, or relied on welfare programs to meet their needs for food, housing, and health insurance.
Download a printable version of this graphic here.
By receiving professional truck driver training, these students have the opportunity to start good-paying careers. Median driver wages for different types of truck drivers ranged between $55,000 and $85,000 in 2021. At least three-in-four carriers offered employment benefits including paid holidays, paid leave, health insurance, and retirement plans.
There is strong demand for these drivers in the industry. The trucking industry continues to face a driver shortage, totaling nearly 78,000 drivers in 2022. In total, the American Trucking Associations estimates the industry will have to recruit nearly 1.2 million new drivers to replace retiring drivers, drivers who leave the industry, and to keep pace with industry growth.
To ensure that the industry can add drivers to meet the supply chain’s needs, it is essential that Congress maintain investments in workforce funding that help connect future drivers to high-quality training.
Unfortunately, some Members of Congress have supported drastic cuts to WIOA in a Labor Department budget bill proposed in the U.S. House.
These cuts, if enacted, would have a devastating impact on students who rely on WIOA funding to access training for new careers.
Students, schools, and carriers call on Congress to pass a budget that doesn’t take WIOA away from students who rely on it to access training that helps them start successful careers.
