APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) — There are a shortage of truckers on the road.
It’s a situation serious enough that some are concerned gas prices may be impacted as trucking logistics become more difficult.
“You know, I equate it to being a doctor,” said Robert Behnke, the Director of the Truck Driving Program at Fox Valley Technical College. “Doctors keep people alive when when their health is poor. Truck drivers, we deliver food, we deliver medicine, we deliver gas for cars.”
He has some theories as to why the industry is seeing such a severe shortage.
“I think some of it has to do with COVID,” Behnke said. “There’s a lot of folks that have moved around within their employment over the past year and a half to two years.”
It’s not just the coronavirus however. Behnke says regulations, public perception, and more are turning people away from the field.
“Folks don’t truly understand what it takes, what a driver goes through each and every day,” he told WTAQ. “The length of the day that they’re working, what they’re dealing with…and it just can be wearing at times.”
It’s Behnke’s job to make sure the next batch of qualified truck drivers hit the road safely.
“We are increasing capacities, in our classes,” Behnke said. “We’re still dealing with with COVID protocol, so there is a limit to how many students we can have in a class.”
He says enrollment is steady and they’re doing whatever they can to make the industry appealing to younger potential drivers.
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