As more trucks hit the road, lawmakers continue to look for a way to respond with much-needed highway repairs.
“House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) [last month] proposed a transfer of almost $20 billion from the general tax fund to help sustain transportation funding until next April,” reported the Washington Post. “The funding would provide a bridge that would allow more than 117,000 transportation projects that employ 700,000 workers nationwide to continue through the year.”
The Washington Post also reports that “Without the transfer, federal officials have warned that money for the nation’s major transportation projects would begin to slow after Aug. 1 as the Highway Trust Fund dwindled.”
Truck officials have long asked lawmakers to get serious about highway funding, especially as more and more commercial trucks hit the road. The growth of the commercial truck industry means a need for increased highway funding, but it also means there is a growing demand for truck drivers with professional CDL training.
Proof that more funding is needed can be found in recent truck order statistics.
“Orders for Class 8 trucks in June were ‘surprisingly high’ at 26,729 units after a solid May, according to new figures released by commercial vehicle industry data provider ACT Research,” TruckingInfo.com reported.
The increase was especially surprising given the time of year.
“Since the summer usually sees a lull in order placement, having Class 8 net orders approach 27,000 before adjustment is a sign of underlying market strength,” said Jim Meil, ACT’s principal, industry analysis. “At the midyear point, Class 8 net orders year-to-date stood at an average of over 28,000 per month and 28% ahead of last year,” he said.
TruckingInfo.com also reported that Classes 5-7 net orders declined for the second consecutive month, coming in at 15,055 units.
“Concerning Classes 5-7 orders, Meil said that in the context of gradual improvement in key market drivers for medium duty trucks, ‘we believe the June results are more noise than fundamentals at work,’ with a look at year-to-date results supporting this view,” TruckingInfo.com reported. “Net orders for the first half of 2014 sums to more than 106,600 units, 12.5 percent above the same time period in 2012.”
The demand for commercial trucking services is forcing carriers to order more trucks.
Now is a great time to enter the growing truck industry, especially as shipping into the United States is growing and that need for more truck shipping is on the rise. Carriers across the country are looking for thousands of new drivers, especially those that have received training from a respected CDL training program like the one at Hamrick. Truck carriers are looking for professionally trained drivers and Hamrick’s CDL training program is fully preparing jobseekers to meet the demands of the commercial truck industry. Drivers with professional training could be more likely to be paid higher salaries as companies are willing to pay good money for a truck driver they believe will be a long-term employee.
Business is growing for commercial truck, which means there is a growing need for professional truck drivers. If you are looking for a commercial truck driving then completing the CDL training program at Hamrick is one of the best place to go. Now might be the perfect time to start a career as a truck driver, especially as the manufacturing industry experiences growth.
As the overall economy continues to grow the nation’s trucking sector will also experience growth and that growth will lead to a greater demand for commercial truck drivers, especially those with the right training and experience. That also means the federal government will be pressed to fully fund needed highway repairs.