PERRYSBURG, Ohio — TRAINCO truck driving school in Perrysburg is one of many truck driving schools seeing an increase in the number of interested candidates.
“Our enrollment is up, so there is quite a few people getting into training! But I don’t know if the number of people getting into trucking is equal to the number of people who have exited” said Mike Moscinski, Vice President TRAINCO.
The trucker shortage has been a problem for a few years but really came to light during the pandemic. With the supply chain being messed up the need for experienced truck drivers skyrocketed. Additionally, instructors feel rule changes in the industry are deterring people from starting in the industry.
“There are some rule changes coming that aren’t a part of the pandemic but that will impact some of the driver shortage as well,” said Moscinski.
One of those changes includes a federal mandate going into effect next month across the country. It requires truck driver training for anyone who wants to take a CDL test. Because of that, truck driving schools like TRAINCO are seeing many people reaching out for testing times in order to avoid that mandate.
Stacey Fletcher is a student at TRAINCO. While he is an experienced barber making good money right now, he says the money in trucking is much better.
“I’m a barber by profession and I have a lot of clients that come in and they’re truck drivers. And they’re just talking about the shortage and the money there is to be made and I just wanted to get into the system” said Fletcher.
Experts believe it will take a few years for the industry to get back to its original pace.