A bill — the Military Commercial Drivers License Act of 2012 — that will ease the transition of recent veterans into jobs as commercial truck drivers has been endorsed by the American Trucking Assns.
Bill Graves, ATA president & CEO, thanked both the House and Senate for quickly passing the bill that will allow uniformed service members to get a commercial driver’s license where they are stationed, rather than in their home state, which Graves said will make it easier for soldiers and sailors to move from military to civilian life.
“Trucking already faces the beginnings of a driver shortage, and with increases in freight demand, as well as demographic changes, we will soon see demand for drivers increase rapidly,” Graves said. “Making it easier for veterans to move into these jobs is a good thing for the military, for the veterans themselves and for our industry.
“Veterans with experience driving trucks in the military are highly sought after,” Graves added.
The ATA chief added a “hats off” to Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Rep. Bucshon (R-Indiana) “for leading the charge to eliminate a regulatory hurdle veterans now face in applying for a CDL.”
“We urge President Obama to quickly sign this legislation into law,” Graves concluded.
