Job Outlook: A Spotlight on the Need for Truck Drivers for Recovery After the Pandemic

We’ve heard about how truck drivers have kept our nation afloat during the current global pandemic. 

Take this truck driver, for example, who carefully delivered truckloads of essential goods like 40,000 pounds of (highly flammable) hand sanitizer and 156,000 masks to almost 20 states over three months. He alternated shifts with his driving partner, sleeping in the cabin when he wasn’t driving, so they could continue to transport crucial supplies across the country without having to stop.

There’s no doubt that truck drivers keep our world in motion. But when the end of the pandemic is finally in sight, how will truck drivers aid in the recovery of the United States? How can they impact our damaged economy?

Here’s how truck drivers can fuel our return to some semblance of normalcy once COVID-19 starts to subside.

Truck Drivers Positively Impact Our Economy

Since so much of our daily lives relies on trucking, this industry helps to drive nearly every other industry, which means trucking can help jumpstart the nation’s economy.

Truck drivers transport nearly every purchasable item on our shelves today. Food, gas, raw materials, and finished goods all get where they need to go thanks to the work of these dedicated drivers. 

Many of these goods are essential to our lives and can only be sold once they arrive at their destination. The work of truck drivers impacts manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and retail workers, who all rely on these products to earn their living. 

Without the movement of these items, millions of jobs and hundreds of businesses would be negatively affected. As drivers deliver shipments across the country, they are bringing profits to businesses in all kinds of industries. Much of the nation’s annual revenue is reliant upon the work of truck drivers. 

In fact, it’s estimated that the trucking industry contributes more than $600 billion to the national economy annually. 

When life and the economy start to rebound, truck drivers are the ones who will help make that happen. 

Meeting the Needs of Changed Consumer Habits

As Americans stay home more and socially distance from friends and loved ones, this has pushed spending to change in a few ways. This includes:

• An increase in e-commerce sales
• A shift to more spending on goods over services
• A change in how we buy food and beverages

2020 has been the first year that non-online sales have decreased (by 3%) while e-commerce has grown (by 20%). This trend was spurred on by the pandemic but will likely continue as the pandemic ends.

During the pandemic, we have spent more on goods instead of services, which is no surprise since we are going to fewer places and embarking on fewer experiences like vacations or trips to cinemas, theatres, salons, and museums.  

Additionally, more Americans are spending more money at grocery stores instead of restaurants. Grocery sales have risen 12% since the beginning of the pandemic, while restaurant sales have declined by 20.5%. 

The pandemic has been disruptive enough that we will see some of these changes continue well past the pandemic. And at the heart of all these shifts is an increased need for the transportation of products—and more reliance on the trucking industry.

Are you eager to see the nation recover once the threat of the pandemic starts to wane? You can help bolster the economy and keep American businesses running by getting goods where they need to go. At the Center for Employment Training, we offer accelerated and in-depth training to get our students safely behind the wheel. We understand the important role that truck drivers play in our economy and our supply chain, and we know that they will certainly aid in the recovery of our nation during and after the pandemic. This is why we ensure that all of our trucking training programs are first-rate. 

Our students complete their training with the skills they need to enter the trucking industry with expertise and confidence. Are you one of our future graduates? Contact us today to discover more about our truck driving training programs.