STATE NEWS Trucking Workforce Summit Held IMTA partnered with the Governor’s office, the Iowa DOT, Iowa Workforce Development, and Iowa Economic Development to hold a summit that focused specifically on the driver shortage in trucking. “We know that the driver shortage continues to escalate, and it has far reaching impacts on the entire industry and ultimately the entire state. Because of that, we wanted to bring several state agencies and the trucking industry together to collaborate on ways to attract folks to the industry,” said Governor Reynolds. The event was held at the IMTA offices and had almost 100 people in attendance. Represented in the audience were community colleges, public transit, and several state and federal agencies. IMTA members were also in attendance. IMTA worked closely with the Governor’s office and the Iowa DOT to develop an agenda which included a trucking panel and a community college panel, and then everyone broke into small groups to have further discussion. “This was an extremely valuable afternoon of insightful discussion. To see public and private entities sharing insight and ideas during the
roundtable discussions was by far the highlight of the summit,” said IMTA President Brenda Neville. “There was a lot of valuable feedback and ideas exchanged during these discussions. Everyone outside of trucking gained a much deeper appreciation of our industry and the workforce challenges we are facing.” As a result of this summit, ongoing meetings and efforts are being made to move forward on some of the initiatives that were presented at the meeting. The Governor continues to express her interest in developing programs or offering funding to help recruit and attract drivers into the industry. IMTA has also continued conversations with the community colleges to develop potential programs at high schools that would allow a high school senior to obtain a CDL. “While this is not a problem that will be solved overnight, this summit was an excellent springboard to offer up some new ideas and approaches to attract new blood into our industry, especially the 18to 21-year-old demographics. It was also valuable in developing and fostering partnerships with other entities that can be helpful in our recruiting efforts,” said Brenda Neville.
The IMTA Carrier panel brought the hard hitting truths of what the workforce shortage means to trucking. FRONT ROW, L TO R: IMTA President Brenda Neville; Ron Hanson (Ruan Transportation); Kevin Gass (PDI); IMTA Chairman of the Board Brenda Dittmer (Weinrich Truck Line, Inc.); Greg Stewart (Dakota Red Corp.); Scott Szymanek (Eldon C. Stutsman, Inc.)
IMTA Board Member Senator Adrian Dickey addresses the group on what he would like to see get accomplished about workforce during the 2022 Session.
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IOWA TRUCKING LIFELINER
Scott Marler, Director of the Iowa DOT, facilitated the panel discussion amongst regulators of the industry and community colleges.
Gary Handley (IMTA) and Kenny Bauman (JMT Trucking)
