By Paul Benfer, Kinetic Supply-Chain Services-
The House passed the Veteran Expanded Trucking Opportunities Act of 2017 H.R. 2547) along with the Active Duty Voluntary Acquisition of Necessary Credentials for Employment (H.R. 2258) bills. The voted passed 409 to 0.
The purpose of the bills is to expedite the licensing process by allowing the Veterans Administration to provide physical exams and issues medical certificates for veterans (H.R. 2547). The Active Duty bill exempts veterans with specific driver experience from certain testing requirements to qualify for a CDL.
Providing good paying jobs for our veterans is a great idea to help those that volunteered to protect our freedoms. Another primary purpose of the bills is to help reduce the truck driver shortage in the United States. The coming mandate on electronic logging devices has the potential to exacerbate an already acute shortage.