On the one-year anniversary of the TFM launch, the initiative delivered a report to the White House identifying opportunities and best practices to fill critical truck driving labor shortages.
Task Force Movement for Trucking stakeholders invested $10 million in public-private funding to promote training and employment of military-connected communities.
Operation Afghan Road is among success stories – connecting Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders, who worked side-by-side with US military, to training and placement opportunities in well-paying truck driving jobs.
On April 5, partners from across the federal government joined Task Force Movement (TFM) to release Task Force Movement (TFM): Life-Cycle Pathways for Military and Veterans into Trucking, a report detailing the activities of the Task Force over the past year as well as highlighting the challenges and opportunities to connecting military-adjacent personnel to career opportunities in trucking to help assuage a critical labor shortage. An initiative chaired by former Congressman and Obama Army Under Secretary Patrick Murphy, TFM launched at the White House on April 4, 2022, in support of President Biden!s Trucking Action Plan.
Chairman Murphy delivered the report to Susan Helper, Senior Advisor for Industrial Strategy, Office of Management and Budget, who accepted the report on behalf of the White House. In remarks during the event, Helper expressed her great appreciation for TFM!s efforts and all its partners, noting that their help will be needed moving forward as the Administration continues to address supply chain resilience.
At the event, Murphy presented the report to other senior federal leaders, to include U.S. Department of Transportation Under Secretary for Policy Carlos Monje; U.S. Department of Labor Veterans Employment and Training Services (VETS) Assistant Secretary James Rodriguez; and U.S. Department of Defense Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Education and Training, Caroline Baxter. These agencies have been critical partners in TFM efforts and provided valuable input to the report, which provides recommendations and guidance on the challenges that exist navigating career pathways, along with the various opportunities not just for veterans, but for transitioning service members and military spouses as
well.
All attendees gave high praise to Chairman Patrick Murphy and the TFM Partners, representing employers and associations, academic and vocational institutes, and veteran service organizations, whose participation provided key data and findings informing the content of the report.
“We’ve made incredible progress over the last year engaging more than 100 stakeholders in this effort, connecting hundreds of veterans, military-connected individuals, and Afghan SIV holders, who worked alongside our troops in Afghanistan, with well-paying jobs in trucking,” said Task Force Chairman, former Congressman and Army Under Secretary Patrick Murphy. “This new
report offers a roadmap for stakeholders in the public and private sectors to remove barriers to opportunity for this critical part of our workforce.”
The report focused on four key themes to build on the success of the initiative thus far, to include:
● Theme 1: Transform the Narrative and Elevate the Brand
● Theme 2: Increase Access to Quality Training and Employment
● Theme 3: Improve Documentation, Recognition, and Transferability of Military Skills
● Theme 4: Explore Linkage Between Whole Person Care and Veteran Workforce Success
As of last year, America faced a shortage of 80,000 truck drivers, while the cybersecurity industry is experiencing a shortage of 40,000 professionals in the federal government and 700,000 in the private sector. Moreover, military spouses face a 22 percent unemployment rate, many of whom have critical skills that could be utilized for these jobs. Within weeks of its establishment, TFM teamed up Indeed and Hiring Our Heroes to launch Drive for 500, funding 500 Class-A commercial driver’s license (CDL) training scholarships for veterans and their spouses. As a result, 500 veterans have already matriculated through the program and received their CDL license, placing them one step closer to high-demand, high-paying transportation careers. Later, the Department of Transportation (DOT), along with private sector partners, stepped up to provide millions of dollars in scholarships, including Operation Open Road, which provided scholarships for Afghan SIV holders.
TFM’s April 5th meeting featured a presentation of findings from the new report, Task Force Movement (TFM): Life-Cycle Pathways for Military and Veterans into Trucking. Centered on the one-year anniversary of the launch of TFM, the event included stakeholders from the armed services, government agencies, industry employers and associations, academic and vocational institutions, and veteran services organizations.
Since beginning its work, TFM has led convening sessions with 132 industry stakeholders from trucking and cybersecurity that have aided in reducing the strain on the supply chain. Employer partners have stepped in and advanced their hiring efforts to include transitioning service members, veterans, and military spouses.
This new partnership will help the Task Force facilitate employment on Military Hire’s website, which connects employers with veterans who have matching skills and emphasizes the value of hiring veterans. “This new partnership will help us efficiently connect even more veterans with good-paying jobs in the private sector,” said Task Force Chairman Patrick J. Murphy. “Thousands of employers rely on Military Hire’s database to find qualified and trustworthy candidates for open positions. We look forward to increasing our job placements for veterans with their help.”
“MilitaryHire is excited to be a part of this initiative with the Task Force Movement and the broader team it has assembled. This partnership will initially address two of the country’s most pressing skilled-candidate needs – logistics and cyber security workers. These needs will be met with what we consider the best trained candidates in the world – Veterans of the United States military,” said Jeff Finefrock,CRO, MilitaryHire. “Our focus in this partnership will bridge the path connecting Veterans to companies which covet their skills and discipline. We will then connect Veterans and employers to the TFM team’s solutions in skills assessment, training, education, apprenticeships and a full array of Veteran services. This will be a full-circle solution for Veterans and employers”0
Since its inception, TFM has connected hundreds of veterans, transitioning service members and their immediate family members with careers in the trucking industry by establishing public-private partnerships with independent companies and training organizations. These efforts include both facilitating the direct hiring of veterans as well as connecting veterans with training and certification opportunities. TFM Trucking plans to offer the Administration a final report regarding its progress in November of 2022 TFM Cybersecurity will offer the same platform to the Administration after short and long term convening sessions with industry stakeholders.
Task Force Movement is led by Chairman Patrick J. Murphy and includes the following steering committee members: Cassie Byard (Minority Veterans of America), Elizabeth Murray-Belcaster (EMB Consultants), Daniel Kunze, (ServiceNow), Sarah Amico (Jack Cooper Transport), Craig Robbins (MilitaryHire), MaCherie Dunbar (Veterans of Foreign Wars), Joe Sharpe ( American Legion), Bill Sullivan (American Trucking Associations), Joe Sharpe (American Legion), Ryan Streblow (National Tank Truck Carriers), James Fitzgerald (NYC Vets Alliance), Joe Chenelly (AMVETS), Dean Thomas (Government Relations and Systems Expert), Jason Altmire ( Career Education Colleges and Universities), Steve Gonzalez (Career Education Colleges and Universities), Brandon McPherson ( National Infrastructure Accelerator Alliance (NIAA), Lisa Lutz (Solutions for Information Designs (SOLID), Sam Whitehurst (Dixon Center for Military and Veterans Services), Nikki Mc David (DOT), Kimberley Mitchell (VA), MSG Lorena Wilson (US Army Soldier for Life), Rob Sandlin (Florida Rock and Tank)