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Industry Tries to Address Nationwide Truck Driver Shortage as Workforce Ages

June 13, 2017

Karen Messier checked her mirrors, shifted into reverse and eased off on the white 2006 Freightliner’s clutch.

With Kirkwood Community College driving instructor Roger Smith walking alongside the tandem axle semi — attached to a 53-feet-long trailer hauling a simulated 15,000-pound load — Messier maneuvered the massive rig delicately through a pattern of orange parking cones.

The 47-year-old New Orleans native is one of eight students in Kirkwood’s four-week truck driving course trying to enter an industry starved for professional commercial drivers.

“There’s just so many different career choices, and that’s what I love about it,” Messier said. “It’s all where your priorities are.”

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