Truck tonnage was up in February, continuing the trend of growth in the commercial trucking industry all across the nation as the demand for trucking services and professionally trained drives continues to rise.

The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index rose 0.5 percent in February after falling 4.6 percent in January. The latest gain put the seasonally adjusted index at 119.3 (2000=100), up from January’s level of 118.7. Compared with February 2011, the SA index was up 5.5 percent, better than January’s 3.1 percent increase.

The not seasonally adjusted index showed a 1.3 percent increase in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaling 112.9 in February.

“Fleets told us that February was decent and that played out in the numbers,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello, who also mentioned that February’s month-to-month increase was the sixth in the last seven months. “I’m still expecting continued truck tonnage growth going forward. Rising manufacturing activity and temperate consumer spending should be helped a little from an improving housing market.”

The Truck Driver Institute’s CDL training program is training some of America’s best commercial truck drivers in months, not years, and helping to meet the growing demand faced by trucking carriers as tonnage continues to increase all across the nation.

Trucking continues to be one of the fastest growing industries in North America, and many carriers are desperate to find drivers that have received professional CDL training, like the program at the Truck Driver Institute.

Despite nearly four years of a sluggish economy that has continued to challenge those looking for work, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says some job sectors appear to just, “keep trucking.”

While production of American goods has slowed over the past few years and is now beginning to show signs of significant growth, the commercial trucking industry remains the most effective form of transportation and has held steady during the recession. The continued growth in the trucking industry, coupled with the projections that the truck driver field is expected to grow 9-percent over the next decade, is making many job seekers turn to CDL training for a career as a truck driver.

A recent report by the BLS says the number of heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers is expected to grow by 13 percent by 2018. That growth in drivers is because the trucking industry is projected to be in high demand for CDL trained drivers in an effort to add employees to this growing work field.

While the trucking industry as a whole has remained steady during turbulent economic times, many economists expect to see it experience strong growth as the economy rebounds. As economic growth occurs, there will be an increasing need for CDL trained drivers as American grows in its production of goods. Another factor contributing to the need for CDL trained drivers is that many career truck drivers are nearing retirement, leaving a void that will need to be filled. As aging drivers leave these jobs, employers are working hard to recruit experienced drivers from other companies. As a result, the BLS says it expects there to be competition for the jobs requiring CDL training which will also push average salaries higher for CDL trained drivers.

The Commerce Department recently announced that durable goods demand is continuing to increase as the manufacturing sector in the United States continues its economic recovery.

The increase in manufacturing and the purchase of durable goods is good news for the commercial trucking industry. The goods produced by manufacturers are transported by trucks that transport the majority of all shipments in the nation.

As demand for trucking increases so will the demand for CDL trained drivers, which is expected to be one of the most attractive jobs over the next several years.

As the American economy shows signs of a comeback, European debt worries have slowed American exports to the struggling continent. However, many economists believe the United States will respond to the weaker exports to Europe with strong domestic growth which will have a direct benefit for the trucking industry and the job prospects it offers.

The nation will continue to face challenges as it recovers from one of its worst recessions since the 1930s, but there are many signs of improvement and nearly all of them -increase in manufacturing, lower oil prices, higher domestic demand- have a positive impact on the trucking industry. For those who are looking to start a new career that benefits from these positive signs, a career as a CDL trained truck driver offers one of the best opportunities. The Truck Driver Institute’s training program has been preparing students for this growing career field for years and many students are finding employment quickly with some of the nation’s best carriers. As growth continues in the trucking industry there will also continue to be a need for more professionally trained drivers.

A first of its kind truck weight station opened last month in South Carolina that uses new technology to make commercial truck driving more efficient.

According to a story in the Post and Courier newspaper, a 7-foot pit under the road allows transportation police to check the undercarriages of commercial trucks that does not require an official to slide under the truck, which can be unsafe. An automated queue system tracks the number of trucks waiting.

“This is not your father’s truck weigh station,” S.C. Trucking Association President Rick Todd said in the newspaper article.

More than 26,000 trucks pass through this spot in Dorchester County each week, according to the S.C. Department of Public Safety. The new operation nixes the requirement that every tractor-trailer pull into the weigh station and sensors weigh and measure the trucks a mile out, and a license-plate reader captures an image that immediately checks to see if the truck is up to date on paying its fuel tax and in meeting federal safety standards, the story reports.

The station is open 24/7 and was built for $6 million with a federal grant. The article reports that the S.C. Department of Transportation owned land, previously served as a rest stop with several parking spaces. The new station is being praised as a way to prevent collisions among commercial trucks and unnecessary wear and tear on highways.

As more commercial trucks are hitting the road to keep up with rising demands, new technology is being used to help make the industry more efficient to make sure trucks can arrive at their destination quicker.

Trucking officials are urging the federal government to find real solutions for the nation’s dilapidated infrastructure, especially as the number of commercial trucks hitting the road is expected to increase dramatically in the coming years.

“As users of America’s highways, ATA was heartened to hear President Obama once again highlight the need to do something – anything – about our crumbling infrastructure,” American Trucking Association President Bill Graves said. “However, it was with little surprise that the president once again failed to commit to putting real, concrete sources of funding behind that rhetoric.”

In his statement released shortly after the president’s State of the Union address earlier this year, Graves also said specific funding solutions are needed to fix the country’s roads.

“Right now, the country doesn’t need more empty promises and rhetoric about the importance of repairing roads and bridges as a way to put Americans back to work. What the country needs is money – money from real sources, not promises of private investment or redirected savings,” Graves said. “While promises of speeding the construction process will help in the short term, in the long term, it still boils down to funding.”

Graves also highlighted the substantial growth experienced by the trucking industry over the past several years and said future success is dependent on finding infrastructure solutions.

“In our recovery from the Great Recession, trucking just wrapped up its most successful year in a decade and we expect with continued improvement in manufacturing and growth in international trade that we will be called on to haul more goods and drive more miles than ever,” Graves said. “In order to do this efficiently and safely, we need the administration and Congress to come together on a well-funded multiyear highway bill that makes smart investments in roads and bridges with real dollars. As the president said, ‘There’s never been a better time to build.’”

The U.S. House and Senate left for a short recess last month with a surface transportation reauthorization bill on hold. The bill, which commercial trucking officials are watching closely, was expected to be taken back up by Congress later in March.

However, there was a March 31 deadline for the current short-term extension, meaning another short-term plan, or approval of the full bill, will need to take place before the end of the month. If a long term surface transportation reauthorization bill is not approved by March 31 it is likely that the bill will be dead for 2012.

In the House, the Republican leadership has opted to split the bill, HR 7, into several pieces in order to increase the odds of passage. The House Rules Committee has yet to meet to determine which of the hundreds of proposed amendments will be permitted to be offered, including the Nadler-Blumenauer-LaTourette amendment to restore gas tax revenue to the Mass Transit Account.

In addition to the delay in floor action, another major setback to the House bill is the loss of $15 billion of the $40 billion in savings from proposed federal pension reform that was supposed to offset the General Fund transfer to the new Alternative Transportation (Mass Transit) Account. That money is instead now going to pay for the extension of unemployment benefits and Medicare which, along with the payroll tax cut, was passed last month by both the House and Senate, leaving a big hole in the House’s funding plan.

The trucking industry has not been immune to the regulatory atmosphere in Washington as more and more investments are made in this growing industry. But with those regulations will come increases in technology that will continue to help the trucking industry grow.

In a recent presentation, Bill Graves, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations, said that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s CSA safety plan is an opportunity for the industry to get on the right side of the issue of safety. “If it’s done properly, it helps us get the bad actors off the road.”

Regulations that improve driver safety are especially important as the industry is experiencing increased demand for CDL trained drivers. The federal government wants to make sure new drivers are properly trained and that is why many CDL driver training programs are providing a great path to this emerging job field.

During a presentation last year, Graves also touched on a few other regulatory issues that could impact the trucking industry, including fuel efficiency standards. These standards are going to be cost drivers for the industry, as we’re going to have to pay more for trucks, engines, tire pressure monitoring systems, aerodynamic devices, etc…, Graves said.

Regulatory standards that drive down costs will have a great impact on the trucking industry as the economy begins to recover. The first industry to benefit from the recovery will be the trucking industry and there is already an increased demand for more CDL truck drivers to pick up the slack.

Traffic at the nation’s busiest container ports has experienced major increases in traffic over the past few years – especially in 2011 – and that trend is expected to continue, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation.

Container traffic posted a double-digit increase in 2010 and continued its steady growth in 2011. In fact, the port tracker report shows as much as 20 percent increases over the past few years.

Those statistics indicate that an economic recovery is underway and is also a sign that commercial trucking growth should continue as the majority of goods passed through container ports end up on commercial trucks.

Many Americans who are out of work or looking for a career change are finding a bright future in becoming a CDL trained driver as the trucking industry can offer stable employment at competitive wages. For several months over the past few years container traffic has posted year-over-year improvements as domestic manufacturing increases and international shipping continues to divert away from Europe to the United States.

Another positive sign for the trucking industry and CDL trained drivers is that the increase in goods is across the spectrum. Home building materials, clothing, electronic goods and auto parts are all showing significant increases when compared to the economic collapse of 2008 and that means a higher demand for commercial trucks to deliver goods from cargo ports to the towns and communities of America.

Global Port Tracker, the report’s author, covers the U.S. ports of Long Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston and Savannah on the East Coast, and Houston on the Gulf Coast.

The American Trucking Association has forecasted that the nation’s commercial trucking sector will continue to increase with a growth in revenues of 69 percent over the next 10 years.

The American Trucking Association had previously predicted that shipping in the commercial trucking industry would grow by 25 percent over the next decade, and a year after offering the forecast it appears that the ATA is on the money.

“The growth in trucking revenue is projected to come from a 25 percent growth in freight tonnage,” the ATA’s U.S. Freight Transportation Forecast reported. That growth in freight tonnage, which will average between 1.3 and 2.6 percent per year, will require a significant increase in CDL trained drivers to meet the demand. That has made the trucking industry one of the fastest growing job sectors as the economy rebounds.

As manufacturing, construction and retail industries continue to grow in the coming years; the commercial trucking industry will see a direct benefit as trucking will have the biggest market share. Last year trucking had a nearly 70 percent market share of tonnages, compared to 14 percent by rail and 6.4 percent by water.

If you are looking to enter a growing profession then there is no better place to look than the commercial trucking industry. The Truck Driver Institute’s training program has been preparing students for this growing career field for years and many students are finding employment quickly with some of the nation’s best carriers. As growth continues in the trucking industry there will also continue to be a need for more professionally trained drivers.

Commercial truck carriers are looking for quality drivers that can not only handle a truck but are able to stay in the field for many years. However, too many new truck drivers are avoiding professional training and it is leading to higher turnover rates as carriers struggle to find the right kind of driver that has the experience and training necessary to last in this rewarding, yet challenging career field.

There are many benefits to completing a professional truck driver training program like the one at the Truck Driver Institute, where students receive classroom training on the required regulations and laws in the trucking industry and also get experience behind the wheel with instruction from some of the best trainers in the nation. Most commercial truck carriers are looking for drivers to help meet growing demand, but they also want drivers who have a firm knowledge of the industry and can handle a truck. That’s why students of the Truck Driver Institute’s CDL training program are often the most attractive applicants to potential employers looking to hire more drivers.

The turnover rate for truck drivers hit 89 percent in the third quarter of 2011, according to the American Trucking Association. ATA chief economist Bob Costello said the rising turnover rate is an indication that quality drivers are hard to find.

“We are seeing the market for good, quality drivers tighten,” Costello said in a release about the turnover rates. “As our tonnage index has shown recently, demand for freight continues to rise, so we expect the need for quality drivers to become more acute going forward, particularly if regulations either force current drivers out of the industry or force fleets to put more trucks on the road.”

Truck carriers want quality drivers and the Truck Driver Institute is helping to produce them.