WASHINGTON — Military and trucking industry experts said traits including a willingness to help others and interest in serving a greater good are hallmarks of why truck driving jobs are an excellent option for service members looking to transition to civilian life.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Truck driving students and military veterans are two key pipelines for bolstering the industry’s driver workforce, but fleets must take proper steps to effectively attract and support them, experts said.

Military veteran Joseph Campbell, a driver for Roehl Transport, won the Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence Award on Dec. 6 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The owner of a California trucking school has pleaded guilty to swindling the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs out of more than $4 million in tuition and other payments after falsely certifying that hundreds of veterans had attended classes they never took, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced July 29.

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott recently signed legislation that will invest more than $600 million in the state’s transportation system and open more truck-driving opportunities for people with military backgrounds.

Quinton Ward of New Orleans, who served five years in the U.S. Army until he was injured and received an Honorable Discharge, is the winner of the 2018 Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence Award sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Heroes Program.

Surely former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw had no way of knowing that a California truck driver training school he was featuring on his TV “news program” in 2014 was at the same time being investigated for bilking the Veterans Administration out of millions of dollars for students that never even intended to show up for classes.

Volvo Trucks North America now offers a painted parts program intended to deliver genuine, factory-built replacement parts, custom painted for pre-order or quick turnaround, the company said. 

Legislation that would help military personnel obtain commercial driver licenses easily advanced through a House panel in May.