Business View Magazine - August 2023

150 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 8 said they could increase capacity and do more business—if only they could recruit and retain well-qualified, good drivers. As Call notes, the driver shortage may have begun before the pandemic. It’s just that the pandemic heightened public awareness (especially in the eyes of lawmaking bodies) and sharpened the need to maintain those all- important supply chains. Contributors to the shortage include an aging, retiring workforce and an inability to replace them with new drivers, including young drivers and women drivers. Yet now that may at last be turning around, as Call points out. In Washington State, thanks to its legislature, a provision of some $2.5 million was put into last year’s state budget to cover driver training