ATA members pledge to hire 100,000 vets

Trucking carriers will hire veterans as part of the Commerce Department’s Hiring 500,000 Heroes project.    American Trucking Associations members have pledged to hire 100,000 veterans during the next two years.
   The pledge is part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring 500,000 Heroes project, which was built on the back of the 2011 Hiring our Heroes initiative. According to the ATA, there have ben 369,000 confirmed hires under the program.
   “There’s no higher calling for an American than to serve in our armed forces, and I’d like to think that driving a truck — delivering America’s most essential goods safely and efficiently — is also a high calling,” said ATA President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Graves.
   ATA has decided to use FASTPORT’s tracking system to link up veterans with employers.
   As it was committing to hire more veterans, the ATA announced that its For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index rose by 0.5 percent in October following a decline of 0.8 percent in September. Year-over-year, the October result was up by 4.5 percent.
   “Tonnage made a nice comeback after declining in September,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello stated. “The gain fits with the increases in retail sales and factory output during October, as well as with good anecdotal reports about the fall freight season. The solid month-to-month gain, coupled with the acceleration in the year-over-year growth rate, is a good sign for the fourth quarter.”