International Foodservice Distributors Association issued the following announcement on Aug. 10
Mark S. Allen, President and CEO of the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA), issued this statement following the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure legislation:
“Investing in America’s future is critical for the foodservice distribution industry, and modernizing our infrastructure for 21st-century commerce would help the supply chain more efficiently move goods and materials to America’s foodservice operators and restaurants across the country,” Allen said. “We are particularly pleased to see the inclusion of the DRIVE-Safe Act pilot program, which is a good first step in helping to address our nation’s growing truck driver shortage. Foodservice distributors pay, on average, in excess of $70,000 annually plus benefits for professional drivers, which is a great bridge to America’s middle class.”
IFDA has long advocated for policy change, primarily through the DRIVE-Safe Act, to attract and retain the next generation of professional drivers by enhancing training requirements and removing archaic and arbitrary age restrictions placed on 18-20-year-olds with a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL).
The driver shortage is particularly straining on the foodservice distribution industry, which delivers hundreds of thousands of perishable products each day. An estimated 15,000+ driver positions are currently open in the foodservice distribution industry, according to an IFDA member survey released this summer.
Original source can be found here.
Source: International Foodservice Distributors Association
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