A lot of different things happened when the pandemic struck the world last year. Demand for certain things like paper towels, toilet paper and N95 facemasks skyrocketed while demand for other things like plane tickets and gasoline plummeted.

To compensate, companies around the globe had to make drastic changed to modify based on the increased/decreased demand. This includes fuel companies that not only produce but transport gasoline and diesel fuel. In addition to product supply changes, many companies also had to make staffing changes- in most cases, reducing the workforce.

There is now a unique situation where many fuel transport companies are finding themselves with increasing demand and not enough supply and drivers to fill it. According to WMTW the actual global supply itself isn't the big issue. Producers, in most cases, are sitting on millions of barrels of supply, the real issue is drivers.

Even pre-pandemic there was a shortage of qualified tanker drivers in the United States, however the pandemic has increased the shortage. And not just anyone can hop behind the wheel of a tanker truck. Just because you have a commercial class-A license doesn't mean you can haul for a fuel company. You also have to have a tanker endorsement and a hazmat endorsement on your license. Both of those require extra education and testing to achieve.

If you're interested in possibly becoming a tanker driver, there are several places in Maine that offer driver training with all of the necessary endorsements including NTI (Northeast Technical Institute) with locations in Portland and Bangor.

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