In the United States, roughly 11.4 billion tons of daily goods are transported by truck each year. And over 3.5 million truck drivers work in the country. Saturday's "Touch A Truck" event in Gray, organized to raise money and donations for the Gray Food Pantry, also offered kids and young adults the chance to familiarize themselves with the trucking industry. The industry is seeing a shortage of drivers, especially as current drivers age out of the workforce."There's a lot of fear right now about AI, self-driving trucks all these things. But you know, there are still so many jobs that require your commercial drivers license and for people to be in these trucks."According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is an expected 4% increase in trucking jobs from 2024 to 2034. It is why people like Brian Parke, with Go Your Way Maine, have been traveling around to high schools across Maine with a tractor-trailer simulator. The simulator shows students what a career in trucking is like, and that it is more than just behind the wheel."Our industry, whether it's truck drivers, whether it's diesel technicians, whether it's warehousing, forklift drivers' safety, we've got an aging workforce and certainly we need the next generation to fill those spots," said Parke.

In the United States, roughly 11.4 billion tons of daily goods are transported by truck each year. And over 3.5 million truck drivers work in the country. Saturday's "Touch A Truck" event in Gray, organized to raise money and donations for the Gray Food Pantry, also offered kids and young adults the chance to familiarize themselves with the trucking industry. The industry is seeing a shortage of drivers, especially as current drivers age out of the workforce.

"There's a lot of fear right now about AI, self-driving trucks all these things. But you know, there are still so many jobs that require your commercial drivers license and for people to be in these trucks."

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is an expected 4% increase in trucking jobs from 2024 to 2034. It is why people like Brian Parke, with Go Your Way Maine, have been traveling around to high schools across Maine with a tractor-trailer simulator. The simulator shows students what a career in trucking is like, and that it is more than just behind the wheel.

"Our industry, whether it's truck drivers, whether it's diesel technicians, whether it's warehousing, forklift drivers' safety, we've got an aging workforce and certainly we need the next generation to fill those spots," said Parke.