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DES MOINES – Earlier this year Des Moines Area Community College shortened its trucker education program to get more truckers on the road.

The program has been a success so far and as the country faces a national trucker shortage big companies like Walmart are offering truckers higher wages to try to attract more people to the industry.

Jason Pierce, an instructor at DMACC’s Transportation Institute said that the trucking lifestyle is difficult and although the amenities have improved it still isn’t enough.

“I always tell people there’s a reason truck drivers are in demand and always have been in demand,” Pierce said. “It’s not a very easy life, it’s getting better they’ve done, I think probably before they raise the wages, they raised the comfort level of drivers. Maybe they’re home more or nicer trucks with more amenities in the trucks to try and attract stuff, but I think now they are to the point where they just start paying more.”

So far this year DMACC has had 60 people go through its program and Pierce expects that number to grow.