TAMPA, Fla. -- President Joe Biden gave an update Monday on what his administration is doing to get more truck drivers on the road and ease supply chain problems that have aggravated inflation.

The Trucking Action Plan introduced last year increased federal funding to expedite licenses for commercial drivers.

It also expanded outreach to get more veterans behind the wheel of a big rig and formed a partnership between the labor and transportation departments to expand recruitment.

"What that adds up to is a strong foundation for the work ahead, a pipeline of hard-working men and women from all backgrounds, highly trained and highly motivated to get behind the wheel," President Biden said.

One of those people is Tampa's Mohamed Ben Lamin.

An instructor at 1st Class Truck Training guided him through exercises at the training center early Monday evening. Ben Lamin said this isn't his first time at the wheel here. After taking a break from driving, he said he wanted to come back for a refresher before hitting the road again.

"I know most of the people who graduate here have a job right away because they can fit you in the right place," Ben Lamin said.

The jobs are there. Biden said there are 35,000 more trucking positions today than before the pandemic. The challenge is in recruiting people to fill them. Juan Rivera, manager at 1st Class, said the school has seen a decrease in registration during the past year. Rivera said he thinks there are more steps the government can take to make trucking jobs more attractive.

"The fuel going up for the economy is bad. So, imagine what it is for the truck driver because that is the main source for the delivery," Rivera said.

The American Trucking Associations recently called on the Biden administration to take steps to increase domestic energy production, saying fuel is the second largest expense for trucking fleets.

Another Tampa Training Center, Roadmaster Drivers School, said it has seen more interest in its program.

"I'm not sure that was any direct relationship to what Washington did, but certainly, the demand for drivers has caused a lot of press, and therefore, a lot more people are interested in the career," said Roadmaster Drivers School President Brad Ball. "We've seen a lot of other things happen, like pay increases, and that really helps."

Among the successes of the Trucking Action Plan listed by the White House are steps taken to speed up the processing of commercial driver's licenses. That includes a $57 million investment to help states expedite CDLs and a toolkit sent to each state with tips on expediting licensing. Ball said he'd like to see continued federal support to get trained drivers on the road quickly.

"I think the biggest thing that we need to do is help the DMVs get people tested. I think the best thing that could happen there is that the budget needs to be increased to DMVs because they're competing with other job opportunities that are increasingly making more and more money. So, we need those DMVs to have enough staff to test all the people that graduate," Ball said.

Ball said waiting for CDL tests hasn't been a major problem in Florida because this state allows third party testing. In states like Texas and California, however, Ball said drivers may have to wait weeks or months after graduating from a CDL program to take skills and licensing tests.

The White House said there is good news on the hiring front, with December through February seeing the best three-month stretch for long distance truck hiring since the 1990s.