Army veteran raves over Trump’s plan to ditch illegal alien truck drivers and hire vets

By Fox News · Fox News

An Army veteran and trucking company executive who attended President Donald Trump's Wednesday announcement about a new initiative called "Freedom Haulers" at the White House praised the new plan to provide a boost to the industry. "I came down here to support the cause of getting into an industry that is always in need," said Tom Jacques, the director of Department of Transportation (DOT) compliance at Waste Management. Jacques is also the chairman of the board of directors for the Pennsylvania Motor Trucking Association. Jacques, whose biography says he enlisted in the Army and joined the 3rd U.S. Infantry as an escort to the President, called the plan "wonderful." TRUMP TAPS VETERANS TO FIX ILLEGAL ALIEN TRUCKING PROBLEM PLAGUING US ROADWAYS "It's wonderful to get skilled workers who are disciplined [and] dedicated into an industry that requires discipline and dedication," Jacques told Fox News Digital at the White House. "You don't get behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer — 80,000 pounds — without understanding the need to be disciplined and to be safe. So it's nice to have that, to tap into a large workforce as they transition out of the military and into the next career field." Under the initiative, qualified veterans with heavy-vehicle experience gained during military service can apply to waive the CDL road-skills test , allowing them to avoid duplicating training they received in the military. Certain veterans in participating states — 34 of them so far — may also qualify for a waiver of the written knowledge test . Veterans without military truck-driving experience will be eligible for expedited training that administration officials said could be completed in several weeks. TRUMP PROMOTES FREEDOM HAULERS INITIATIVE TO FAST-TRACK MILITARY VETERANS INTO TRUCKING JOBS "Data shows that truck drivers who are veterans account for 42% fewer accidents. Think of that, 42%," Trump said at the event. "And that number, they say, is their very minimal number, even a…