Encouraging people to peer behind the driver's seat of the big rig, Regis Schulz talked up the comfy looking bed.

"Isn't that nice?'' Schulz said. "Trucks have come a long way.''

A teacher at Transport Tech School, Schulz was on hand Wednesday at Mercer County CareerLink's transportation event for employers.

As part of Pennsylvania's "Workforce Development Week,'' tractor-trailers were lined up in the agency's West State Street parking lot in Sharon for potential trucking employees to gander at.

With schools in New Castle, Butler, Brookville and Erie, Transport Tech is often the starting point for those yearning to tool along the highway. After passing the school's six-week course costing $4,725, drivers are prepared to get Commercial Driver's Licenses, which allow them to operate big rigs.

Finding qualified truckers with good driving records is tough, said John Gudel, a recruiter for Arrow Trucking Co. He said, anyone with a felony conviction is immediately passed over because Canada, where Arrow has a number of routes, won't let them cross the border.

To lure people to the profession, companies offer tidy starting salaries. The average first-year salary for graduates at Transport Tech is between $28,000 and $32,000 and the companies often foot the tuition bill.

First-year drivers for Tulsa-Okla.-based Arrow earn between $34,000 and $37,000, Gudel said.

"There's no job out there where you can just jump right into it and make this kind of money,'' Gudel said of his company, which touts itself as the nation's largest hauler.

The hardest sell for recruiters like Gudel is that drivers typically are away from home Monday through Friday. For longer cross-country routes, drivers can be on the road 14 to 20 days, followed by a four day break.

But those long-haul routes can net up to $80,000 a year for a veteran driver, Gudel noted.

Still, when he's interviewing, he said, "I tell them straight out -- your lifestyle will change. Your family lifestyle will change.''

Although men still overwhelmingly dominate the field, more women are getting behind the wheel of big rigs.

Over the years, Gudel said, he's attracted drivers away from high-skilled professions, including doctors and lawyers.

"They all say the same thing when I ask them why they want to be a driver: This is what I've always wanted to do,'' he said.