The trucking industry's greatest concern could be a great opportunity for many Maritimers, as the sector confronts a massive shortage of drivers looming on the horizon.

Canada is expected to need up to 30,000 truck drivers by 2020 as a global shortage of truckers takes hold.

In Atlantic Canada, which some of the country’s largest trucking companies call home, those in the business are spreading the word: there are jobs to be had, and they don’t demand all the hardships you might imagine.

Jean Marc Picard, executive director of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association, says the industry has changed, with better equipment and duties that don’t require sacrificing family life.

“Yes, you're always going to have drivers that are gone for a couple of weeks, but now not everybody needs to do that. There's more flexibility,” Picard said.

Fighting old perceptions of the industry is why there are more billboards popping up in the Maritimes.

Picard says it’s an image the industry needs to work harder to change.

“I don't think we did a good job to promote it,” he said.

It’s not the only thing that needs to change to draw more people to the trucking business, according to truck driving instructor Jeff Dickson.

“I think if they put the wages up, a lot of the younger guys would get into it,” he said.

Dickson says the pay hasn’t changed much since he started driving 20 years ago.

Meanwhile, with more and more employers looking to hire drivers, Dickson says he’s seen a radical increase in the number of applicants at his driving school.

“They're coming to this because there is more work in this now,” he said.

Those truck driving students include Vaughn Edwards, who came to the industry in search of his third career.

“There were no teaching jobs at the time when I was looking, and I ended up behind the wheel in a truck,” Edwards said.

More than 95 per cent of truck driving students like Edward get a job after leaving their training.

It’s a big part of why Edwards chose that path, he says.

“If I didn't think I could get a job, there'd be no way I could take the risk.”

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kayla Hounsell