In The News
A 20-something’s take on how carriers can recruit younger drivers
There's much talk of late about trucking's next generation of drivers.
The current driver shortage has been one of carriers' top concerns in recent years, and the anticipated worsening of that shortage remains a long-term concern for fleets and the industry as a whole.
And with the current generation of truck drivers quickly nearing the age of retirement, carriers have placed an emphasis of late on attracting a new, younger pool of drivers to the industry — though with varying success.
A report in recent months from ATRI shows the median age for truck drivers to be around 45, well above industries like construction and service and the U.S.' total workforce.
So why aren't those in their 20s — who have a much higher rate of unemployment than the national average — interested in driving a truck?
CCJ sister site Overdrive's Senior Editor Todd Dills talked in February with a longtime driver now working in retention at a mid-sized carrier about the issue, who subsequently pitched it to one of a twenty-somethings, Bruce Jenkins, who's in a non-driving role at the company.
Here's what Jenkins had to say about millennials' potential issues with the industry and what carriers can do to recruit them:
An occupation in truck driving is not generally considered a successful achievement and has a lot of bad stigma. We grew up with stories of truck driving being dangerous and dirty. We grew up being told to go to college before we even knew the word education. If you don't continue your education you cannot be successful: This is the idea we grew up with. And it's partially true — 300 million people is a lot of competition, and even the most basic jobs now require post-grade-school education.