Traditional Methods of Attracting Drivers Won't Work

This post first appeared in the April 2017 edition of Truck News

Carriers are in a pickle when it comes to dealing with the shortage of qualified drivers. Simply put, it’s a job that fewer people are interested in taking up. It’s not seen as a viable career choice due to the lifestyle issues. This is especially true in the category of long haul full truckload work. It’s very difficult to find any hard numbers but it’s accepted in the industry that about half of the people that obtain a class A (class 1) licence don’t last beyond the first year. Carriers must also deal with the fact that half of the current drivers will reach retirement age in the next 10-15 years.

Over the past couple of years there has been a focus on attracting more women to the industry. Women are mobilizing and organizing themselves. That is resulting in a recognition of the need for professional training & mentoring programs, health & wellness programs, safe havens for parking, and clean accessible washroom facilities suitable for all drivers. This is also fueling a push to change the public image of the trucking industry and show it in a more positive light. These efforts are attracting new blood to the industry but it may be too little too late.

The problem is we don’t know where we are headed when it comes to what a driver’s job will look like over the course of a 40 year career. This is a result of the technology boom. It is not simply about when or if fully autonomous trucks will make their debut. If you are looking to choose a career at 21-25 years old why would you choose the trucking industry? I hate to admit this but I would not recommend it to my grandchildren as it stands today. Trucking as an entrepreneurial pathway to independence was a big attraction in the past but the industry is consolidating into fewer and larger global players. Finding a niche to compete in as an independent trucker is becoming difficult if not impossible.

With that consolidation comes a high degree of control over what happens in the cab of a truck. One of the greatest attractions to driving a commercial vehicle in the past was the freedom a driver experienced on the road. You were very much your own boss, even as an employee. Many drivers now find their time managed by the home office even to the point of having to travel specific routes at specific times. Drivers are finding themselves on a leash as a result of how technology is being employed and many drivers don’t care for it. It is not an attractive recruiting tool.

Maybe I’m out to lunch on this whole issue. Working as a long haul driver where I am now I continue to experience a feeling of empowerment and control over my life. I’m made to feel an important part of the team because my voice, my concerns, matter. It’s not that I can do whatever I want, it’s that I maintain control over my day, the equipment I operate, and the responsibility of delivering on time is my own. Most of all this puts my personal safety in my own hands. That’s incredibly important.

The advice I offer to the industry is to make sure every driver has the ability to contribute and share their experience. There needs to be a bottom up approach to problem solving and implementing technology in meaningful ways that advance a drivers quality of life AND advance productivity. We need a universal system of training and recognition to level the playing field for drivers and carriers alike. Yesterday’s pathway into the trucking industry for new drivers was through ownership. Today’s pathway for new driver’s needs to be through professional accreditation. The same way we do it in the front office.

Drivers Play a Major Role in Reducing Fuel Usage

This post first appeared in the March 2017 edition of Truck News

At the core of any training program for drivers is the need to repeat, repeat, and repeat. That repetition makes practice permanent not necessarily perfect. So the need to monitor, assess, and hone training programs is as important as the delivery of those programs to drivers. The trucking industry fails miserably on both of these counts. The only universally mandated ongoing training Canadian drivers receive is for the Transportation of Dangerous Goods, once every 3 years. My best guess is that professional drivers in Canada will receive between zero and forty hours of safety training from their carrier annually. My 18 years of experience tells me most drivers training time will be closer to zero than to forty.

As someone with a background in the delivery of training programs I recognize the importance of self-assessment in relation to my own performance. My income, personal safety, and professional reputation are dependent on keeping my skills sharp and my knowledge up to date.

One of the things I do each year is review the SmartDriver for Highway Trucking program made available online by Natural Resources Canada. It’s a free program proven to help improve fuel efficiency by up to 35%. Safety and fuel bonuses are a significant part of my financial compensation so this is important to me.

So as I was reading my February 2017 issue of Truck News and saw the headline ‘Budget should focus on low-carbon trucking’ by the Canadian Trucking Alliances’ (CTA) CEO David Bradley the question that first sprung up in my mind was in regard to available training dollars and programs for professional drivers. After all, improving fuel efficiency is still largely in the hands of the driver and this is the most direct way to reduce carbon emissions, cut operating costs, increase profits, and keep a carrier competitive.

But no, despite an industry focus on training & recruiting drivers of late, the CTA submission to the federal government stated in its introduction, “The 2017 federal budget can play a significant role assisting and accelerating investment in equipment and technology designed to reduce GHG from trucking”.

Absent was any mention of the role the driver plays in the trucking industry’s ability to meet new emissions regulation standards.

The CTA goes on to say in its submission that, “Carbon reducing programs that target long-haul trucks will generate the most return on government investment as this sector of the trucking industry consumes the most fuel.” The government recognizes that drivers’ impact fuel efficiency by up to 35% so why doesn’t the CTA?

I care deeply about the plight of other drivers and the health of our industry as a whole, I recognise that a driver’s welfare and well-being is tied directly to the success or failure of the carrier he or she works with. The CTA has assumed a mantle of leadership in the trucking industry by speaking for the over 4,500 companies it represents as a federation of provincial trucking associations. In doing so it also represents the 400,000 direct jobs in the Canadian trucking industry, 300,000 of which are truck drivers. These are the CTA’s own numbers. By focusing on GHG reduction solely through investment in equipment & technology, while ignoring investment in human resources, the CTA is slapping drivers in the face and fueling a growing disregard for carrier associations amongst the rank & file.

Let’s not forget that the CTA’s own Blue Ribbon Task Force on the driver shortage had some strong things to say about how drivers are treated. A minimum standard of entry level training, recognition as a skilled trade, and mandatory ongoing training/certification were recognized as core values for drivers. This much lauded report was to lead the change in recognizing and treating drivers as skilled professionals.

The CTA should be lobbying the federal government to be partnering in funding these initiatives not allowing them to gather dust on the shelf.

It's a Different World for Millenials

This post first appeared in the February 2017 edition of Truck News

Looking for happiness in the golden days of the past is a fool’s errand. We do that in our politics, in our personal relationships, and it’s a practice we follow in the trucking industry. Even if we could duplicate past experiences that our minds have enshrined as golden oldies we have no way of duplicating the circumstances from which they grew. Times change and our well-being is dependent on our ability to adapt.

I had the pleasure of taking a young “millennial” with me on one of my weekly Winnipeg rounders’ just before Christmas. This new young driver has been working for our company part time in a variety of warehouse positions and just obtained his learners permit for a class ‘A’ (class 1) truck license. He has been shunting trucks & trailers around our yard for a few years and was eager to see the open road and visit one of our other facilities.

When we talk about millennials and boomers we often re-enforce stereotypes around the generation gap that exists between us. But what I took away from our short trip together was how we share the same values across the generations. It was easy to see within the first few hours together that young people today are no less passionate about their interests than boomers such as myself were in our youth. But through our conversation over the course of the week I learned there is one stark difference between our generations.

When I was a young man at 20 years of age I faced a world that was filled with opportunity and riches yet to be discovered. That was how we viewed the world, or perhaps it’s better to say that is the way the world was presented to my generation. It was a very positive outlook. I thank my parents for that every day. Now contrast that to the world we are handing off to our young people and the prevailing attitudes of today. It’s very much every person for themselves in a world where the social contract between business and the individual has been severed or is on life support.

I am sure that many young people look at the world as a fixer upper that has been neglected by the previous tenants. The structure is sound but it needs gutting and retro-fitting. This is a metaphor that fits the trucking industry perfectly.

Fully half of us that drive today are of the boomer generation. Changes are being rained down on us on what feels like a daily basis. Our expectation as young people was stability and growth. We would commit to a job for life and in return for that sweat equity and loyalty there was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Well, we never allowed for any twists in the plot and here we are. It’s time we take off our rose coloured glasses and recognize that young people today face a more difficult road than we did at the same age.

My young friend that made that trip with me was filled with the same passion for trucking as all of the old dogs on the road but he recognizes that change is imminent. He is not looking at driving a truck for life to provide for himself and a family. He recognizes that driving is just one of the skills you need. Tomorrow’s trucker will need a skill set that extends far beyond the inside of a truck’s cab. In fact a trucker up to this point has been viewed as a lone wolf, independent and free from the constraints of a regular “job”. Drivers of the future need to be connected, not isolated, if they want to prosper.

I have no idea on what trucking in 2050 is going to look like. I’m certain it will be very different from today. That’s a safe bet and an understatement.