LAS VEGAS—High-tech trucks, once eschewed by many older commercial vehicle drivers, could be a big key to attracting younger Americans into the trucking industry. Bringing in the next generation of truck drivers is top of mind for nearly every fleet operating in the U.S., including many fleet executives attending the Truckload Carriers Association’s Truckload 2022 convention this week.
At the start of the trade show at the Wynn Las Vegas on March 18, TCA announced it signed on as an official sponsor of the Labor Department’s National Apprenticeship Program, which it sees as an opportunity for the trucking industry to find and train future talent.
Maryland-based D.M. Bowman, whose fleet of about 300 drivers average around 48 years old—is one of the early carriers to sign on to the program to attract new drivers. “Hopefully, we’ll find people that may not have considered the trucking industry for a job before,” CEO Brian Hall told FleetOwner during the first full day of the TCA convention at the Wynn Las Vegas.
See also: Understanding Gen Z could be key to unlocking staff shortages
TCA’s sponsorship will assist its member companies in finding potential apprentices through TCA partner Fastport, a Labor Department intermediary specializing in transportation and logistics that administers the program for the participating companies.
Along with Bowman, TCA members Melton Truck Lines and Tyson Foods are among the first fleets to sign up for the program. “We’re definitely targeting the younger workforce,” Samantha Bodnar, Bowman Group executive officer, told FleetOwner.
“This program will help to fill the ever-growing void the trucking industry continues to grapple with, in time being short more than 80,000 drivers," TCA Chairman Jim Ward said on March 18. "Well-rounded training and a clear career path will elevate the commercial driver job as we know it."
Making trucking a first option, not a last resort
While the national program aims to find new workers of all ages, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program aims to attract 18- to 20-year-old CDL holders to operate in interstate commerce, which is prohibited under current federal regulations. The agency will gather data from those younger drivers and analyze whether they were involved in more crashes and safety events during the pilot program.
Steve Binkley, safety adviser for Western Express, said this program could turn trucking into a “first option rather than a backdoor” for workers. “Drivers today, when they decided to become a truck driver, it was like a backup plan,” he told FleetOwner. “They weren’t exposed to it when they were 18, 19, 20 years old. They tried something else that didn’t work out because driving a truck wasn’t an option. I think this is going to provide that to them.”
See also: What carriers need to know about FMCSA’s driver apprenticeship program
Western Express isn’t participating in the federal program but supports the movement to find and train younger truck drivers, Daniel Patterson, the fleet’s safety director, said.
Though some industry groups have raised concerns about putting teenage drivers behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer, carriers such as Bowman look at it differently. “We all know there are 18- to 20-year-olds that are not mature enough and should not be in trucks,” Hall said. “But people who want to do that for a career look at driving in a different way. It’s the same way with the military, where you’ve got people that are 20 years old driving nuclear submarines.”
It’s all about finding mature people and giving them the proper training—along with the latest in trucking technology. The apprenticeship pilot aimed at drivers younger than 21 requires those young drivers to be in trucks with automated manual transmissions, active braking collision mitigation systems, forward-facing cameras, and a governed speed of 65 mph.
“They can’t really get away with anything,” Bodnar explained. “We can see every event that takes place. We’re aware of their driving habits due to the safety features we have in our trucks. It’s not like back in the day when they went out and came back—and you don’t know what happened. We know exactly where they are at all times. We know how they’re driving. And we’re coaching them along the way so that we have a better opportunity to train these 18- to 21-year-olds to be safe drivers than we do the senior drivers.”
Added Hall: “They haven’t developed bad habits yet.”
What the next generation of drivers want
Bowman is working with the Next Generation in Trucking Association, founded last year to promote careers in trucking to younger students. Offering young drivers their first job could give a fleet a loyal worker for years, according to Lindsey Trent, NGTA’s president and co-founder.
She said that much of Generation Z—those born between the mid-1990s and mid-2010s—don’t want to incur the same college loan debt they see previous generations still saddled with. “I have several members of my associations bringing in 18-year-olds who are trying to figure out a career path for themselves that they would like and landed on trucking,” Trent told FleetOwner.
Gen Z is also a generation that embraces new technologies, such as driver assistance systems and advanced telematics built into modern trucks and tractors. “We need to seel them on the technology that is a vital part of the trucking industry,” Trent said. “Gen Z, they also want to make a difference with their career—if you’re a truck driver, you’re making a difference in the world out there.”
Those NGTA member fleets are helping the young adults get their CDLs and training them through apprenticeship programs. While those new commercial drivers are operating intrastate, Trent said the new federal pilot program to see how younger drivers operate in interstate commerce is welcome news. “It’s exciting for young people—because there are young people who need this outlet,” she said. “They need a different opportunity other than college.”
Trent is looking forward to the findings of the young driver pilot program, which is limited to 3,000 drivers between 18 and 20. “We need the data to make sure that these young people are going to be good,” she explained. “So that’s what this is all about—to get that data. It’s going to take more resources than a normal hire. But it is a good thing for our future. It’s a long-term investment.”
Another long-term benefit could be to these potential drivers’ bank accounts if they don’t take on college tuition debt and instead pursue what is often a well-paying job behind the wheel of a truck. “I think it’s a well-kept secret how much money they can make and the quality of living that this industry can provide,” Western Express’ Patterson told FleetOwner.
He said trucking should be looked at as a trade like it is for electricians or carpenters. “Somebody who’s going to choose to be a driver probably isn’t looking into a four-year degree,” he explained. “They’re looking at trades already. We should be part of the trades that are offered.”
