As the ongoing driver shortage continues, unceremoniously hitting a record high in 2021, many companies and carriers are attempting to turn their attention toward a somewhat untapped resource of trucking talent in the transportation industry. A trucking youth movement if you will, and below are just a handful of suggestions for companies to consider when they're actively trying to inject the industry with new blood.

Make Trucking Look Glamorous!

Not to say that Instagram is necessarily the answer but catering to a group of people who have been raised on social media, some of which seem to hold appearances in high esteem, it might be worth a shot. It could also do wonders for a company’s or a carrier’s image by showing that they are part of an industry that promotes excellent opportunities for young folks looking for a new and exciting career path. Really make it pop!

Speaking of Career Path

Emphasizing the transportation industry as a career path can help to address some of the bigger concerns among young jobseekers. For younger drivers, considering a career in trucking as opposed to it simply being a “job” provides them an option to choose how and where their career can grow. Anyone can get any job anywhere, but to present the available positions in trucking as opportunities to flourish within an industry that is in need of exactly what they possess, lends itself to a much-needed boost in morale.

Show You’re Tech Savvy

No more hiding behind paper logs and atlases, am I right? We as an industry, and as a society, should be full-on flaunting the technological advances that have been made in the world of trucking. From electronic logs to dashboard cameras to advanced GPS systems, today’s younger drivers have more tools at their fingertips than the grizzled vets who set the tone for the industry before them. Carriers and companies need to promote these added abilities in a way that today’s youth understand that their career path possesses more to help them as opposed to hindering them.

Pay What You Say

Fair and enticing pay is one language everyone understands. This is so very true in trucking, where drivers have every right to leave one carrier for another if they feel they’re not being fairly compensated for the job they’re performing. But what shouldn’t be happening is penalizing a younger driver with minimal scratch just because they have less experience. Pay them a competitive wage to get them in the door, and then keep them by promoting bonus and wage increasement opportunities. Let’s call it investing in the future.

Use Social Media to Your Recruiting Advantage

Hit them right where you know they’ll be, on the web! Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Tik Tok, using a social media presence to actively recruit younger drivers should be a no-brainer. And while you’re at it, you should probably hire someone who’s young and hip who understands the ins and outs of social media to manage such an endeavor.

Companies and carriers should not be afraid to step out from behind the dust of the past in order to reach out to the future, because there are myriad young women and men out there who are going to continue to keep freight moving into the next century.