Lionzone

Recruiting young drivers and getting young people interested in driving takes more than just placing ads on job boards. It requires a full recruitment marketing strategy that reaches young people where they are and improves perceptions of this career. Today, we are looking at the steps you can take to engage young Millennials and Gen Z. We will look at the best platforms to reach this group and the content that captures their attention.

Understanding and addressing your drivers' concerns is the key to successful recruitment and retention. ATRI's (American Transportation and Research Institute) 2022 Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry report highlights the vast differences between drivers and carrier leadership on the industry's issues. To better understand the issues that company drivers face today, we will look at the ATRI’s critical issues top ten list point by point.

September job growth fell slightly short of expectations, coming in at 263,000. The trucking industry lost 11,000 jobs in September. The number of job openings overall slowed, dropping to 10.1 million. Unemployment fell to 5.8 million, but there are still 1.74 jobs available for every person unemployed. These reports show little ease in the inflationary pressures driven by an employee market.

Enticing young people to join the trucking profession is key to the health of our supply chain. The shortage of drivers is only expected to increase in the coming years as more people retire. Without young drivers joining the profession, the supply chain issues we have seen over the last two years will be nothing to compare to the problems we will face in the future. Several programs are working on reaching young people, improving their interest, and smoothing their way into the trucking profession. Today, we will look at these programs and their efforts with Gen Z.

While a wellness program alone is not likely to have candidates beating down your door, it can go a long way to showcasing your respect and care for your drivers and set your company apart from the thousands of ads drivers will see in their search.