Can Millennials Relieve the Driver Shortage?

For years the trucking industry has been wringing its collective hands over a coming driver shortage. With a significant percentage of truckers getting close to retirement age and fewer young people choosing to join the industry, a frightening gap between supply and demand was imminent.

There was much fretting, but little change in the basic relationship between drivers and their companies. Now that the predictions of a shortage have become a reality, with companies unable to fill seats, the industry is trying to figure out how to hold on to veteran drivers and bring in a new generation. The much-maligned millennial workforce may help the industry do both.

Almost every other industry has grappled with absorbing millennial workers and their far different expectations of a job. While older folks may grumble about their sense of entitlement and their demands that the company adapt to their needs, in many ways those demands are changing work dynamics for the better.

If trucking companies want to lure the next generation into a driver’s seat, they will need to adapt — and veteran drivers will benefit from those adaptations. Trucking companies will, too, because happier drivers stay on and may even convince others to join their company.

How?

Better communication

Millennials insist on understanding the bigger picture and their role in helping the company reach their goals. They expect to offer input and see their suggestions are taken seriously.

This is exactly what veteran drivers want too. Year after year, surveys on driver satisfaction have revealed that money may not be the determining factor in a trucker’s decision to leave their company. More important was the feeling of being appreciated. That means that when they offer ideas based on their interactions with customers, or their experience on the road, they feel that they are being heard. It means that if there is a change in company policy, they understand the reasoning behind it.

More flexibility

Millennials are laser-focused on work-life balance. In trucking, that could mean guaranteeing a certain amount of home time or making schedule accommodations when requested.

Veteran drivers with stories of missed school plays, vacation time denied or personal plans delayed by a demand to take on a new load before heading back home are on board with the idea. Trucking under the best circumstances requires sacrificing family time, so having a company work to meet time off or route requests acknowledges that.

Current technology

Millennials don’t just like gadgets, they consider them vital tools for getting things done. Trucking is notorious for resisting new technology, but that can’t last. Comfort with using digital technology and exploring new apps is already a valuable skill for trucking and will soon be necessary.

This is one area where veteran truckers may balk, but if a fleet has good communication and shows respect for its drivers, the tech-averse drivers are far more likely to drop their suspicions of new electronic devices and make an effort to see how they make the job easier.

Bridge the generation gap

While autonomous trucks are on the horizon, the need for drivers now and in the future remains. Creating a work environment that attracts new drivers and encourages veterans to stay and train them will be important to the business in both up and down cycles.

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