White Paper Offers Solution for Trucking Industry’s Recruitment and Retention Issues
June 22, 2007
Duff H. Swain, president of transportation industry consulting firm TRINCON GROUP, uses his recently released white paper to address how companies in the trucking industry can resolve recruitment and retention issues by implementing a career path into their corporate culture.
“To improve the trucking industry’s driver recruitment and retention issues, the industry first must change the perception of drivers in order to change the system,” Swain writes. “It is important to recognize a driver as a highly paid employee that requires a high-quality applicant. In order to attract and retain skilled and professional employees, companies must have something to offer to prospective drivers and promote professional growth.”The white paper, titled “A Purpose Driven Career,” outlines key components of a career path that company owners and recruiting managers can implement to recruit and retain skilled and professional employees.
Swain, who has an extensive history of working with a variety of trucking companies, offers specific suggestions on how companies can incorporate the driver career path tool into their business model. He also provides details on the key concepts that are involved in an effective career path including education and training, recognition and advancement. Swain believes that because the industry has not offered a long-term solution to the driver recruitment and retention problem companies must deal with recruitment and retention problems on their own terms.“Companies are continuously fighting the same battle to recruit and retain a viable workforce;” Swain writes. “The burden of driver shortages belongs to the companies that employ them. Companies need to see drivers as an investment and an asset, not a machine for hire. Once that happens, the industry will follow suit.”