DRIVERS WANTED
Learning to drive a ‘big, ugly monster’: COVID-19 underscores need for operators
Rhonda Wilkins is ready for stability after working a mix of fast food, warehouse and security jobs in the Memphis area.
The 36-year-old most recently worked at a local Amazon facility, picking and packing online orders. When Wilkins heard of the benefits and pay Amazon truck drivers received, she began her journey to earn a commercial driver’s license, learning the ropes at Roadmaster Drivers School’s Millington location.
“It would mean a lot for me and my children to have a better life, to take trips and just be financially stable and comfortable,” she said.
The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t just underscored the need for delivery van drivers. Also necessary are truck drivers hauling freight across the country, a career path Wilkins says will allow her to see sights beyond Memphis.
“The need for drivers is ever-present in really every industry right now, and it all filters down,” said Brad Ball, CEO of the St. Petersburg, Florida-headquartered Roadmasters Drivers School. “… Be it development, be it Amazon delivering goods for Christmas, every single aspect of the economy right now is being affected by the shortage of truck drivers.”
The trucking industry flagged a dearth in drivers well before the COVID-19 pandemic upended regular life. But the pandemic caused many driving schools to either close or “cut their production significantly” as they adjusted their teaching to meet safety guidelines, Ball said.
The pandemic, after initial lockdowns, exacerbated the driver shortage as DMV locations where new drivers could obtain licenses were closed, said Stephanie Thomas, an associate professor of practice at the University of Arkansas’ supply chain management department.
“You couldn’t even bring new drivers in, and a lot of transportation companies were already at a shortage,” she said.
Roadmaster’s Millington location has also been affected by the pandemic. Opened in 2015, the school has implemented social distancing, mask-wearing and reduced class sizes. Although “training got even better”
as instructors could spend more time with individual students, the Millington location graduated 700 students in 2020, Ball said, fewer than in previous years.
The Millington campus had an 84.4% completion rate — that’s 853 students — and a 75.7% in-field job placement rate in the 2018-19 reporting year, per the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.
How COVID-19 is affecting trucking
Most of Roadmaster Drivers School’s students are unemployed or underemployed, Ball said. Many of its students come from the hospitality industry that has been especially hit hard since the COVID-19 pandemic began, looking for a secure line of work.
The pandemic’s effects on commerce can be seen in what trucks are hauling. As consumers spent less money on dining out, concerts, travel and sporting events during the pandemic, they have shifted their purchasing power to goods that travel by truck, Ball said.
“Robust retail freight, helped by consumer spending, especially e-commerce, and very lean inventories helped truck tonnage last month,” said American Trucking Associations’ Chief Economist Bob Costello in a December statement. “Strong single-family housing starts are also aiding freight tonnage, but lackluster restaurant, manufacturing and energy sectors remain a drag.”
Despite the need for more truckers, it’s not a job for everyone, Thomas noted, with strains on family relationships and health concerns among industry issues.
“It’s a lonely job,” she said. “A lot of times you are away from your family. A lot of that is longhaul drivers going cross-country to be gone for a week or two weeks at a time.”
Roadmaster’s diverse student population bucks the stereotype of truckers only looking like “a big, brawny guy,” Ball said. For the 2018-19 reporting year, 79.2% of students at the school’s Millington campus were Black and 15.5% of students were women, according to the state Higher Education Commission.
Thomas said recruiting more women and minorities is “a huge opportunity” for the trucking industry. Many longtime truckers are stepping down with not enough young workers to replace them. Employment for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers was expected to grow 2% from 2019 to 2029, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, slower than the average occupation.
Learning to drive a ‘big, ugly monster’
Roadmaster Drivers School’s tuition is $6,995, with workforce programs and trucking company tuition reimbursement helping ease the cost burden for those that need it, Ball said.
Prospective students for the school meet with an admissions adviser and undergo a motor vehicle background check “to make sure you’re hire-able,” Ball said. This is to make sure the candidate doesn’t have “a bad criminal background or a string of DUIS or speeding tickets,” he said.
“We won’t put you in school if we can’t determine if you are employable before you start,” Ball said. “That is something that is different about us, because there are schools that will put you in regardless of employability.”
Enrollees begin with a mix of computer-based training and instructor-led courses and receive help to get their learners’ permit if they haven’t already. In the second week, they operate trucks on a closed course, learning basics such as the pre-trip inspection and safely backing a truck.
Learning about the inner workings of a truck and the various techniques to maneuver it are necessary when operating a “big, ugly monster,” Wilkins said.
“It’s just amazing for me to be 5’2” and to be driving this big thing,” she said.
Once students are comfortable with driving basics, they move onto a special course that serves as a “beginner road for drivers,” Ball said. After enough training to safely and properly operate a truck, a student then takes the test to obtain a Class A CDL license necessary for the job.
Students who pass the CDL test typically “have got a job waiting for them,” he said. Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers was $45,260 in May 2019. Drivers are paid by the mile.
“Even during the pandemic, trucking is proving to be extremely job-secure,” Ball said.
Max Garland covers Fedex, logistics and health care for The Commercial Appeal. Reach him at max.garland@commercialappeal.com or 901-529-2651 and on Twitter @Maxgarlandtypes.