Changing industry
DE PERE – Trucking faces a shortage of drivers that isn’t going away any time soon.
That has trucking companies around the nation looking at women, millennials and other diverse populations as potential pools from which to find talent.
Paper Transport, Inc. in De Pere and Veriha Trucking in Marinette were recently named as top 50 transportation companies for women to work for by Redefining the Road magazine, a publication of the Plover-based Women in Trucking.
JX Enterprises, a Wisconsin-based truck dealer and service provider with locations in Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, also made the list. The businesses were picked from about 150 nominees.
“Transportation is still a male-dominated industry, but we’re trying to do some things here at PTI so women feel comfortable entering the industry,” said Becky Davies, director of human resources with PTI. “We often provide dedicated lanes so they know the routes they’re running and can feel safe, know where they’re going and know where they can stay.”
Trucking has faced a chronic shortage of drivers and is short about 50,000 people nationwide. The national median wage was $42,480 in 2017, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Women make up about 8 percent of the nation’s driver population, according to Women In Trucking, with about 21 percent working as managers in transportation, storage and distribution jobs.
About 10 percent of drivers, and 60 percent of the office staff, at Veriha are women, said Karen Smerchek, the company’s president.
“We’re hiring the best person for the job, whether that be a woman or man, it’s going after whoever has those skills who is going to fill that position well,” she said. “With the number of women we have in leadership, and opportunities to grow from the initial position, I
Trucking companies are evolving to deal with the dearth of drivers, from increased wages and improved transitional pay when entering the industry to touting the age and upkeep of fleets.
“If there ever is an issue, our maintenance staff doesn’t respond to just what’s happening with the truck, they’ll respond to what’s happening with the driver … to help them get to a safe location or continue with their work day,” Davies said.
That’s not just for women but for all 750 drivers at PTI, which operates in the Midwest, Southeast and southern United States.
Companies like PTI, which employs 389 people in Wisconsin, plan on adding 150 driving jobs next year.
“I think there are some preconceived notions and stereotypes about what the professional truck driver is, or looks like, so we welcome diverse candidates into our industry,” Davies said.
Time away from home is one of the biggest recruitment and retention hurdles the industry faces. PTI says it’s expanding options to get drivers home daily, increasing pay in some regions, and offering transitional pay in some of its fleets.
“Splitting up those runs so they are relays: one driver brings it to a middle point and another driver picks it up, so those people can both get home,” said Cate Whitman, PTI’s marketing and communications manager.
To make it financially easier to entry the industry, Veriha launched a twoyear apprenticeship program and offers pay while training. It’s also looking to a younger college-aged demographic (truck operators must be 21 or older to cross state lines under federal law, which is being re-examined) as a source of job candidates.
“We have someone who just came through our apprenticeship program who is going to school for nursing, driving truck, and working her way through college,” said Smerchek, who has been with the family business for the last 14 years, and almost a decade as president. “There are a lot of opportunities for those 21- and 22-year-olds … to work their way through college at a much high paying job than what they’re probably doing today.”