New entrant drivers are one of the trucking industry’s most vital resources, yet their job options in the industry are generally limited to only the companies that will accept drivers with little to no experience and those who recruit newly minted CDL holders. Fleets that do hire, recruit, and welcome inexperience drivers through their doors see the value in creating opportunities in trucking for this cohort of professional truckers — and there is a tremendous amount of value for those drivers who are learning their new trade and trying to build a rewarding career in transportation, says Brad Ball, president and CEO of Roadmaster Drivers School, a nationwide network of CDL training programs and one of the nation’s largest.
NTI President and CEO Leah Shaver had the chance the interview Brad Ball last week on the Taking the Hire Road Show on FreightWaves to discuss how more fleets in the industry can find and redefine the value of these industry newcomers and evaluate their own experience requirements to create more opportunities for long-term, career-minded drivers who are joining the industry. Ball puts it this way: “There would be no experienced drivers in the world without entry-level drivers. At some point, every entry-level driver has to drive their first mile.”
Watch or listen to the full interview above.
Also, NTI’s Leah Shaver wrote in-depth on this topic last month in her From Leah’s Desk column here in the NTI Blog. Read more at this link on her thoughts about re-evaluating minimum experience requirements and how fleets can help shape newer drivers’ careers with long-term retention in mind.
