This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Millennials to theRescue? Rethinking the driver experience for a new generation


BY MAX FARRELL Guest Writer


Te trucking industry is due for a wake up


call. It’s an industry that’s become a backbone of America in the past 60 years, yet it’s facing pains in a way that hardly any other industry is going through. Tere’s a massive driver shortage. Drivers can’t be retained. Customers, drivers and competitors are all fighting over a nickel on every dollar. Regulations continue to restrict the once wild west-esque industry. It’s not a bad thing. Change is happening all


over our society, but it’s time for this industry to embrace change in some big ways, especially when it comes to rethinking the experience of the driver. For anyone reading this, you’ll know the


chronic pain points of the industry when it comes to retaining and keeping drivers: a 35,000 driver shortage now with an expectation of a 200,000 plus shortage in the next five years if things stay the same. Te key is that if things stay the same. Te status quo now is a tough one. But it’s


an issue that many Americans are oblivious to. We see trucks on the road, and we see


products in stores, but we never connect the two together. Everything we eat, wear and use was


touched by a truck at one point during delivery. We know this, but my peers are often blind to the notion. Tey see trucks on the road, see products in stores, but never connect the two together. What we often see is the front end technology that then connects to the industry. My generation has been brought up in a


digital era. Google, Facebook and Amazon are all on the tip of our tongues. I see that Google is creating a self-driving vehicle and technology


WOULD RATHER MAKE $40,000 A YEAR AT A JOB THEY LOVE THAN $100,000 AT A JOB THEY THINK IS BORING.


that could enter the transportation industry in 10-15 years. Amazon is continuing to explore drone technology. Tis makes me wonder: how can the trucking industry promise a career when technologies are being built to ultimately replace the job?


Knowing this, I challenge myself and


the industry to ask: how do we rethink the experience of the driver? At the core of the issues of driver retention


and engagement are the core problem: getting Continues


NEBRASKA TRUCKER — ISSUE 2, 2015 — www.nebtrucking.com 7 …64% OF MILLENNIALS SAID THEY


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24