tanks and fly planes and fight for us, but we’re afraid to let them drive an 18-wheel- er,” he said. “It doesn’t make much sense either.” Not everyone in the industry is sup-
portive of the idea. Mike Gilmore, vice president of human resources and safety for Ozark Motor Lines, has been in the mo- tor carrier industry for 48 years. When he joined his current company, the insurance carrier required all drivers to be 23 years old. That’s no longer the case, but Ozark hasn’t changed its policies. While the com- pany has talked recently about dropping its minimum age to 21, “What we tend to do is, we’ve got somebody that’s 22 years and six months or eight months, we’ll look at those folks, but that’s about as far as I will slip back,” he said. Gilmore’s carrier faces the same chal-
lenges as others in the industry. It runs about 800 trucks and hires about 400 driv- ers annually, with an average age of just over 50. It’s headquartered in Memphis on the border of two other states. But he looks back on his own days as an 18-year-old, when “it’s a wonder I wasn’t killed a thou- sand times,” and wonders the same thing about today’s 18-year-olds. If he were to
hire a younger driver, he’d want him limited to a regional operation where he could keep an eye on him. “He needs to learn how to control his
emotions and not let people get to him. … The older guys that have been out there a long time, they’ve learned those lessons, they don’t let that happen to them,” he said. “They don’t let people get under their skin. The younger guys, somebody gives me the bird, (they’re) going to give it back to them.” Dave Huneryeager, president of the
Tennessee Trucking Association, said the industry must be able to capture that criti- cal age group. He would feel safe having 18-year-olds behind the wheel because he would trust the members of his associa- tion to hire safe drivers. The bottom line is, more drivers have to be found from somewhere. “We’ve got to look under every rock,
look under every leaf to try to find the people that we need to keep this economic engine running,” he said. TTN
Note: At press time, this bill passed the House, was entering conference for a final vote and expected to reach the President’s desk by Thanksgiving.
Advertiser Resource Index
Adams & Reese ........................................10 ATRI ..........................................................29 Clark Power ..............................................25 Delco Remy ..............................................16 Direct Chassis Link..................................22 Driver’s Legal Plan...................................21 Fleetco ......................................................11 Great West Casualty
......Inside front cover J.J. Keller & Associates ............................27 Lite-Check ................................................24 MHC ............................................................8 Navistar/International... Inside back cover Neely Coble ................................................4 Rush Truck Center
.....................Back cover Sleep Access.............................................12 Southern Tire Mart ..................................14 TAG Truck Center.......................................6 Tennessee Trucking News ........................20 Trojan Battery..........................................13
Q3 2015
TENNESSEE TRUCKING NEWS
13
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 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36