Facing a Shortage of Qualified Truck Technicians? “It’s Not Them, It’s You”
Rejection hurts. But constant rejection hurts in a different way.
I’m talking, of course, about the current technician shortage in the trucking industry. (What, did you have something else in mind?) Based on current projections, the industry will have 86,900 technician jobs to fill in 2024. That includes not only new jobs created by growth, but roughly 45,300 roles in need of a replacement. It’ll be a tough challenge for fleet owners—not just considering the retiring baby boomers and the shortage of qualified applicants—but because of culture.
That’s where the rejection comes in. “It’s not them, it’s you,” writes Josh Fisher, in a recent recap of a Fleet Owner webinar about the topic:
“Companies facing technician applicant shortages as a problem likely due to location and special needs. But most of the time, [George] Arrants [program director for national training and recruiting at the WheelTime Network], stressed, trucking technician shortages are about not getting qualified applicants.
Many of those applicants can become more qualified with better relationships between trucking organizations and educators, along with changing expectations and culture.
Because, based on the statistics, there should be enough potential technicians to fill the growing need for them over the coming years, Arrants pointed out.”
Oof. In other words, it’s not a qualified employee shortage, but an adequate employer shortage. We recently hosted a webinar of our own on this very subject, and although it’s focused on a different industry, many of the same lessons apply: put employees’ needs first, and you’ll end up with an abundance of loyal, happy, productive team members.
Read the full article here.
