Editorial: Celebrating Our Truck Drivers
It was a good time to be a truck driver last week. As we report in this edition, National Truck Driver Appreciation Week offered industry stakeholders and the public a chance to honor the men and women who quietly and diligently deliver the nation’s freight every day.
“I call on every American to join me — and the ATA — in honoring our drivers,” ATA Chairman Duane Long said. “America’s truck drivers perform an important duty in helping us maintain our economy and our quality of life, and too often, we take them for granted.”
To show special appreciation there were free lunches, gift cards and even, in some cases, pay increases.
Beyond efforts directed at drivers, companies such as TravelCenters of America used the week to better portray the image of truck drivers. The truck-stop chain created a video to express the “essentiality” of truck drivers to reach people who may never encounter a professional truck driver as part of their daily routines.
All of these steps are fantastic — and things that should happen more often than for one week a year. Yet, despite these efforts it remains nearly impossible to escape the shortage of truck drivers.
During Transport Topics’ LiveOnWeb program that focused on intermodal last week, executives with freight railroad and logistics companies discussed how the truck-driver shortage was creating challenges during a time of great growth for the sector.
Likewise, though the shortage of truck drivers continues to garner great attention, it should not be forgotten that there also is a shortage of qualified technicians. While mobile communications and automated manual transmissions are transforming the job of those behind the wheel, technology also is modernizing the profession of those who keep the trucks running safely and smoothly.
Instead of the dirty mechanic vision many in the public still have, the career of a truck technician involves more computers and electronics than anything else.
In fact, the skills of top technicians will be on display this week in Orlando, Florida, during the TMC SuperTech competition, which is sponsored by the Technology & Maintenance Council of American Trucking Associations.
As we said during last month’s National Truck Driving Championships, the winning technician deserves all the praise he or she will receive. But these competitions — just like appreciation events — serve the greater purpose of showing what wonderful careers the trucking industry can offer anyone who is determined and dedicated.
