Mentorship Programs Help Truck Drivers Adjust to Daily Life
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The accomplishment of earning a commercial driver license and the thrill of diving into the trucking lifestyle often give professional drivers the momentum they need to start their new career path. However, there are plenty of bumps and detours along the way.
Learning to drive a truck and being a truck driver are two sides of the same coin, but they are not equivalent. That is why many trucking companies offer mentorship programs for their new hires to help them navigate all the nuances of the trucking lifestyle that aren’t necessarily taught in a formal CDL training course. These programs have one major goal in common: to help newer drivers ease into the trucking lifestyle by pairing them with a more experienced driver for guidance.
Kruepke Trucking, a regional longhaul company headquartered in Jackson, Wis., recruits most of its new drivers from technical colleges in the area. “We built a training program that piggybacks off what they are learning in school,” said Kevin Kunstek, co-owner.
Kruepke’s program runs for a minimum of seven weeks and is divided into several parts, starting with a new driver being paired with an experienced driver to drive local routes together. The trainer’s role is simply to observe and make sure that the new employee is able to operate the truck safely. “[The new drivers] are operating the truck, actively backing into docks, dealing with customers, paperwork, dockworkers, and getting their first taste of what this is,” explained Kunstek. Later, the new driver will be accompanied by a veteran over-the-road driver for at least three weeks.
The experienced drivers, Kunstek noted, may give the newer drivers tips about how to deal with downtime, what supplies to bring on the road, understanding time management, the business angle of the occupation and some other finer points of being a truck driver.
Adam Wingfield is the CEO of Innovative Logistics University, an initiative of Innovative Logistics Group, whose mission it is to empower trucking entrepreneurs by providing education and training to become successful, from founding a company to moving freight to hiring drivers.
Innovative Logistics University CEO Adam Wingfield says he was inspired to start his mentorship program when he first became a driver. (Innovative Logistics Group)
He was inspired to start this program when he began his own journey as a driver. “When I took my first load out in Kentucky, my goal and dream was always to start a trucking company,” Wingfield said. “When I went into a truck stop for the first time, I saw the morale and the feeling of the room. There were so many people frustrated, hitting roadblocks, people talking about giving up and not having the resources to be successful. Education is so inconsistent. You can teach me to drive a truck but how do you get information to run a trucking company/business? There is a lack of verifiable and validated information.”
To that end, he developed a mentorship program, divided into phases, in which newcomers are trained in virtually every aspect of running a trucking business, from driver training tools, safety education, taking care of yourself and eating well, to handling lane changes, interacting with shippers and receivers, and dealing with other real-life situations. “There are certain circumstances you can’t emulate from a classroom and a computer,” Wingfield said.
For a new truck driver, Wingfield stressed the importance of knowing the difference between mentors and trainers. “A trainer is someone that will teach you how to do something from a basic perspective,” he said. “A mentor will show you how to do something and be excellent at it — they will motivate you, inspire you, guide you and give you feedback.”
NFI’s apprenticeship program, used by (from left) trainee Daniella Cunningham and trainer Yinet Mendez, has been recognized by the Department of Labor. (NFI)
NFI offers new drivers an apprenticeship program that is recognized by the Department of Labor. “We pair [new drivers] up with a transportation coach for a minimum of eight weeks to basically learn all the things they didn’t learn in truck driving school,” said Michael Hayden, NFI’s senior vice president of transportation services. “The adage we use is ‘truck driving school teaches you to get your CDL; here, we will teach you to be a driver.’ ” He believes that having that coach is a critical element in ensuring that someone’s first experience as a truck driver is a positive one, which, in the long run, can help mitigate the high turnover rates the trucking industry often experiences. Camden, N.J.-based NFI ranks No. 16 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America and No. 24 on the TT Top 100 list of the largest logistics companies.
Women In Trucking Association, a membership organization with the goal of empowering women to enter the trucking industry, has a self-directed, virtual mentorship program in which members can opt to become mentors, and mentees can choose from the available mentor profiles.
Fall
Though mentorship is invaluable for anyone who is just entering the trucking world, it is, arguably, particularly essential for women in what is still a male-dominated profession. “I think it’s just understanding what that life on the road looks like. I came from a carrier, and it’s easy to think that you know, but once you get in the truck and you realize what that life looks like, it’s helpful to get tips and ideas about how to plan your day, like parking or things you don’t think about until you’re in that position,” said Jenny Fall, director of driver engagement, adding that the organization is revamping its mentorship initiative this year to add more ongoing touch points and implement a more focused program.
Incentives for Mentors
Kruepke Trucking “trains the trainer” in-house, providing them with a certification. “We won’t just take anyone to do that,” Kunstek said. “It has to be someone that can handle another person riding with them, with a good demeanor. They do get extra compensation, but they have to be 100% on board that they are willing to do this.”
He added that many mentors get involved simply because they are invested in the company and want to see it — and the employees — succeed. If a person they are mentoring does end up succeeding, for many trainers, that is its own reward.
Kuepke Trucking's Kevin Kunstek says it takes the right kind of attitude for a driver to want to become a mentor. (Kruepke Trucking via Facebook)
For the most part, the mentors do not see the mentees as competition and truly enjoy the journey, reveling in the success of those they’ve mentored, noted Wingfield. “Not everyone is a mentor — it takes a special person to teach — but those who are really good at it get the benefit internally from the success of others,” he said.
Fall said the strongest mentors in the WIT mentorship program are very passionate about being able to help women in the industry. “I think the emotional return they get is the best thing they could ask for; they have an innate desire to bring women up in the industry,” she said.
Paying It Forward
Often, the mentees want to give back and become mentors themselves. That was exactly what happened when Vanita Johnson entered the trucking industry. Right after earning her CDL, she launched immediately into becoming an owner-operator. On her journey, Johnson, who is based in Atlanta and drives for Greensboro, N.C.-headquartered Epes Transport System, was part of a pilot mentor-mentee program jointly operated by WIT and LeadHERtrucking, a virtual mentorship program designed to support women in their careers.
Vanita Johnson left the teaching profession to become a truck driver and, eventually, a mentor for new drivers. (Courtesy Vanita Johnson)
Johnson was paired with another owner-operator. From the virtual mentoring sessions, she learned the ins and outs of being an owner-operator and found the relationship to be valuable. Before she had connected with LeadHERtrucking, she had a male friend of a friend ride with her, but she said he was unkind to her. “Because I had a mentor who I could call, she was able to keep me in the game,” Johnson said. “She gave me the strength I needed, she encouraged me, and she was able to talk me through that difficult period I was having.”
Those good experiences outweighed the negative experience with the male trainer, which prompted Johnson to become a mentor herself, a role she relishes. Plus, it comes naturally for her, as she used to be a mentor in her education career. Johnson is so committed to helping other women that she was willing to interrupt a beach vacation by responding to a situation that her mentee was facing and got her the assistance she needed.
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Even after the mentor-mentee training window is officially over and the mentee feels comfortable enough to go out on the road alone, that does not mean that the relationship has to end. On the contrary, many mentors stay in touch with their mentees and form long-lasting friendships. “The relationship goes on for quite some time. This is what makes it more of a mentorship than a transactional training environment,” Hayden said. “Those apprentice drivers will form a relationship with the driver coach and will bounce things off them for as long as they are with NFI.”
And for many in the role of trainer, it’s the next step in a driver’s career path. “They look at becoming a driver coach or trainer,” Hayden added.
For the companies themselves, they are building a relationship with a new driver, often with the goal that the driver stays long term, boosting retention rates. “We enjoy seeing the progression through the program and as they pick up steam coming out of the program,” Kunstek said. “There’s a point where this switch goes on, they connect the dots of what we’re training and what they got in school, and the job becomes ‘easier.’ ”
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