Senior Reporter
TT to Co-Host Driver Recruiting, Retention Conference
“It’s a great place for fleets and motor carriers to attend and talk to their peers about solutions around recruiting and retention, and also hear speakers who focus their efforts and solutions on this particular topic,” said Jeff Mason, TT’s executive vice president at American Trucking Associations. “As everyone knows, driver recruiting and retention is a major industry issue, and it’s only getting worse as population demographics change.”
“The slate of speakers and experts at the event will be the reason to come this year,” added Mason, who is scheduled to lead a panel on strategies carriers may implement for improving recruiting and retention.
The conference features keynote addresses from ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello, who will offer attendees trends and data most affecting recruiting and retention efforts. In addition, Focus3’s founder, Tim Knight, will speak on ways to maximize driver retention.
Other speakers include Leah Schultz, social media manager at Papa John’s International Inc.; Brad Vaughn, vice president of recruiting at Maverick Transportation; Dave Chesterman, director of recruiting at Celadon Group; and Rob Hatchett, vice president of recruiting at Covenant Transport.
The event also will feature panel discussions led by ATA officials, fleet executives and the American Transportation Research Institute, which is part of ATA.
According to ATRI’s top issues list for 2015, carriers’ inability to hire sufficient qualified drivers was the industry’s third-most pressing concern.
Executives told ATRI that identifying successful practices for recruiting new drivers is an ideal strategy for tackling the issue.
