We all know the vital role truck drivers play in our national and global economy. The ongoing need for truck drivers continues to attract people of all backgrounds looking to make a good living. Kenworth Sales Company celebrates February as Black History Month and recognizes the growing diversity in the trucking industry.
From Kenworth Sales Co salesman Javier Leon:
“[Having] been a banker for 13 years, helping local businesses in Utah – My clients were business owners from all over; India, Latinos, Europe, Asia, Americans…”
My focus is on all minorities, since I understand their business needs. [We] find business partners to help the multicultural market — and continue selling trucks to help these minority groups open their businesses.
More minorities are getting into trucking since they can make more income driving commercial trucks than labor work.”
The remarkable growth in diversity seen in the trucking industry demonstrates the continuing opportunities available for work as a truck driver.
New York Times, July 2018:
Women and minorities make up just fractions of the overall trucking population: 94 percent of drivers are men, and two-thirds of all drivers are white, according to a 2017 report released by the American Trucking Associations.
Facing record driver shortages, trucking companies “are making the adjustments because they have to,” said Kevin Reid, the founder of the National Minority Trucking Association. “The industry has not focused on recruiting and retaining the next generation,” Mr. Reid said. “Trucking is an industry that needs to be rebranded… so the question is, how are we going to reach the next generation of truckers?”
Kristina Jackson, a 22-year-old African-American truck driver based in Raleigh, N.C., is exactly the type of person the trucking industry wants to attract. After graduating from college, she wanted a job that would allow her to travel and be financially independent. “When people found out I was in trucking, they were shocked because of my gender and age,” she said. Ms. Jackson thinks that more young people could easily be persuaded to join the industry, adding that she has personally recruited 10 of her friends in their 20s. But she thinks recruiters so far have done a poor job of showcasing the young truckers in the industry.
