ALABAMA TRUCKING FOUNDATION MAKES STRIDES IN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND IMAGE CAMPAIGNING

By Terry Kilpatrick

EDITOR’S NOTE: Now in its fourth year, the Alabama Trucking Association Foundation has successfully promoted highway safety, workforce development, and a positive public image for the trucking industry. The foundation has awarded numerous scholarships to diesel technology students at state community colleges and has implemented a pilot apprenticeship program in partnership with Reid State Technical College to train students for trucking industry jobs in commercial driving and diesel technology.

Additionally, in 2022, the foundation launched a marketing campaign to create a positive image of the trucking workforce and inspire targeted individuals to pursue careers in the industry. With support from its members, including the TITANS who commit to a three-year financial pledge, the foundation aims to transform the future workforce for trucking by establishing the industry as a desired career path and reducing barriers to entry for employers to hire entry-level drivers.

The following report was written by Foundation President Terry Kilpatrick and delivered to the ATA Board of Directors in January.

Since 2018, the Alabama Trucking Foundation has focused on fulfilling its mission by advancing highway safety; investing in workforce development through meaningful research, programs, scholarships and partnerships; and creating and implementing an effective, ongoing image campaign for the trucking industry. It is amazing how the Association’s members have embraced the Foundation and stepped up to build something that improves and strengthens our industry for generations to come.

Our Foundation has awarded thousands of dollars in scholarships to deserving diesel technology students at state community colleges. We have raised awareness of the outstanding work of our industry’s professional truck drivers throughout the pandemic. We continue to advance the public image of trucking through our Road Team captains who speak to high school students about the essentiality of the trucking industry, the great career opportunities throughout the industry, and how to drive safely around trucks.

Additionally, we have supported a pilot program in partnership

How you can support the ATA Foundation and the future of Alabama’s vital trucking industry.

1

Make the annual voluntary contribution on your dues statement! 57% of members make this contribution which is 20% of total dues with the max contribution of $800 for the largest dues payers and $100 for the smallest dues payers. An additional $50,000 a year could be invested in the ATA Foundation if the 43% of members not participating elect to make this contribution.

2 with Reid State Technical College that utilizes an apprenticeship program to attract and train 18-20-year-old students in the industry and even graduate high school students with a CDL learners’ permit. We have high hopes for this new program and are working to further trucking apprenticeships throughout the state, as well as other high school programs through partnerships with the NextGen Trucking Association and the Alabama Future Farmers of America.

Become an ATA Foundation TITAN! In the first year and a half, 42 courageous trucking leaders decided to join this super-supporter group committing to a $5,000 contribution for three years. These leaders are the muscle behind building a strong future for Alabama Trucking. Contact Mark Colson at mcolson@alabamatrucking.org or 334-4510236, if you want to become a TITAN.

A special thanks to the ATA Comp Fund for its strong support of the Foundation. Since the beginning, the Fund has been an ardent supporter. Now through the Alliance Interstate Risk (AIR) which provides workers comp to industry members outside of Alabama, a $500 contribution is made to the Foundation for every new AIR member.

The Foundation’s sole mission is to promote and protect the industry. We will always seek innovative ways to invest in trucking’s future. Anything we do in the name of the Foundation is to make our industry stronger, safer and better. With the full support of the membership, we believe we can bring about real change for trucking in Alabama and beyond.

Most excitingly, through our Real Faces of Alabama Trucking workforce campaign developed in partnership with strategic marketing firm Markstein, we are telling the powerful stories of the professionals in our industry with several goals in mind: First, to create a positive image of trucking and the trucking workforce with the added benefit of making it more difficult for some overzealous trial lawyers to villainize our industry.

Next, through marketing the stories of the Real Faces of Alabama Trucking, inspire targeted groups of individuals (personas) with potential interest in professional driver or diesel technician careers and connect them with high-quality training programs.

The development of this campaign was researched and designed in 2021, and a pilot campaign was launched in the spring of 2022 to test the marketing concepts. That pilot was so successful that it earned the prestigious Mike Russell Public Image Award at the American Trucking Associations’ 2022 Management Conference and Exhibition.

Moving ahead, we are enhancing the campaign platforms (including a more comprehensive website) in preparation for an expansive rollout this year, hopefully, to reach statewide.

All this work is made possible by our members’ support, especially from the support of the Alabama Trucking TITANS, who are the driving force behind our relentless commitment to improving the public image of trucking with the purpose of transforming our future workforce.

Launched in 2021, these 42 leaders within the trucking industry have made a long-term financial commitment to the future success of our industry by making a $5,000 annual donation for three years to the Alabama Trucking Foundation. This crucial funding is making a difference.

TITANS are specially recognized at all Association events, and new TITANS are inducted each year at the Alabama Trucking Convention. Read below for a full list of

TITANS and how to join this cause.

We are now seated at all the right tables, and new opportunities are opening each day. Candidly, our biggest challenge is staying focused to move the needle and not get spread too thin with all the different aspects of workforce development.

Long term, our vision includes four aggressive goals for transforming the future workforce for trucking are to 1.) Establish trucking as a desired career path for students and job-seeking adults; 2.) Communicate effectively to all stakeholders about the job opportunities available in the trucking industry which includes career mapping which will demystify the pathways to enter the industry; 3.) Establish the Alabama Trucking Foundation as a comprehensive resource for potential trainees and employers and connect them to all needed information; and 4.) Reduce barriers to entry for employers to hire entry-level drivers and partner with organizations that do hire entry-level drivers.

We are ready to tell the world that Alabama Trucking is moving Alabama’s economy in ways we have never imagined. We’re proud of where the Foundation started, and where it is today. and where it’s heading.

Let’s get to work building the trucking industry that Alabama deserves.