KNOWLEDGE MATTERS
ATA Workforce Heroes Truck Conducts Week-Long Iowa Tour
In June 2021, the American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) Workforce Heroes program concluded a week-long tour of high schools in northwest Iowa, teaching safe driving skills and raising awareness about job opportunities available in the trucking industry. With an ongoing shortage of professional truck drivers and qualified diesel technicians across the country, the Workforce Heroes program educated students from seven different Iowa-area high schools about the variety of career paths that can be found in trucking. Students took home a copy of ATA’s Workforce Heroes pamphlet to learn more about a day in the life of a professional truck driver, starting salary, commercial driver’s license requirements and more. “Through the pandemic, we found different ways to get out and educate our communities,” said Workforce Heroes professional truck driver Randall Luschen of Weinrich Truck Line Inc. “The technology we have today allowed us to keep sharing our message and continue representing the best this industry has to offer. The goal of our demonstration is to educate current and future drivers on how to safely drive alongside trucks. At the end of the day, we want everyone to get home safe.”
The tour included safety demonstrations using ATA’s Workforce Heroes Mack Anthem high-rise sleeper and classroom segments that showed the Share the Road instructional video. Workforce Heroes professional truck drivers, with millions of accident-free miles, walked students through the blind spots of commercial motor vehicles and discussed the dangers of distracted driving. The drivers emphasized the long stopping distances of trucks and stressed the added importance of maintaining safe distances during winter months when road conditions are less than ideal. Students were able to climb into the driver’s seat of a truck to experience firsthand what a professional truck driver can and cannot see. “More and more of our professional drivers are heading into retirement, which is why we are here to explain the career opportunities in the trucking industry,” said Workforce Heroes professional truck driver Bill McNamee of Carbon Express Inc. “A career as a professional truck driver is extremely rewarding as it allows you to travel all over the country and meet so many different people. We need the younger generation to join our industry so that we can keep moving America forward.” n
THIRD QUARTER 2021
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