16 minute read
STAYING IN THE GAME
As in Australia, a big issue for road transport operators in the United States is attracting and retaining quality drivers. Tim Richardson travelled across the Pacific, pre-COVID, to attend the Merge 2000 conference in Nashville with the emphasis on recruitment
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE is affectionately known to North Americans as ‘Music City’, but for most Australians we recognise it as the global hub of country music. It also played host to the largest recruitment and retention conference for the American trucking industry, Merge 2020.
Some may wonder why I would travel to the United States to attend a driver recruitment conference as we see our industries as quite different. But the challenge of truck driver training, recruitment and retention is an issue right across the globe, so I took the opportunity to listen to and speak with people from another market.
I did not have any pre-conceived ideas as to what I would learn at the conference, I was just hoping to gain an insight into how the US is combatting the challenge of driver recruitment. What was evident from the moment that I started to speak with people is that recruitment was not their biggest challenge, it is driver retention.
The American trucking industry current driver turnover rate is 85 per cent per annum with 60 per cent of these occurring within the first six months of employment. Considering the US has 2.1 million long haul drivers, nearly 1.8 million of them are changing employer less than every 12 months. Some of the more reputable transport companies who have focused on reducing their turnover rates are achieving 35 to 45 per cent turnover, which is still remarkably high, but much better than the industry average.
The turnover of drivers results in an incredibly competitive recruiting effort by many longhaul operators. All transport companies have a recruiting team which are constantly looking for new drivers and there is a significant number of third-party recruiters involved in supporting the industry. Drivers can register their details on a number of websites and job boards, which will then pass their contact details on to many transport companies. Truck drivers need to make little effort to seek new employment, which in turn leads to the remarkably high turnover rate.
The first workshop I attended looked into unlocking the ‘why’ behind driver turnover. They listed out the top five issues behind driver turnover in 2019: compensation, equipment, operations, home time and lastly company issues. Drilling down into each of these issues further, it was evident that drivers were seeking consistency with mileage, which in turn leads to consistent income, good and well maintained equipment and to work for a company that respects them and the hard work that they put in. The issues raised there would relate to many truck drivers here in Australia.
The underlying point presented by Scott Dismuke from the Professional Driver Agency was “the relationship between a driver and the company is critical to manage route delays and changes”.
“Be honest and don’t mislead the driver during the recruiting process, and start the driver off on a good note ensuring their truck is handed to them in good working order and cleaned.”
The session finished up noting that transport companies need to spend more time, effort and finances on retention rather than recruiting. This theory was discussed and had been put into practice by a number of the leading transport companies, who had then managed to reduce driver turnover.
During the lunch break we had a presentation by Chris Spear, the American Trucking Association (ATA) president and CEO. Spear is a very impressive speaker and had the attention of everyone in the room.
As the key industry representative in Washington, Spear discussed the current toxic political environment where there is an extreme lack of consensus and a struggle to find compromise. Prior to COVID, the US economy was going through a boom, with an example being the $33 billion of US manufactured goods to China in the first year of the trade agreement. The growth in manufacturing and a booming economy makes talent harder to find and retain and will see significant increases in freight.
Infrastructure needs to be a focus in Washington and is being pushed hard by the ATA. Spear believes much of the talk about infrastructure spending is fake, but if the government does spend money on roads and bridges this will have a significant effect on the economy.
“Trucks and cars sitting in traffic is bad for the economy and bad for the environment,” he says.
Spear finished off his presentation by speaking about driver shortage and recruitment. “Trucking is not getting the investment in skills. We need to look to the future generations to fill the 60,000-driver shortage we are currently facing.”
He reminded the audience that young people in the US below the age of 21 cannot cross state lines even though they can secure a CDL licence from the age of 18.
“We have high expectations on our young in the military and we are prepared to send them off to war, but we won’t let them drive a truck across state lines,” Spear says.
Young drivers face too many barriers to entering the trucking industry in the US, as they do here in Australia. The ATA has worked closely with the federal government and had the Drive-Safe Act introduced to congress. The act would allow drivers below the age of 21 to cross state lines but they would go through a far more rigorous driver training program.
“The bill is about providing young men and women with demonstrated aptitude the opportunity to master interstate [truck] driving through a rigorous apprenticeship program that combines 400 hours of minimum training with supervised, real-world driving with a mentor—all on trucks equipped with state-of-the-art, National Transportation Safety Board endorsed vehicle safety technologies,” the ATA states.
Australia can learn a lot from the proactive steps being taken in the US to encourage young people to enter the transport industry, to provide in-depth and credible training and to provide career opportunities and a career path. With our aging driver population, we need to stop talking about the problems and start implementing practical solutions.
Gender diversity
The topic of driver recruitment was the focus on much of the afternoon sessions at the conference. ATA chief economist, Bob Costello, discussed the challenges facing the industry and the US economy overall.
“There’s no one cause to the driver shortage and there’s no one solution,” Costello says.
The US transport industry needs one million new drivers over the next 10 years. Most new drivers going through training and entering the industry are aged between 34 to 39 years. For most of them this will be their second or third career path.
Costello says policies such as the Drive-Safe Act will encourage attraction of young people which is critical for the industry. There should also be focus on gender diversity with
Top: American Trucking Association president Chris Spear believes ex-military personnel are an ideal fit for trucking
Above: Melissa Nisham, VP of recruiting at Epes Transport, says family issues are the main reason for driver resignation
women currently only making up 8.9 per cent of the trucking workforce and hiring of military veterans to help fill the shortage.
Randy Dye is the president of Veterans in Trucking and presented a session on veteran recruitment. With over 14 per cent of active service personnel involved in military transportation and freight, attracting former military personnel is a worthwhile target group.
He says 97.2 percent of military job seekers seek out employers that are specifically recruiting veteran talent. “Hiring a veteran is not just a good idea, hiring a veteran is good business.”
The US offers tax credit advantages to businesses hiring military veterans, something that should be explored in Australia to support those that have served our country.
Work/life balance
Three of the top recruiters in the industry, including Tim Norlin from Roehl Transport and Melissa Nishan from Epes Transport System, contributed to a panel discussion on successful driver recruitment. The panel agreed that with advances in technology, companies will need to recruit a different type of driver and that recruiting needs to be an investment.
“Drivers aren’t machines,” Norlin says. “Show them respect.” Norlin was named the Transport Topics Recruiting Professional of the Year.
Roehl Transport operates a fleet of 2,000 trucks and has made a number of significant changes in recent years.
“We focused on student drivers but in a different way than we had before, and we created a ‘finishing program’ to bring students’ skills up to meet our expectations,” Norlin says.
Epes Transport System is a general commodity carrier with a fleet of 1,600 trucks. Melissa Nishan is the vice-president of driver recruiting at Epes and leads a team of 21 staff in recruiting and on-boarding. With a turnover rate of 42 per cent, she notes that retention is still one of the biggest challenges they face.
“If you can solve retention, you don’t need to focus so much on recruiting,” Nishan says. Home time and family issues are the big reason for resignation, which is why Epes Transport’s focus is on ensuring its drivers get home every week.
The team at Epes are kept busy with 79,000 recruitment phone calls being made in 2019 to recruit 800 drivers.
“One in every 15 applications that we take results in a driver being hired,” Nishan tells me. “We will hire drivers younger than 21 but at the moment they cannot cross state lines, which makes it hard.”
In a discussion with Nishan after the conference, I asked her about recruiting student drivers straight from a driving school.
“We have a number of approved driving schools that we take students from, which is based on student-to-trainer ratio and time behind the wheel,” she explains. “When they have graduated and have their CDL (commercial driver’s licence), they will spend six weeks in a truck with one of our 22 driver trainers.”
This process was the most enlightening matter I took away from the conference and should be a government and industry focus in Australia. New entrants to the transport industry attend a three week course at a driving school and will then go on to four to six weeks of on-the-job training with their initial employer.
If Australia is serious about recruiting new drivers to the industry, we need to look at how we train and licence drivers and prepare them properly for a career in the transport industry. The US operates lighter and less complex trucks than we do in Australia, yet they have a far better process at training and licencing drivers.
Cool Split 20
WEBASTO COOL TOP RTE 16 – ROOFTOP AIR CONDITIONING UNIT
Whatever weather conditions you’re driving in this year, Webasto ensures you can control the cab temperature every step of the way.
Westabo is known throughout the world for its extensive range of sunroof systems and diesel-fired air heaters, suitable for use in almost any application, including trucks, caravans, motorhomes and marine vessels. It has been providing comfort solutions for the bus and truck market since 1965 and has increased its truck portfolio in recent years with high quality products that are perfect for the harsh Australian summer.
Webasto’s existing truck market offerings include split air conditioning systems such as the Fresco 3000 and the Cool Split 20, both available in rear or roof top mounted variants, providing perfect cabin climate control. Also on offer for the truck market are Webasto’s isotherm compressor fridges, ranging in size and style from a 16L drawer fridge/freezer up to a 49L upright refrigerator.
Webasto has an impressive product range with something for every situation and its cabin cooling solutions are designed to ensure a comfortable sleeper cabin all year round, no matter where you are, day or night.
This month, Webasto introduces the all new Webasto Cool Top RTE 16, an effective, lightweight, 24 volt electric parking cooler. The powerful 1,600 watt rooftop air conditioning system is available with a wide choice of specific truck model mounting kits that allow for easy installation via the vehicle’s roof hatch.
The system is controlled using a digital display panel and/or a handy remote control unit and offers automatic temperature control and individual temperature and fan speed adjustments.
Webasto’s Cool Top RTE 16 provides cooling without idling, saving fuel, engine wear and emissions and with an adjustable low voltage cut-off you can be assured that the engine will always start.
Pre filled with refrigerant, the compressordriven system is connected to a 24 volt battery. Quality components, combined with light weight construction and flat design, provide a sleek, sophisticated look, with the power and performance you expect from a Webasto product, effortlessly providing a refreshing temperature and comfortable environment in the truck cabin.
The new Cool Top RTE 16 will be available Australia-wide from October through Webasto’s authorised truck sales and service dealer network and, as with all Webasto products, will be covered by a two year warranty.
Cool Top RTE 16 Technical specifications for the Cool Top RTE 16 include:
• Nominal cooling capacity (W): 1,600 • Refrigerant: R134a • Nominal voltage (v): 24 • Maximum total power consumption at 24v (A): 23 • Max operation temperature: 45 degrees C • Max air volume flow of evaporator blower (m3/h): 650 • Dimensions condenser L x W x H (mm): 645 x 920 x 140 • Dimensions evaporator L x W x H (mm): 387 x 349 x 165 • Installation height (mm): 142 (depending on cabin type) • Weight (kg): 23.4
All Webasto products come with a two-year warranty. For more details go to www.webasto.com or call 1800 244 494.
THE HVAC SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Phil Reynolds works in the product marketing department at PACCAR Parts. Here, he puts his spin on the operation of HVAC
Welcome students to a wondrous journey delving into what some would believe is the dark arts of truck HVAC systems. Our first lesson: what is HVAC? Easy – it stands for heating, ventilation and air conditioning. That makes sense – so let’s see what else we can make sense of.
Heating for vehicles is achieved by sourcing hot coolant from the engine and running it through a heater core (think small radiator) inside the cab. Coupled with controllable taps for coolant flow and blower fans, we can control the amount of heat output for comfort.
Ventilation is purely our means of moving heated, cooled, internal or external ‘fresh’ air around a cab. This is done with ducts but also mechanisms to control the direction of flow, so we can choose between feet, head, screen or a combination. This control is also available for either recirculating the air inside the cab, or taking fresh air from outside to pass through the HVAC system.
These mechanisms have changed over time from simple cables to vacuum lines coupled between servos and engine manifolds, to modern servos electrically controlled for ease of operation.
And so we come to the air conditioning system, yes the most intricate of our HVAC ingredients
Pictured: PACCAR Parts’ Phillip-Reynolds
THE INTEGRAL PARTS OF THE HVAC SYSTEM
but one that once mastered in understanding will have you feeling cooler than Ron Weasley after winning the affections of Hermione Granger. Let’s start at the heart.
The compressor – our only mechanically driven part in the whole system and commonly the part that packs up when issues are present elsewhere in the system (ever had a compressor claim knocked back citing it was a consequence of another issue?). The compressor is basically a high pressure pump taking low pressure refrigerant gas from the evaporator (we’ll get to that bit) compressing it and delivering it as a high pressure hot gas to the condenser (that part on the front of your truck that looks like a thin radiator).
The condenser cools the hot gas, reducing the pressure and returning the gas to a liquid state. Next, it’s on to the receiver dryer taking the liquid refrigerant, filtering it and removing moisture – the arch nemesis of the AC system. Now, we have filtered and moisture-free liquid refrigerant heading toward your cab, ready to work its magic through the Thermal Expansion valve (TX valve).
High pressure liquid refrigerant is forced through the TX valve where it expands, dropping in pressure and temperature and evaporates (think of turning on your BBQ gas bottle and as the gas comes out from the high pressure liquid state within the bottle it expands to its gas state cooling as it does). It enters the evaporator core (like your heater core) and blower fans push air across the surface area of the core to exchange that cool refrigerant into cool air for your cab.
Once through the evaporator core, the low pressure refrigerant heads back to the compressor to start its journey again. There are hoses and pressure switches along the way to keep everything contained and in check. And that, for those still following, is the way an air conditioning system works!
Now that you are a little more knowledgeable on the HVAC system, you must take that knowledge and use it for good. If you do experience an air conditioning compressor failure, think about the impact on the rest of the components in the system.
Whenever you experience a compressor failure, or you are doing preventative maintenance on your system, it is always good practice to change the receiver dryer and the TX valve, which has low tolerance for foreign material. The amount of refrigerant and lubricating oil is also critical, so make sure you get repairs done from your authorised dealership, such as the PACCAR dealer network, which supplies quality, warranty-backed HVAC parts and technical wizards trained in the art of HVAC!
To find your nearest dealer, visit
www.paccarparts.com.au/find-a-dealer.
