This week on Taking the Hire Road, Jeremy Reymer, founder and CEO of DriverReach, is joined by good friend and industry leader John Trahan, vice president of Centerline Drivers.
With more than 30 years of industry experience, Trahan fell in love with the vision of the American truck driver at an early age.
“With my family roots in cattle ranching, I have been driving heavy machinery for more than 40 years. Naturally, I quickly fell in love with the world of transportation and trucking in general,” he said. “And after spending some time in the military, I wanted to come back to that love and pursue a career that would continue my mission to give back to my community. It’s certainly a worthy profession.”
Trahan also holds Certified Transportation Professional (CTP) credentials and is currently on the board of governors for the Private Fleet Management Institute (PFMI).
To earn CTP certification through PFMI, participants must master the basic skills of transportation management (operations, safety, human resources, maintenance and finance) and then pass a short essay exam.
“The CTP process is the toughest thing I ever went through,” Trahan said.
After driving for several years, Trahan eventually made his way to Centerline Drivers, where he has been since 2010.
“I was drawn to Centerline because of how they treat people — how they treat professional drivers,” Trahan said. “Any place that works hard to create the best environment for truck drivers is a place I want to be.”
Centerline is a driver staffing company that, according to its website, has connected over 4,500 truck drivers annually with Fortune 1000 and midsized companies since 1975 with its broad variety of staffing solutions and management. Its most popular and successful solution is its mobile driver solution — a plethora of drivers that can be deployed anywhere during times of need.
“We have the vision to be the nation’s most experienced and reliable partner in the transportation business,” Trahan said. “To do this, we have established a culture that supports our drivers and our customers.”
Centerline not only acts as an expert and extension for companies but also helps mitigate any potential risk that companies would otherwise have if they were doing it all on their own.
“It’s less offloading risk and more removing risk altogether through educating drivers, creating accountability and establishing realistic metrics within the company,” Trahan said. “Our team will work closely with our clients to come up with a program that best suits their immediate staffing needs, long term and short term.”
There often seems to be a misconception that drivers from staffing agencies are of lower quality. Trahan vehemently disagrees.
“If anything, you’re getting a more compliant and professional driver when you’re dealing with the big staffing companies in America,” he said. “Companies get what they give, no matter where they get their drivers. If they don’t provide good counsel to drivers, internal or not, they’re not going to make it. It’s crucial to invest in all drivers.”
To learn more about Centerline Drivers, visit its website.
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