While carriers continue to prioritize recruiting and retaining well-qualified truck drivers, finding and retaining diesel technicians is an increasingly important concern today.
Leah Shaver sat down with Amanda Schuier, strategic maintenance director at Jetco Delivery, to discuss the similarities and differences between recruiting and retaining truck drivers and diesel technicians.
Engagement is Schuier’s priority in her roles at both the American Trucking Associations and Jetco. “Encouraging members to be more involved in championing the industry is one of my biggest goals,” she said.
One way to increase engagement, according to Schuier, is mentorship. For example, she strives to mentor young women who are starting out in the freight industry, which is a mostly male-dominated field.
While the trucking industry has made great strides in gender diversity and women’s involvement in a variety of roles, there are very few female truck maintenance and repair technicians.
To bridge that gap, Schuier said the women who pioneered their way into the industry need to help and encourage young women to do the same. “One of the main ways I can give back is to mentor. I encourage women in the TMC to get involved and help women grow their careers. That builds the future.”
While Schuier comes from a family with four generations of trucking experience, she did not set out to achieve a career in either recruiting or the trucking industry at large. With some marketing background, she eventually applied for a marketing position at a dealership. But it was in the shop downstairs that she found the heart of the industry.
“Marketing was a corporate environment, but what drew me was the action and hard work going on in the shop,” Schuier recounted. “There were always techs on the phone with parts suppliers and drivers bringing in their trucks for service.”
It wasn’t until Schuier started getting to know these employees that she understood the need for better recruiting.
“I started talking to drivers and technicians and hearing their stories. There were so many bad experiences with recruiting, so that showed me that this industry can do things so much better,” Schuier said. She saw that as an opportunity to step in and learn the weak spots in recruiting and employee retention.
Being able to return home daily or weekly, according to Schuier, gives Jetco Delivery a huge advantage in recruiting and retaining drivers.
Likewise, many carriers were able to recruit more drivers in the height of the driver shortage by focusing efforts on highlighting the long-term career opportunities and benefits of truck driving.
When it comes to diesel technicians, the challenges and strategies for recruiting can be quite different from those used to attract truck drivers.
“Right now, it’s harder to hire a technician. Techs like to see things like defined career progression, tool incentives and specific opportunities for training. Safety culture and work-life balance are what techs look for,” Schuier said.
In fact, it is as difficult to hire and retain diesel technicians today as it was to hire truck drivers in 2021 at the height of the driver shortage, and it gets more difficult each year.
“An open line of communication is really important, be it techs or drivers,” Schuier said. “Sometimes, technicians leave to chase more money, but often our techs come back. That’s because our technicians know we have the right leadership in place to guide them through their career.”
Other retention and recruitment strategies Schuier noted include “draft days” for students on LinkedIn. Companies promise jobs and “draft” students who are graduating from tech schools, as well as provide new employees with quality tools and specialized training.
“Sending technicians to the OEM for certified training is a great way to give them a clear path for career progression and advancement,” she said.
Articulating that career path, according to Schuier, is the best way to increase recruitment and retention for diesel technicians entering the field.
“Engagement is always important, but it’s most important at times like this,” she said. It’s vital to understand why your technicians are willing to come work for you – whether it’s safety culture, relationships with managers, training or growth. “Learn what makes employees tick and try to ease their burdens. Just throwing money at it doesn’t always help.”
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Sponsors: The National Transportation Institute, Career Now Brands, Carrier Intelligence, Infinit-I Workforce Solutions, WorkHound, Asurint, Transportation Marketing Group, Seiza, Drive My Way, F|Staff, Trucksafe Consulting, Seated Social, Repowr