Hire Truckers Podcast

00:00 - 00:28
Lindsey Trent: I think they need to empower their employees to be able to volunteer and go to the local schools. Or if you have a parade, make sure you have a truck in there, and maybe you even have a booth where you're just talking to young people and talking to families out there. It's all about how can you engage in your community. And I want to see the trucking industry do that more. I know there's a ton that do it, and let's do it.

00:28 - 00:32
Lindsey Trent: Let's push our industry out to the next generation.

00:49 - 01:11
Aaron Craddock: Welcome to the Hire Truckers Podcast. I'm your host, Aaron Craddock. Super excited to have Lindsey Trent on today. She's helped shape the future workforce of the trucking industry through education, awareness, and advocacy. Lindsay Trent is the President and Co Founder of the Next Generation Trucking Association, an organization focused on connecting the next generation to careers in trucking.

01:11 - 01:12
Aaron Craddock: So welcome to the show, Lindsey

01:13 - 01:15
Lindsey Trent: Hey, thanks for having me. I'm so happy to be here.

01:16 - 02:08
Aaron Craddock: Yeah, and I thought, when I was thinking about our audience, you know, lot of times we have recruiting directors on, VPs, C level executives, and I was just thinking about who in our space has a positive vision for the industry and is really changing things. And so I thought of Lindsey and bringing her on, and then also thought about the value it'll add to you guys in that she is thinking about how do we bring that next generation on? And so as you guys are having recruiting challenges and struggling with filling your pipeline, maybe there's a messaging tweak you need to make and different things like that. And so today, we're gonna dive into anything from industry insights to recruiting and marketing things, working with some of the younger generation that we're bringing into the industry. And then kind of at the end, we'll talk about just a vision that Lindsay has for ten years out, and just how the industry could look

02:08 - 02:10
Lindsey Trent: like. So,

02:11 - 02:19
Aaron Craddock: where I wanted to start, Lindsay, is, which I'm very curious because we haven't talked about this, is what originally drew you into trucking?

02:20 - 03:00
Lindsey Trent: Well, I didn't know anything about the industry, but I got a job doing driver staffing. And I fell in love with the industry because of the people, one, salt of the earth people, and two, because it's an industry that really touches every industry. So it's fun in that maybe one day, I was at a food distributor, the next day, a trucking company that hauls auto parts, then a marble distributor. It was just really fascinating to me to be able to part of be a part of an industry that has so much impact on other industries.

03:01 - 03:14
Aaron Craddock: That's awesome. Was there, like, a moment like, when I'm thinking about Next Generation and Trucking Association and founding that, like, was there a moment where you where you realized that workforce development was going to be a major issue in the industry?

03:15 - 03:28
Lindsey Trent: Yeah. Well, I've been in trucking fourteen years. And when I started, there was a huge need for drivers. So I would go to a company that we were working with and just a local company. Right?

03:28 - 03:48
Lindsey Trent: They'd say, we need 30 drivers to start tomorrow. And we talked about the problem constantly. And I had these conversations from c level to receptionist level. Everybody knew how dire their company was and the fact that they needed drivers. There were so many opportunities.

03:48 - 04:18
Lindsey Trent: And it just got me thinking, hey, we talk about this problem all the time, but what are the solutions that we're creating to fill the problem? Right? And I'm not talking about a solution like, okay, here's 30 drivers. I'm talking about what is a solution that's going to impact not just today, but our future. And it's really trying to get to the heart of the matter and not just a quick fix.

04:19 - 04:21
Aaron Craddock: So what is the heart of the matter?

04:22 - 04:59
Lindsey Trent: So the heart of the matter is what I started seeing, what other industries were doing. I would go to different schools and talk to different industries, and they would be a part of all of these groups, all of these school advisory boards. They'd be at conferences, forward facing students, forward facing educators and people who influence education, administrators, school counselors. One of the things that got me is the American School Counselors Association. Right?

05:00 - 05:26
Lindsey Trent: They had hundreds of booths. One of the booths was the Gem and Mineral Society, but there was nobody in trucking there. And I'm thinking, okay, If the Jim and Mineral Society is here, trucking has to be here. We're we we employ so many more people. And doing things like that is what we have really focused on.

05:26 - 05:56
Lindsey Trent: One of our top pillars is getting out there and talking to students and counselors, administrators, and really trying to brand the trucking industry as a positive career choice. And not just drivers and diesel technicians, but also engineers and IT professionals. So we are out there really positively impacting the branding of trucking so that we can get the brightest and best talent to want to come into our industry.

05:56 - 06:11
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. What you know, I kind of stumbled into the industry, I think seventeen years or so ago. Like, made you, like whenever you got into the industry, like what made you personally be like, oh, this is an amazing industry?

06:12 - 06:34
Lindsey Trent: I would have to say I just was able to dive in and get involved. I'm in Louisville, Kentucky. I serve on the board of the Kentucky Trucking Association. I have for ten years. One of the things that we did is we helped a community college start a CDL program, and then I helped a high school start a diesel tech program.

06:34 - 07:06
Lindsey Trent: And so I started really getting involved in on both the education side and education space as well as still involved in the trucking side and trucking space. And so trying to marry those two, it's it's been really fun because the education is they're so interested. They're so ripe. And one of the things I think that has helped us is the pandemic. Right?

07:06 - 07:43
Lindsey Trent: Most people, they saw trucks on the road, but it was more of an annoyance. And when they realized, wait, truck drivers are essential, then they started thinking, oh, well, I didn't realize the supply chain was so important. And that's when we said, yeah, the supply chain is really important, and here's the benefits of working in trucking. And it really started opening doors in schools now. Administrators know that there is a need in their communities.

07:43 - 08:34
Lindsey Trent: They could be in big cities or in rural communities, but they know there's a need for drivers and technicians, and trucking is is everywhere. And so it's it's really been a fun thing to get to work on this mission every day because the industry, the education industry is so receptive to what we're doing, and we're supported by the trucking industry. So one of the things that's a fine line that I walk every day is working on the mission, meeting with schools, being a part of different organizations, you know, student organizations, educational organizations, but also working with carriers because they're helping support and fund what we're doing. But we also need them to work into their own communities and help make those connections to build up their own workforce.

08:35 - 08:50
Aaron Craddock: That's good. Yeah. Because you're kind of you're enabling them to do it on their own, like equipping them, teaching them how to do it, then also doing your own your own stuff. That's awesome. So what keeps you optimistic about the industry?

08:50 - 09:04
Aaron Craddock: That's one thing I noticed about your brand and just in the industry, like, just sharing positivity. And just even right before the show, you were sharing, like, here are these cool new kids' books that came out. Like, yeah, what keeps you optimistic about the industry as a whole?

09:05 - 09:58
Lindsey Trent: So a few things. Right? We a lot of industries and students are nervous. Do they wanna go to college and get a four year degree to come out with a job and skill set that AI is going to take over. And I'm optimistic that more young people are exploring skilled trades, they're exploring trucking careers, and open, more open than ever to maybe I want to go into the workforce, work with my hands, sit behind the steering wheel of a truck, and have that be my career path as opposed to going to college and not necessarily getting a good paying job, and I'm racked with all this student loan debt.

09:58 - 10:19
Lindsey Trent: So I'm very optimistic that we're gonna continue to see Gen Z, this next generation coming into our workforce or going just in general to the skilled trades. We're gonna have to do the work to say, hey, well, you should come into our industry. But I am optimistic that there is a shift happening right before our eyes.

10:20 - 10:31
Aaron Craddock: That's awesome. So I'm gonna go ahead and jump to a question we're gonna go into later. But what like, you mentioned Gen Z. So what recruiting message resonates with Gen Z?

10:32 - 11:03
Lindsey Trent: Yeah, so would say, you know, one of the things that we have to do as an industry is positively do career branding. And so what are things that Gen Z finds appealing about the trucking industry and being a driver, right? So here's a few things. First of all, obviously we always hear about the culture but Gen Z doesn't necessarily define it as culture. They don't necessarily relate to that term.

11:04 - 11:53
Lindsey Trent: But making sure that you're communicating that you're a team, that you might have people who are in their 60s, but people in their 20s are also going to be respected and we want them to be a part of the team and heard because Gen Z, they do want to have a voice. But some of the other things about trucking and what attracts them is the ability to travel. So think of a tiny house on wheels. Younger people, they might be at a position in their life when they're in their twenties that they're not tied down, and they could see 48 states if they're a professional driver. I have met several truck drivers who started off, and they're young.

11:53 - 12:19
Lindsey Trent: So these are young drivers. They started off never leaving their city and giving them the opportunity to see the country, but get paid for it. That is an amazing opportunity for them. They also are very entrepreneurial. Gen z, they wanna be their own boss, and this gives them the opportunity because, you know, as a professional driver, you're out there making decisions.

12:19 - 12:50
Lindsey Trent: It's a lot of critical thinking and showcasing that, hey. When you're out there on the road, you're your own boss, and you are responsible for so much. That is a a message that they're very interested in. Also, is there a pathway to become an owner operator with your company that resonates with them? Another thing that we need to know about Gen Z is they're very eager to, you know, technology.

12:50 - 13:09
Lindsey Trent: They're born with an iPhone in their hand, basically. And they're very interested in technology. So what kind of technology do you have to help make their lives better, make their job better, and are they gonna be in a nice truck? And what's the technology in those trucks? I know diesel mechanics.

13:09 - 13:39
Lindsey Trent: They wanna work one of the bit bigger things to them than pay is the type of equipment they're working with. Do they have all the tools that they need? Are they working on the trucks that are interesting to them? Not, you know, old broken down trucks, but they wanna work with good equipment. And I think that is a thing that we need to be out there showcasing is that our industry, we've got technology, we've got exciting equipment, but we have to showcase that to them.

13:39 - 13:40
Lindsey Trent: What are they going to be working with?

13:41 - 13:56
Aaron Craddock: So fleas can be highlighting their newer trucks and technology. And even if they're you know, some of them have their own mechanic shops just using the best tools and cutting edge cutting edge things. I haven't thought about that angle. That's awesome.

13:57 - 14:12
Lindsey Trent: Yeah. And then, of course, pay. Right? But also, have you thought about are there ways that because we've always hear that this generation, you know, they want work life balance. We hear that all the time, right?

14:12 - 14:32
Lindsey Trent: My first job out of college, it was like a professional sales job and I had zero vacation days my first year. And I was like, great, I'll take it. I'm so excited about this job. But now they expect vacation days, sick days. So what can you do to, you know, work work with that?

14:32 - 14:37
Lindsey Trent: I'm just trying to think really outside the box of ways that you can give them more work life balance.

14:38 - 14:46
Aaron Craddock: That's good. So technology, work life balance, making sure they feel a part of the team. Those are all super important things for Gen Z.

14:47 - 15:12
Lindsey Trent: Absolutely. And they want to see real people. So if you can have social media campaigns where you're allowing drivers to share their stories about what it's really like there on the road, and and they can talk about the ins and outs of the jobs. They can talk about the technology in your truck. Give them your driver space to promote what they're doing.

15:12 - 15:20
Lindsey Trent: And Gen Z is very interested in real life, real world applications to the possibility of being a truck driver and what it's like there on the road.

15:21 - 15:35
Aaron Craddock: Yeah, so speaking of that, you know, the potential like marketing messages, like internal marketing of actual drivers, like are fleets underestimating the importance of like branding their fleet towards this generation?

15:37 - 16:01
Lindsey Trent: Yes. I I really want employer I want I want all the employers to hear this. It is so important for you to brand your company as a positive career choice, even talking to 12 year olds. But wait, I need people today. I need them to work for me right away.

16:01 - 16:39
Lindsey Trent: It's not about that. It's about your future and what you're aiming towards. So there was a study recently, by Roundhouse and a white paper and all about early talent development and how important it is. And the thing that they that they have they found is that if you have, like, this early talent development pipeline model, you have a thousand students, and they have this raw potential to enter a high demand career, but they don't know your industry. They they're not talking to anybody.

16:39 - 17:27
Lindsey Trent: They've never gotten inside a truck or toured a trucking facility or had a guest speaker come and talk to them. The those thousand students with no industry support, well, 250 might consider a career in in that field. 80 will pursue it, and 25 will enter the workforce. That's with no industry support. But if there is industry support so that same thousand students, if they maybe have somebody that they talk to at a career fair or they get into a truck or they go on a field trip, now those same thousand students, 600 will consider it, 250 will pursue, and now 80 are gonna work enter the workforce.

17:27 - 18:20
Lindsey Trent: And so we have to realize that if they're not coming into our industry because there's no there's no industry support, they're gonna go into other industries because other industries are fighting hard for this Gen Z workforce. So we have to be out there targeting the next generation even if they're not gonna come to work for us tomorrow, but it's gonna be several years down the road. And I want to ref I want you to reframe this as I need a workforce, and so I've gotta start doing these things. It's not about you. Think about it as community engagement and developing the next generation because we have good jobs in our industry that pay well, that have a family sustaining career.

18:21 - 18:59
Lindsey Trent: And so I want you to reframe this as I want to go out and talk to students to help change their life and make their lives better. I have careers at my company that can have a family sustaining life and career in my own community because, you know, a lot of students, they never wanna leave their community. They wanna stay right there, and they want a job that's going to be able to support their family and what they want to do. And we have those jobs. So I want us to start reframing it like, hey, this just isn't me going out and building up my workforce.

18:59 - 19:29
Lindsey Trent: It's me changing a life because I have these jobs that can change lives. And and there's other ROI considerations. When you are an employer and you let your driver go and volunteer and talk to students, it increases their productivity. It increases their productivity by 13%. It actually will help them be retained in your industry more and your job more.

19:29 - 19:56
Lindsey Trent: And I've seen it happen. They start to love their job again. They love what they're doing, investing in young people and getting to talk to them. And when you give your employees opportunities to volunteer, there are a lot more things that are gonna happen with that volunteer that you're giving the opportunity than just them going out and talking to students and trying to recruit people, it also does something to them.

19:57 - 20:15
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20:16 - 20:45
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20:45 - 21:37
Aaron Craddock: Yeah, there's just something about when we serve and like help others. Yeah, it just makes us appreciate our job more. It the way I relate it, like I think about it, is like when I looked back on my time, like at the previous company I worked for before starting Kardock Holdings and Hire Truckers, the most satisfying thing was helping people reach their objectives. Like, wasn't the personal career growth I had. Like, when I really look back at it, it was just helping, you know, some of these entry level hires that were straight out of school just develop these amazing careers and stay in the industry, whether that's the marketing industry or in recruiting.

21:37 - 21:58
Aaron Craddock: And, I really thought about that from a retention side for fleets. Like that they send their drivers to these events and they invest in these people and just tell them about just these amazing opportunities and career path, that that just gets them energized. Like that number, like 13%. Was that 13%? What was the 13% again?

21:58 - 22:32
Lindsey Trent: It's 13% productivity increase for employees engaged in volunteer activities. There's a 50% turnover reduction when companies invest in corporate responsibility. And I do want to frame this as corporate responsibility when you're investing in the next generation and engaging with them. And HR executives, 92% agree that nonprofit work improves leadership skills. So when they're out there talking to students, it also improves their those leadership skills.

22:32 - 23:16
Lindsey Trent: So there's so much ROI. And another thing that I I wanted to mention was that it's important when we go out and talk to students and we're marketing to young people that we have career pathways in mind because we can tell a student, right, you want to be a driver and maybe they want to be a driver for their entire career, but we also need to show what are the career pathways that it can lead to, like a safety director, operations manager. You can be an owner operator. You can own your own truck. So we need to have those career pathways lined out when we're talking to students and tell our own stories because we all are a part of a career pathway and how we've gotten to where we are today.

23:16 - 23:38
Aaron Craddock: Yeah, mean, example for me, like, I mean, I'm in the trucking industry, but just on the technology side. And I just kind of stumbled into it. I kind of wish I'd known. Like, when I got into it, I started seeing these class eight trucks everywhere. And yeah, where before I didn't, yeah, I didn't really see them.

23:40 - 23:44
Aaron Craddock: Drove my wife crazy because I was like, I know that fleet and that fleet and that fleet. Like, every every

23:44 - 23:45
Lindsey Trent: I whole family.

23:46 - 23:49
Aaron Craddock: Yeah, everywhere. It's like I

23:49 - 24:11
Lindsey Trent: go on vacation and I need a little break, but you're driving down the road and you're like, oh, you know, you do you look at all the trucks and you think, oh, I need to follow-up with that person or, oh, they're such a great partner. I just love that company. So it is really fun to be in this industry. And and you mentioned technology. So I wanna just tell you some of the examples of groups that we're a part of.

24:11 - 24:43
Lindsey Trent: The Technology Student Association, They have their they have an annual competition every year. 10,000 students will be there. And these are the brightest minds, middle school and high school students, IT, and engineering students that wanna pursue that career. So we always go so we can talk to students about trucking careers because we don't want these students just to think, oh, I'm gonna either work at Google or Microsoft. We want them to think, oh, and and we always want, hey.

24:43 - 25:13
Lindsey Trent: Take a truck So they get drawn to that and say, yes. We work for the trucking industry, and we need engineers to help make these parts better on these trucks. We need IT professionals to form the supply chain and to make things more efficient. It is messaging for every part of the jobs in trucking. We'll be at the, American School Counselors Association, their conference this summer.

25:13 - 25:30
Lindsey Trent: In In a few weeks, we'll be at SkillsUSA. They have a huge diesel tech competition, and 15,000 students will be there with other career tech ed competitions. And and I'm excited. You're in Texas. We will be at the Texas Industrial Vocational Association.

25:30 - 26:06
Lindsey Trent: We were recently able it took us a year to get the CDL on their Texas industry recognized credential list, which means it opens up doors to federal funding for students that want to get their CDL as an 18 year old from while they're in high school and so we're presenting at that conference this summer to Texas schools like, hey. If you wanna start trucking in a supply chain program, this is how you do it. So lots of fun stuff always happening, always good promoting the industry.

26:07 - 26:23
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. Yeah. We also have the Houston Trucking Show coming up, the Texas Trucking Show in Houston. I think it's the end of July. And then right after that is the annual TXTA, Texas Trucking Association meeting in San Antonio.

26:23 - 26:27
Aaron Craddock: Those are literally back to back. I think I'll be traveling for like it's like seven days straight.

26:27 - 26:29
Lindsey Trent: Oh, no. Or worse.

26:29 - 26:33
Aaron Craddock: It'll be good. Yeah. We tag team, work together.

26:33 - 26:33
Lindsey Trent: Yeah. I

26:33 - 26:42
Aaron Craddock: get it. So this is so funny. So the technology part. So TSA, Technology Students Association, so I competed in that. Did you really?

26:42 - 26:59
Aaron Craddock: Yeah, but I didn't even make this connect. Okay, so in middle school, we had a way that you could compete locally. And then I went on to state, and I won first place in an event. And so then I went to nationals. And so I was part of that crowd.

26:59 - 27:39
Aaron Craddock: So I remember we like, I mean, again, I was in middle school, but we swapped out like, there was like a little event where we had little state pins from everybody's state, the pin on your jacket at the TSA. So I think I still have like 20 different little state pins. Made so many friends, but yeah, I never thought about, like the main event I was competing in, I think, was like designing an airplane and like trying to maximize the time it flies, like the balsa wood airplane. Yeah. But yeah, I never thought about, yeah, if I had thought about trucking back then, because I just randomly had a friend in the industry after college that, you know, told me about a job.

27:39 - 27:51
Aaron Craddock: And but yeah, I never made that connect back then. So that's so cool you're involved in TSA. And I should think about how we can get more involved in that, too. Absolutely. A new technology company.

27:51 - 28:05
Lindsey Trent: This year, it's in Washington, D. C, the national competition. So we're still looking for couple of volunteers in the DC area that might wanna go. It's just an afternoon and talking to these bright students and promoting the trucking industry.

28:06 - 28:11
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. Well, we might have to send somebody, either myself or somebody on the team up there. That'd be a lot of fun.

28:11 - 28:11
Lindsey Trent: That would

28:11 - 28:23
Aaron Craddock: be fun. Just flashback. So, yeah, you got me off on that. I haven't heard TSA, Technology Student Association, in a long time. So that's so cool that they're hearing about trucking.

28:24 - 29:01
Aaron Craddock: So everybody, like right now is starting to talk again about the driver shortage. And so just, I mean, the last few months, like as spot rates have gone up, like there's been more enforcement on the FMCSA side. Spot rates again, I mean, think this week, I mean, because it's the I can't remember the blitz where they do more enforcement this week. Like spot rates will probably be the highest they've ever been this week, which will, like I was looking at the numbers this morning, like we're already almost eclipse the highest rates we've ever had. And so that gets people starting to say like driver shortage again.

29:01 - 29:12
Aaron Craddock: And then there's some language around a quali like experienced driver shortage, qualified driver. Like, are we actually talking enough about the driver pipeline?

29:14 - 29:53
Lindsey Trent: So for me, I I don't think so. And or I think we're looking at it wrong. I mean, we need to look at it how it's gonna benefit us today, but we also need to to start thinking we need to provide opportunities for young people to be able to become drivers at a younger age. Right? And the Drive Safe Act, I think, will be passed in September where it's a very methodical, well thought out program of 18 to 20 year olds that are in this program with companies who are also in the program that are gonna be able to cross state lines.

29:54 - 30:15
Lindsey Trent: But it's a very defined investment for trucking companies because they have to have a mentor driver. The equipment has to be very specific. The mentor has to be specific, and the apprentice has to be specific. So providing opportunities like that to get more people in the industry. And here's here's my main point.

30:16 - 31:08
Lindsey Trent: We need to be able to make trucking a first career choice. Right now, we hear the average age of a new entrant is, like, mid thirties. That's just showing us that trucking is not a first career choice, and it's a third and fourth career choice oftentimes. I feel like we always talk about we have an image issue, but if we can get trucking to be a first career choice, then we're gonna be able to have a better image in the industry because there are people out there there that wanna do this as a career, but there's so many barriers or there's people out there that might wanna do it but because there's no opportunities, they go and become an Hvac technician or they just get into another industry altogether. So, we've gotta be able at our companies provide trucking as a first career choice.

31:08 - 31:37
Lindsey Trent: And that can look like, hey. I have some interest intrastate routes or you can come and be a forklift operator, work on the dock, be a truckloader, and we're going to put you in a pathway to help you get your CDL at 21 because a lot of companies, that's the only way they can do it. But it's important for us to try to think about how can we build pathways. Trucking is a first career choice, and that's going to build our pipeline.

31:38 - 31:43
Aaron Craddock: That's great. And so thinking about, so how long ago was it when you started NextGen?

31:44 - 31:51
Lindsey Trent: So we officially launched, I think, July 2021.

31:51 - 32:04
Aaron Craddock: That's awesome. And so thinking about then to today, so five years, we're coming up on five years, like, what, like, what progress have you seen, like, in that in that time period? And then we'll kinda go into the future after that.

32:06 - 32:49
Lindsey Trent: So we have really developed into four main pillars, and we continue to promote the industry as a positive career choice. We work with schools across the country, and I'm talking, you know, high schools and crew tech ed schools. So a lot of times there might be one crew tech ed center for a county that has four high schools so students can go to those that that crew tech center. And we're helping them to develop diesel mechanic programs, supply chain and logistics programs, and CDL programs. And so we are strongly working on that every day meeting with schools across the country, even in Canada.

32:50 - 33:21
Lindsey Trent: Third, another thing that we're focused on is really trying to bridge the gap between industry and education and bring more industry in education into education in their own backyard. And then last, it's we have some new awards recognitions. We have student of the month. We have career catalysts companies, companies that are building career pathways for young people, or they're going to their local school and investing in talking to students. And then at the end of the year, we'll have next top talent awards.

33:21 - 33:45
Lindsey Trent: So companies can nominate a driver or technician under 30 that's doing a great job for them. We want to highlight young people in our industry and we've really developed into that and within that a million and one things, right? We're literally doing a million and one things every day. And it's it's so much fun. I love what I get to do every day.

33:45 - 33:55
Lindsey Trent: But we need industry support to be able to continue what we're doing in order to help build this pipeline and hopefully change a young person's life.

33:56 - 34:13
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. How so speaking of that, before I go into our last couple questions, and I know we got about three minutes left. So how can fleets get involved? Predominantly, we're today addressing some of the largest fleets in the country. So 500 plus truck fleets is our general audience.

34:14 - 34:24
Aaron Craddock: And we also have fleets of all sizes. But yeah, how can those, like specifically the fleets, like get more involved? How should they reach out to you? Things like that.

34:24 - 35:03
Lindsey Trent: So we do have a lot of free resources on our website that you can download and utilize if you wanna go talk to schools. But we would also welcome you to join NextGen Trucking. We are a membership based association, and we would love to help you with your workforce solutions. And so typically companies join our association and then we meet with them, we work with them, we try to provide strategies, we give them lists of schools that have diesel tech programs and CDL programs, or hey. Just sign up for our newsletter and and hear about the things that we're doing.

35:03 - 35:20
Lindsey Trent: You can sign up online for our newsletter. Follow us on LinkedIn, on social media. Lots of good stuff happening. So you can just follow what we're doing and maybe do some things in your own backyard. We we we want you as an industry, right, you as a trucking company to get involved with education.

35:21 - 35:40
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. I think it's so important just to be just for fleets to be thinking not about, like, yes, you know, I get those calls every week. Like, hey, I need 30 drivers in the next two weeks, just through Hire Truckers. But, yeah, we need people thinking, like, ten years out again. So yeah, I love that.

35:40 - 35:41
Lindsey Trent: It's fun. It is so

35:41 - 35:56
Aaron Craddock: fun to get to talk to Yeah, I wanna get more involved as well. I put a little note. I was like, look at joining association. And then I am serious. I'm kinda interested in the DC thing because it's like flashback to TCA TSA.

35:56 - 36:12
Lindsey Trent: I I love that. I you know what? I want I want TSA to do more of a trucking competition. Right now, they have a solar powered car competition where you create a solar powered car, and they have a race. But, you know, let's create some sort of competition for them for trucking.

36:12 - 36:13
Lindsey Trent: I wanna do that.

36:13 - 36:14
Aaron Craddock: I love that.

36:14 - 36:15
Lindsey Trent: Be cool?

36:16 - 36:37
Aaron Craddock: That would be so cool. I remember how much fun I had doing that. That's awesome. The and I love like one thing Tracy like, so Tracy Rushing with Ari Garrison says all the time. She's like like, if I ask her to do something like a podcast, she's like, is it gonna be fun?

36:37 - 36:50
Aaron Craddock: She's like, we should yeah. And so I love the word that you used. Like, like, just let like, it's fun. Like, I think yeah, I love that. And I want to have more fun in my work.

36:50 - 36:59
Aaron Craddock: Like, have fun, but I also get stressed at different times. But I think that legitimately would be fun to have a specific trucking competition. That's cool. I already have ideas.

36:59 - 37:01
Lindsey Trent: You can help me create it.

37:01 - 37:02
Aaron Craddock: That's what I'm thinking.

37:02 - 37:04
Lindsey Trent: Yeah. Well, we gotta figure out what they need.

37:04 - 37:19
Aaron Craddock: I need to look at their current I need to look up their current competition's standards. Anyway, so two more questions. Rapid fire. So if every trucking executive listening made one change tomorrow, what would create the biggest long term impact?

37:20 - 37:58
Lindsey Trent: Oh, that's a great question. I would say, I think they need to empower their employees to be able to volunteer and go to the local schools or if you have a parade make sure you have a truck in there and maybe you even have a booth where you're just talking to young people and talking to families out there. It's all about how can you engage in your community. And I want to see the trucking industry do that more. I know there's a ton that do it, and let's do it.

37:58 - 38:03
Lindsey Trent: Let's push our industry out to the next generation.

38:03 - 38:18
Aaron Craddock: That's awesome. Yeah, I mean, I think it's an incredible industry. And like, mean, I try to sell my boys on the trucking industry. And yeah, they're getting to where they love it. They come in my office break my trucks, but it's okay.

38:19 - 38:38
Aaron Craddock: They're That's getting exposed to it. Yeah, if they break a mirror off or fender off, like I have little pieces sitting on my shelf. Yeah, they're just getting exposed to it. So, the last question as we wrap, because I know I need to get you off by eleven. So what does the trucking industry look like ten years from now?

38:38 - 38:45
Aaron Craddock: Just cast that vision pertaining to this next generation. Like, what's that positive vision ten years out from now?

38:46 - 39:12
Lindsey Trent: Yeah. I think we can look at the construction industry. They've done it really well where they're very involved in student organizations. They're very invested in a lot of educational groups, and they've got thousands of programs in high schools across the country. I want trucking and the supply chain and diesel tech.

39:12 - 39:50
Lindsey Trent: I want those those to be thousands of programs across the country. There's $1,300,000,000 of federal funding every year that goes to crew technical education. If construction has 300 programs and the whole transportation trucking industry has 300 programs so 3,000 versus 300 programs, That $1,300,000,000 is going to other industries. We need to push our awesome industry, get more schools to create these programs, to build the workforce. And there's federal funding out there that supports these programs, but we have to get the programs in the schools in order to do it.

39:50 - 40:03
Lindsey Trent: And so my vision is having programs all across the country and building more career pathways for young people to be able to make trucking a first career choice and not a third and fourth career choice.

40:03 - 40:11
Aaron Craddock: Yeah, I think for me, was my third, like getting into trucking was my third thing. And again, wasn't, it was just because I didn't know about it until somebody told I me about

40:12 - 40:19
Lindsey Trent: know. And when we get into it, we love it. We fall in love and we're like, this is the best industry. People are awesome. It's such a purpose.

40:19 - 40:23
Lindsey Trent: There's such a purpose to our industry. We've got to share that and communicate that to the next generation.

40:23 - 40:25
Aaron Craddock: Everything comes on a truck.

40:25 - 40:30
Lindsey Trent: That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Look And around the it's fun. It's fun.

40:31 - 40:42
Aaron Craddock: Mhmm. It it it really is fun. Like, it just crazy. The technology, just incredible technology, incredible smart people. Yeah.

40:42 - 41:07
Aaron Craddock: Just the ability to travel the nation and and like I I liked that take on just Gen Z getting into it. Just like, look, you can travel to all 48 states. Yeah, it's a super cool industry and just continues to get, honestly, every year I'm in it, it keeps getting better. Just there's more talent coming in, more exciting things happening, faster pace of change. Yeah, just a great industry.

41:07 - 41:11
Aaron Craddock: Well, Lindsey, thank you so much for your time today and coming on. This was a lot of fun.

41:12 - 41:22
Lindsey Trent: Well, thanks for having me. I hope to connect with some of your listeners in the future. And please follow us and listen to and see what we're doing. Lots of exciting stuff.

41:22 - 41:33
Aaron Craddock: Awesome. And then in the show notes, we will have, like, the link to some of the things she talked about, like the newsletter and how to become a member of their association. Thanks again.