歪歪漫画

ST. CLOUD 鈥� A statewide need for more truck drivers has spurred a new initiative by a Minnesota trucking group to recruit new, younger and more diverse drivers.

That initiative, was launched by the in April as a coordinated social media campaign that aims to reach a younger audience, according to the organization鈥檚 president, John Hausladen.

鈥淒emographics are changing and we are actively trying to promote that change," Hausladen said, noting that the trucking industry has historically drawn its drivers from rural America. "Our campaign focuses on mid-career folks looking to make a career switch in underrepresented communities.鈥�

鈥淭he fundamentals haven鈥檛 changed. We鈥檙e heavily dependent on white males 55 and older. And as they exit, we just have not been filling the pipeline at the same rate, and yet overall, freight continues to grow,鈥� said Hausladen, who has been the president and chief executive officer of the Minnesota Trucking Association since 1996.

The campaign has created partnerships to get messages across with community and technical colleges along with truck driving academies. Locally, the Drive the Difference campaign is working with and

It's not just for drivers, but also technicians, support, IT and operations. The project was created in response to association members identifying driver and technician shortages as a top challenge to the industry.

鈥淲e have to identify and attract the people who have what we call, the 鈥楧river DNA,鈥�" Hausladen said. "And to have the 鈥楧river DNA鈥� means you want to drive, first of all. You like to be alone, you like to travel and see things. These are things if you don鈥檛 like that, then don鈥檛 be a driver.鈥�

Drive the Difference has a and

When the initiative launched in April, the Minnesota Trucking Association said there was a shortage of nearly 8,000 truck drivers 鈥� with the country鈥檚 shortage 10 times that amount.

Sixty-eight percent of Minnesota communities rely exclusively on truck transportation, according to the Minnesota Trucking Association.

Recently, the demand for the industry has seen a dip, Hausladen said, citing customers pulling back on purchases, broader economic cycles and the rise of interest rates on housing, leading to an inventory backup.

Data from DEED shows that heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers rank eighth in demand across 563 occupations in the state. The industry touts the 12th-highest projected openings in the next decade, according to DEED.

But there are people who want to drive. Hausladen said that a barrier to getting drivers on the road has been a backlog of Commercial Driver's License (CDL) driving tests in Minnesota.

That bottleneck has kept potential drivers stuck in neutral.

While the demand has been strong in Minnesota for 160 Driving Academy, the testing logjam has proven to affect numbers. 

In some cases, students can be backed up as long as two months before they can get behind the wheel for their test, said Steve Gold, CEO of 160 Driving Academy.

Contributed / 160 Driving Academy

鈥淢innesota has been great for us from a demand perspective. The difficulty in Minnesota is working with the state to get enough tests," Gold said. "It鈥檚 one thing to get through school and another thing to actually get a test, which only the state of Minnesota can conduct, and it鈥檚 very, very difficult."

Gold said 160 Driving Academy is among the largest truck driving schools in the country. Along with St. Cloud, 160 Driving Academy has locations in Minneapolis and Rochester. In Minnesota, Gold said the company is expected a 30-40% year-over-year growth in enrollment. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 no shortage of people who want to do it 鈥� Our phones are ringing off the hook for people who want to try and get in and understand more,鈥� Gold said. 

Across the country, the driving academy is planning for 35,000 students within its roughly 160 locations. The company鈥檚 goal includes a 30% growth with a hope of 50,000 students across all locations. 

160 Driving Academy鈥檚 curriculum is four weeks long and includes classroom learning, a written test, education about technology and behind-the-wheel training, Gold said.

The driving academy has also focused on adding women to the trucking industry, with females making up the majority of its senior leadership team and a quarter of its team members throughout the organization.

In 2022, the that, nationally, nearly half of the trucking industry's drivers are non-white:

• 18% identify as Black
• 4% as Asian
• 23% as Hispanic or Latino

Meanwhile, women made up 8% of the nation's drivers, the association reported 鈥� an all-time high and the seventh straight annual increase, according to the report.

Minnesota-specific data was not provided.

Trent Abrego / St. Cloud LIVE

While Hausladen said the initiative鈥檚 main focus is adding drivers to the industry, there鈥檚 also a 鈥渟evere shortage of technicians,鈥� with no barriers to entry. He added that there鈥檚 a clear high school-to-work path including internships, apprenticeships, employer-funded technical training and more.

Seeing that need, the initiative paired with including St. Cloud Technical and Community College through its diesel technician program.

鈥淲e always have had partnerships that have been more regional in nature and the schools are very good at connecting with their local fleet and dealerships through tractors and trailers,鈥� Hausladen said. 鈥淏ut we wanted to formalize that and make sure that we were driving talent to all the programs across the state, so it鈥檚 been an evolution.鈥�

One of the students in the program used to be on another side of the industry.

Jimale Mohamed used to be a truck driver. Now, he鈥檚 inside the St. Cloud Technical and Community College garage, where he鈥檚 in his first year through the program. Mohamed said he left the industry for a variety of reasons, including a changing industry and getting tired of the road.

The partnership between SCTCC and the Minnesota Trucking Association came as a byproduct of the institution鈥檚 involvement with the association, the institution's medium/heavy truck technician instructor Matthew Hoepner said.

Contributed / St. Cloud Techincal and Community College

鈥淲hen (MTA) reached out and said 鈥楬ey, would you be interested in doing something in your school? Because we do have a facility, we have students 鈥� So I said 鈥楢bsolutely,鈥欌�� Hoepner said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just adding to that help. I do think it鈥檚 a big deal. A lot of people don鈥檛 realize quite how important it is because they just don鈥檛 see it every day. But it was a big, key component to get both drivers and mechanics to make this all happen.鈥�

The SCTCC program is a two-year program that focuses on hands-on, live projects with area dealerships and fleets, Hoepner said.

鈥淭ypically, the dealerships and fleets kind of jump all over it because it鈥檚 kind of their one way to get their foot in the door 鈥� If they can get people comfortable with their products, more like they鈥檙e going to go work for them (after graduation),鈥� Hoepner said.

The SCTCC program boasted a 100% program placement rate in 2022. From those completing the program, Hoepner estimated that about 90% of students stick around the St. Cloud area.

鈥淚f they鈥檙e not working, they don鈥檛 want to work. The placement has been 100% for the last eight, nine, 10 years. Most of (students) are employed before they even get done with the first year,鈥� Hoepner said.

In an effort to attract employees, Hoepner said often, employers will pay for student鈥檚 college or tools 鈥� anything they can do to keep them within their company. That鈥檚 something that has changed within the industry, Hoepner said, adding that when he graduated in 2001, he had to search for a job.

While the MTA continues to assess the impacts of the Drive the Difference initiative, Hoepner said he hasn鈥檛 noticed an impact in enrollment quite yet.

In the first year of the program, the school usually has 24 students and by the second year, that number is around 18 to 20 students, Hausladen said.

鈥淭hey need these people that are skilled trades, and I鈥檓 just one of them that fits into this puzzle. I just really don鈥檛 think things are going to be slowing down anytime soon. (Trucking) is the way we get everything that we deal with in our everyday life and it鈥檚 not gonna go away,鈥� Hoepner said.

Data from DEED shows the changes in truck transportation demographics for Minnesota from 2003 to 2023:

• Drivers aged 65 or older make up nearly 9% of the industry's workforce, up from 3% in 2003.
• Drivers aged 55-64 make up 23% of the industry's workforce, up from 13% in 2003.
• Drivers aged 45-54 make up 20% of the industry's workforce, down from 25% in 2003
• Males make up 85% of the workforce, nearly unchanged from 2003 (86%).

Information provided by the State data does not include ethnicity makeup.