Page 48 - ATR 2 2015 web

the maintenance facilities, so adjust- wasn’t there before,” Rhodes said. “Your
ments were made that are making the having to put in your 10 or 15 years
company more efficient. He’ll have a job just so that you get a voice at the table
“i thiNk we have at USA Truck waiting for him when he – that’s not the case any more. And I
to have our ducks graduates this spring. think that really works well for the mil-
iN a row aNd Be “I think it’s just getting people lennials, because the millennials that

kNowledgaBle of acclimated to it, and then I think some we’re dealing with and that we’re see-
ing, they want quick wins, short wins.
people it will work out,” Rhodes said.
what we do have “Yeah, that’s great, they’d like to do They don’t want these two-year projects.
to offer to those stuff like this, and then some want They want a project that has deliver-
iNdividuals so to go work for Google or Yahoo!, and ables over the next three months, six
that’s a different group, but there’s got
months, and that they can see positive
they’ll legitimately to be a group that wants to do this type things happen, which makes them more
coNsider the of social engineering as well.” confident and also makes everybody
opportuNity aNd invesTing in The TeChies more confident in them.”
IT professionals can significantly
Not just fly By it Training is a top priority, even improve company efficiencies and
aNd move oN to the though it means employees might leave increase profits – but they don’t come
Next oNe.” for greener pastures after only a few cheap. Motor carriers must realize that
years. Accepting that reality requires a and accept it, even though it means that
—johN limozaiNe, shift in mindset for an industry that a young whippersnapper might earn a
seNior corporate prefers employees to stay there for life. higher salary than a trusted long-time
employee. As Rhodes explained, “A per-
As Farrell described it, “The CEO says,
recruiter, maverick ‘Why are we training all these people son coming out of college will quickly
traNsportatioN if they ultimately wind of up leaving?’ surpass the people that have been here
And the vice president says to the CEO, for 40 years just because their skill set,
‘Well, what if we don’t train them and what they understand and the type of
out of school aren’t aware that trucking they stay?’” data they can work with, and the type
is a viable alternative, so he has to be Rhodes said that many trucking of things that they can do, is just that
ready to tell them. company executives started working much better than somebody that’s been
“I do think a lot of students that in the industry when loads and routes doing the same job for the last 20 years,
are going to school right now,” he said, were tracked on a whiteboard, and some 25 years.”
“if they don’t have any work experi- don’t appreciate how data can improve At USA Truck, Rhodes said IT isn’t
ence, it’s probably never crossed their their operations. If a young IT profes- just for the IT department. The com-
mind that a company such as ours has sional goes to work for a company that pany has begun to pull people into that
those type of opportunities. I think we still has that mindset, he or she won’t department from other units to become
have to have our ducks in a row and be happy there. But those companies are subject matter experts on various appli-
be knowledgable of what we do have becoming less common. A lot more are cations.
to offer to those individuals so they’ll open to new ideas because the industry Meanwhile, the company is con-
legitimately consider the opportunity is so competitive and the profit margins tinuing to invest in technology – and in
and not just fly by it and move on to are so small. Rhodes said that, 10 years its people.
the next one.” ago, he wouldn’t have encouraged his “No one should settle,” Rhodes
Rhodes said that USA Truck is con- children to enter the trucking industry. said. “And that’s what I want. I want a
stantly looking for new IT talent and Now he would. large group of A performers, and then
will hire skilled professionals even if it More and more executives under- I’ll work through the problems of every-
doesn’t have an opening and then find stand the power of data – and they body wanting to be the boss. We can
a place for them. It interns three or four appreciate people who can help them work through that. I don’t want people
college students each year and gives use it. There was a time when that USA that want to be the same stagnant per-
them opportunities to perform data Truck intern’s suggestions wouldn’t son for the next 15 or 20 years. That
analyses of real-world situations. At the have carried much weight. Instead, the does them no favors, and it doesn’t
end of a summer, those interns present company altered its trailer pool because maximize the value that you’re getting
what they find. One intern determined of his recommendations. from the people.” ATR
that the company’s trailer pools were “There’s a lot of credibility that
not positioned correctly in relation to comes with being young now that

48 aRkansas TRuCking RepoRT | issue 2 2015