Page 35 - ATR 4 2014 web

hiring heroes and solving

problems

New program matches unemployed veterans to driver-seeking carriers

by bethany May
Contributing Writer

With some teamwork and fancy
technology, carriers may be able to fill
open driver positions with a cohort of
hardworking, safety-minded individu-
als—veterans. Jim Ray, ambassador for
Hiring Our Heroes an initiative to help
unemployed veterans find civilian jobs,
tells how a group of carriers who are
normally “pretty fierce competitors” are
working together for the benefit of the
industry as a whole.
The industry faces the driver short-
age, a complex problem, while veterans,
especially from recent conflicts face
the opposite problem. However, Jim Ray
believes that carriers and veterans can
tackle these problems together, despite
the scary numbers.
The numbers behind the truck
driver shortage are scary. The American “we Carry glass oN our truCks; we doN’t
Trucking Associations estimates carriers
will need to hire 96,000 new drivers to iNstall them oN our CeiliNgs.”
meet the demands on the industry. The
explanations offered for the shortage —jim ray, hiriNg our heroes
vary: driver pay, regulations, demo-
graphics, aging drivers’ retirement and
positions that demand time away from
homes and families. Meanwhile the ing of Maverick’s new training facility industries hiring more than 250,000
Bureau of Labor reports that 6.6 percent where he spoke about the Hiring Our military professionals through the job
of veterans are unemployed. Heroes initiative and Maverick’s part- fairs, a mentorship program and digi-
As men and women transition out nership with the program. tal resume-building help. Hiring Our
of military service, they face the chal- Hiring Our Heroes is the U.S. Heroes invites diverse employers to post
lenge of finding a position that values Chamber of Commerce’s nation- open positions and attend veteran job
the experiences and qualifications they wide initiative to help veterans and fairs to recruit new hires, but the ini-
have. There is opportunity in the truck- their families transition into civilian tiative also targets specific industries
ing industry to help veterans overcome careers. The initiative began in 2011 with special hiring needs. Currently,
this barrier. “We carry glass on our with public-private sponsorships, job there is the Entertainment/Media
trucks; we don’t install them on our fairs and free online career tools. The
ceilings,” Ray said in July at the open- result was companies from various 

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