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mentor’s job to stick with them until Our Heroes. “They’ve been extremely too hard to find. The JobMaps technol-
they find that fit somewhere.” responsive, and their heart is in the ogy is showing job seekers that it just
New partner Maverick has right place as far as finding good truck- isn’t so; jobs are out there. Mentors are
three mentors. About 30 percent of ing job for veterans. We think it has a ready to make sure there aren’t just jobs
Maverick’s current drivers come with a lot of potential.” for those who are tech-saavy. Prospective
military background, and the company Trucking Track is setting some applicants can chat with mentors, send
recently received the GI Bill that will overall goals for the program as well. emails or just pick up the phone to talk
allow eligible veterans to receive tax-free They are aiming for 50,000 veterans with someone who can help.
benefits from the VA while attending placed through the program. Ray has In addition, the Trucking Track
trucking school and receiving certifica- already seen successes and men and has trained counselors in all 75 state-
tion. Maverick’s public relations man- women who have served their country side ACAP centers, the U.S. Army’s
ager Spring Dixon says, “We’ve always find the jobs of their dreams in the cab career program that assists soldiers
wanted to recruit former military mem- of a truck. and their families find jobs when they
bers because they make great drivers.” One of the very first placements transition out of military service. The
Carriers like Maverick provide a was a man out of the service, exiting Trucking Track provides the counselors
structured work environment. “We like the army out of Ft. Drum. “He wanted with information about the trucking
things done a certain industry, so they
way. We want our can recruit prospec-
equipment clean. We tives to the website
want it tarped our and match them to
way,” Dixon says of the mentors. There
Maverick’s structure. are so many people
The veterans are used involved to make
to that highly-struc- the matches, fill the
tured environment. positions, solve the
They are clean-cut, problems, but the
fit, safety conscious, teamwork efforts are
professional and impressive and being
familiar with being taken seriously.
away from home. “When Hiring
And while military professionals a job in Alaska, because he loved it Our Heroes came to Fastport and loved
have been exposed to highly-structured and wanted to live there. . . Middle of our tech, they said, You’ve got to go
training and seem to have the attitude Alaska and he wanted a job, and we impress the colonels,” Ray tells the
and values that carriers seek, recruiting were able to find him one!” Ray said. story. “When we arrived to Ft. Bliss, we
the right individuals for the job is still a The success stories make the goals thought ‘Man, we must be in the wrong
challenge. The Trucking Track has asked seem attainable, but not without com- place because this conference room is
its partners to set goals and show they bined effort. Ray says the most excit- enormous.’ And we realized as all these
are serious about solving both the driver ing part of the solution to the industry colonels start piling in, that, no, we
shortage problem and veteran unem- problems is teamwork. Any carrier can were in the right place because they
ployment problem. Maverick had never post jobs on Fastport’s technology, but need every seat around this conference
tracked the number of veteran hires in the partners with the Trucking Track are table. They were taking it seriously, so
the past, but now they are striving for setting the stage for the entire industry we started showing them this tech. One
1,000 veteran hires within the next two to gain attention. “I think everybody of the colonels said, ‘Well, my home-
years. is realizing that our real problem as an town is Carplake, Mich, let’s see if we
“Being with Jim Ray, Fastport, industry is twofold: One is we’re doing can find me a job,’” Ray continues.
Hiring Our Heroes—that’s the main a terrible job matching people to our And he did. One by one, around
piece of the strategy to reaching our companies. The second thing is a cul- the room, he showed how he could find
goals,” Dixon says. She reports they tural problem. It’s a perception problem. jobs near every small town or big city
have already had several mentoring And if we work together to solve the for each colonel. It worked. The colonels
requests, phone inquiries and some web perception problem, it will make a big were impressed. The jobs are there, and
traffic since joining the Trucking Track difference.” with so many hands working together,
last month. She says they are excited The perception is that all truckers Ray believes the problems are solvable.
to work with Fastport and Hiring are never home and that the right job is

38 ArkAnsAs truckinG rePort | issue 4 2014