The Power and Influence the Trucking Industry Has on the Economy with Chryssa Hunlock

As we sit here today, and different from the last time you and I hung out is the problems are worse than they were. So we as an industry, when we talk about trucking, there's a shortage of drivers that is almost insurmountable, right, for the industry. And then the shortage of technicians. So I remember us in Portland talking about all the things that Daimler was doing to help vocational schools and supporting them and the McKenzie study you guys commissioned on how to retain technicians and all that. How do you see it now compared to years ago? And what are your overall thoughts on, you know, recruiting in the labor force?

Yeah, so definitely worse, like you said, and the pandemic and a lot of people leaving the workforce, going on unemployment for different various reasons, taking care of loved ones, I mean, this has all made what was already on a downward trend that much worse. Everywhere I go, the dealerships I visit previously, when you and I hung out last time, like you were saying, I was a district service manager then, so I was living in that service world as their OEM rep and we were pushing throughput, which Daimler still is. We want to get that truck fixed and back on the road as quick as possible, even as the oem and we're partnering with the dealership saying, what do you need? And the answer is always technicians. And now that I'm in part sales, it's the same story, except it's not technicians, it's. I need someone to work with cores, you know, shipping back cores or someone to be on the front counter or in the call center or. So it's, it's still just a massive shortage of people, I think, willing or interested in being in the trucking industry overall. And certainly my time when I left Daimler most recently, just a couple months ago, is when I rejoined Daimler. But I spent about a year working for the truck fleet and boy, oh boy, was the driver shortage right in my face there too. So I don't know. I've been in this industry, in this corner of the world, and I don't know if it's true for every. Is it just every blue collar job? Is it every skilled trade? Have we been shoving degrees at people for too long and now there's not people who work with their hands? Or is it specific to the trucking industry? I don't know that. I just know that here within this industry, it is just getting progressively worse year over year. And this pandemic has really expedited that.

You know, 60 Minutes did a piece months ago about, about this and it's not specific to our industry. They can't find plumbers. You know, it, it. Most kids, I think that have, you know, some sort of skill set and knowledge are going into programming, they're going into it.

But they're not going into industries that one, they don't perceive as being cool. So like nobody, nobody perceives a plumber as being cool or you know, technicians, maybe.

They don't have the same stigma that a plumber would. But you know, if you talk, if you're hanging out with your friends and you say, I'm a coder that has a, you know, a little more value, I think in a sense to, to the younger generations coming up. And so they, they did a piece on, they were talking about how there's plumbers that could make a couple hundred thousand dollars a year and they can't find, they can't, you know, they can't.

They can't provide their services for the amount of demand that's out there. And I think we see that all the time too in service departments, whether it be in truck or car, that they're booked out three weeks and they, they, they're just trying to shove more into the pipeline. And it, it diminishes the experience, the attention to detail and the outcome of it is a customer that's unhappy and a stressed out employee that's just doing more, you know, more and more and more and more stress day in and day out. And so it's harder to retain employees and the, the retention of the customers is, is diminishing. So it's an, you know, we're in an interesting crossroad where we have to figure out how to provide a work environment that people want to be in. And it's not just about money. Right. But also that they want to stay.

Yeah, well, and in the trucking industry is even more unique there because I don't know, there's at least 70% of all goods are moved by truck. And if we don't have enough support personnel to keep trucks on the road, then we don't have stuff on the shelves, you know, so it's so tied to all of our daily lives that we should all be pushing and figuring out how to make trucking more sexy or whatever needs to happen. Like you said, a cool job. And I'm hoping that the emergence of electric trucks and autonomous trucks and you know, all this new technology that's coming out, I'm hoping that that's going to be the push that we need to fill that gap that you're talking about that's going to get the younger generation interested again, that, hey, this is tech stuff. This is cool stuff. You know, you have some of the older generation that comes down hard on millennials, which I am a part of that generation, barely. And then Gen Z that, oh, they just don't want to work hard, they want to be behind a comp. But I think it's more than that. They want a purpose to what they're doing. And that's what really drives me in this, in this industry is that I see the long term effect. You know, that the work that my work has within the trucking industry, that all of us do contribute to that. If I don't want the price of avocados to be double the amount I need to do my part to keep trucks on the road and keep commerce moving. It is all really tied together.

Thanks so much for watching this clip of Service Driver Revolution. We're uploading new stuff every day, so make sure you subscribe and click the bell icon so you don't miss out. If you have a question you'd like us to answer on the show, call 8333 Ask SDR and we'll answer your question on the show. That's 8333 Ask SDR. For special deals on our books and training, head over to to offers.chriscollinsinc.com now that's offers.chriscollinsInc.com I'm Chris Collins and I'll see you in the next video.