For the high school student there is always the opportunity of summer employment with a motor carrier. Such "summer jobs" at the high school level are admittedly not the greatest jobs in the world, either from the standpoint of salary or responsibility, but they do give a young person a chance to see firsthand how a motor carrier company operates and to be on the "inside."
A summer job experience is useful in helping a young person decide whether to follow that career or not. And if the job isn't to a person's liking, then it is an opportunity to learn at a young stage in life that this isn't your life's work.
Distributive Education Opportunity
Many trucking companies, as well as other industries, are affiliated with the Distributive Education Services of the local school system and offer an opportunity for young people to complete their high school and work part-time during the school year to earn money as well as credits for their job experience.
Trucking firms have reported that young men and women who have worked within a company on a Distributive Education basis have developed into exceptionally valuable and responsible workers and are ready to take on positions such as foreman or supervisor or even assistant terminal manager and terminal management positions within a very few years.
Apprentice Training Programs Help Entry
For high-school graduates with technical or vocational training there is always a possibility of entering a trucking company as an apprentice in the mechanical department or some other activity.
All motor carriers place great store in keeping their equipment-trucks, tractors, semitrailers-in good operating condition. Equipment that is idle cannot earn money, and the most profitable companies have just the right amount of rolling equipment and keep it out on the road, preferably fully loaded, all the time.
Large trucking companies have extensive engineering and mechanical departments, and it is possible for a company practically to build its own vehicles almost as well as a manufacturing plant.
Engine shops, paint shops, electrical shops, sheet metal shops, canvas and rigging shops, tire maintenance shops all can be found in the larger truck companies. There is always a need for carpenters, too, as many trailers are lined with wood or have wooden racks that need repairing or rebuilding.
Many of those trades are learned by young men in the armed forces, and they can put their military skills to work handily in a motor carrier company.
The larger trucking companies, and sometimes even the smaller ones, have some type of formal management training for college graduates who want a career in transportation.
Some training programs run for forty-five weeks to a year, others have shorter training programs of about twenty weeks.
In nearly all programs the young graduate is given formal instruction in the general operations of the company and has a chance to become familiar with the various departments. He is then given a preference for the kind of work he would like to do, or he is often assigned to a department on the basis of aptitudes he has shown as well as an evaluation of his work during training.
The more extensive management training programs in big trucking companies try to develop a person who is capable of taking over the management of one of the company terminals!
The industry has room for women, too, and many responsible executive jobs are held by women. Mrs. Sarah F. Carl is the Vice-President of O'Boyle Tank Lines, a large tank-truck motor carrier operating from the Washington, D.C., area into fourteen states, and she is responsible for personnel and public relations.
Mrs. Ruth Fleming was once the Terminal Manager of the Philadelphia terminal of Eastern Express, Inc., a large motor carrier based in Terre Haute, Indiana. She managed the terminal for nineteen years and then became the Vice-President and Manager of the Middle Atlantic States Division of Eastern Express and supervises six terminals in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York--one of the company's key areas.
A student who wishes an executive career in motor carrier sales or operations should send a resume to several companies of his choice while he or she is in college or university junior year or starting senior year. The resume should include what the student has as a job or career objective, the courses taken, particularly the major, and the date when the person will be available for interviews or appointments and also the date when the person will be ready to accept employment.
A good many companies actively recruit bright young transportation, business management, or liberal arts graduates and send recruiters to colleges and universities for interviews.
Many trucking companies from various parts of the nation are engaged in recruiting. They are among those who have run career advertisements directed to young people.
A letter or resume can be sent to the Director of Personnel of such companies that have specialized personnel who handle applications and recruiting, but since it is difficult to keep lists of names up-to- date, a letter addressed to the Director of Personnel will reach the proper person.
Helpful Information
A number of publications can be obtained from the American Trucking Associations that are useful to those contemplating a career in trucking. Letters should be addressed to the Education Section, Public Relations Department, American Trucking Associations, Inc., 1616 P Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.
A particularly helpful booklet is one entitled "Courses in Motor Transportation." This publication lists not only colleges and universities that offer degree courses in transportation, but also contains a listing of two-year junior colleges where courses helpful to a transportation career may be obtained.
A number of trucking companies are especially interested in the junior-college graduate. With two years of college he is eligible for many middle-management assignments and he can obtain a good job and often complete his additional two years of under graduate work at a local college or university by attending night classes.
America is still in the Highway Age and will be for many, many years, and the trucking industry offers interesting and well-paying careers with ample opportunity for advancement for both the high-school and college graduate!
