Apex Bulk Commodities
Adelanto, Calif.
Worked to bolster its supply of technicians and drivers by helping to market transportation as a career to local high school students.

In the spring of 2007, the diesel technician program at the San Bernardino Valley College in California was struggling. The curriculum was solid, but there was a big problem.

“They couldn’t find anyone to come to class,” says Mike Siebert, director of maintenance for Apex Bulk Commodities, an Adelanto, Calif.-based bulk hauler. The diesel tech program offered 14 classes, but there were only four or five students in each class rather than the 25 students each class could accommodate, says Siebert, who serves on the diesel tech program’s advisory committee along with representatives of other local companies that have a vested interest in a steady supply of skilled mechanics.

San Bernardino Valley College traditionally had targeted high school seniors. With a little research and talking to principals and guidance counselors, Siebert realized that this was the fatal flaw. In San Bernardino County, about 70 percent of high school students drop out before their senior year. In other words, San Bernardino Valley College’s efforts to recruit high school seniors essentially missed more than two-thirds of the potential market and focused on the students who were least likely to choose a near-term vocational career over a college education.

San Bernardino County wasn’t alone. The Santa Ana school district in neighboring Orange County suffered from an average dropout rate of 60 percent even though some schools in the more affluent areas of the district had dropout rates in the single digits.

Siebert researched wages in the area and found that the starting salary for a person with a bachelor’s degree averages $43,000 a year in Orange County and $40,000 in San Bernardino County. Meanwhile, a truck driver in the area could pull down $50,000 a year, while a diesel technician could earn $40,000 to $100,000. “I have truck washers working for me making $15 an hour,” Siebert says.

The members of the college’s diesel tech advisory committee also are the members of a broader organization known as the Inland Empire Transportation Council, which is chaired by Dalton Trucking President Terry Klenske. (CCJ recognized Dalton Trucking as an Innovator in December 2005.) As the council delved into the problems that both local transportation companies and vocational education programs were having finding qualified applicants, it developed the idea of staging a transportation and logistics summit to bring together students, high school administrators, guidance counselors and potential employers. A broad effort made sense as students who had no interest in becoming diesel technicians might find truck driving or railroad dispatching appealing.