The trucking industry wants to jump-start its search for new drivers by investing as much as $50,000 into an advertising campaign to recruit new workers from other professions. The Maryland Motor Truck Association plans to kick off its new recruitment campaign early next year, the Baltimore Business Journal reported.
“The industry has spent millions promoting driving jobs and stealing drivers from each other,” says Louis Campion, the truck association’s senior vice president. Campion told the Business Journal the association hopes to increase the number of drivers instead of shifting existing ones from one company to another; one ad in the campaign shows an open road with a scenic background and says “My office has a better view than yours.”
The trade group plans to post the ads in newspapers, on billboards outside office buildings and possibly the radio, Campion told the Business Journal. The American Trucking Associations plans to invest $500,000 into the campaign nationwide and will match state investments until funds are depleted, Campion told the Business Journal. The advertisements are targeted to men ages 34 to 54; after hosting focus groups, the trade group sees its best potential sources of drivers in military veterans and young retirees looking for a second career.
The ads’ purpose also is to drive traffic to a new website, www.gettrucking.org, that also is set to debut new month, Campion told the Business Journal. The site will survey potential drivers about what kind of hours and routes they are interested in and then show a list of companies that apply to those needs in their region; the site also will have a job posting page.
