CCJ Innovators profiles carriers and fleets that have found innovative ways to overcome trucking’s challenges. If you know a carrier that has displayed innovation, contact CCJ Chief Editor Jason Cannon at [email protected] or 800-633-5953.
Results from a 2022 survey conducted by CCJ parent Randall Reilly for TruuSight Health showed that 36% of queried company drivers believe that drivers manage stress well, including only 1% that believe they handle it extremely well. More than half of respondents believe they handle it somewhat poorly or poorly.
In a traditional office setting, finding a mentor or confidant isn't necessarily difficult; you simply walk to an adjoining cubicle or swing through the human resources department. It can be far more difficult to find those shoulders to cry on, or sage words of wisdom, for drivers that spend most of their day isolated in a truck cab and are only tethered to office via electronic device.
"I think the reality is we all need resources like that in our lives," said American Central Transport (ACT) President Phil Wilt, "and probably in the trucking space, it is probably overlooked the most. Sometimes just having a person to listen, or a person that I can go to and say, 'I'm struggling with this' and they can speak truth to me."
Many Randall Reilly survey respondents (76%) said drivers experiencing a problem related to mental health would not be likely to seek help from a doctor or professional. Only 6% said drivers would seek help and another 16% were not sure. Only 16% were confident drivers experiencing problems related to mental health would even be able to find the level of help they needed. More than half said they were not confident they could, and another 32% were not sure.
Kansas City-based ACT last year decided to fill that gap by bringing on board a life coach who could be an emotional resource – or a confidant – for its employees.
ACT President Phil Wilt said his company prides itself on being a family.
A native of Jamaica who came to to U.S. on a track scholarship, Carnegie spent more than seven years in the Shawnee Mission School District as a Student Success Coach, serving 10 schools and about 30,000 people (families and students). He's hardly a stranger to acting as a conduit between a problem and potential solution.
"Honestly, for me, it's life-on-life investing. I think this role here at ACT is so special, so unique, that we care about our employees not just showing up and being at work, but their mental health, their wellbeing and who they are as people," Carnegie said. "My thing is I listen to care, not to share. I think we live in a day and age where a lot of times, when we're talking to people, they're already formulating a response and you're not really actively listening. I really pride myself on that. It's funny because a lot of times the folks around here, when I ask them about their family or that event they had, or that special occasion, they're always kind of blown away. Like, 'Hold on. Dre, you remember that?' Yeah, because I'm listening when you talk. There's no hidden agenda. That's kind of the secret sauce."
'People are messy, love 'em anyways'
Last year was a rough one for many motor carriers and their drivers as volume and rates struggled to keep pace with operating costs and living expenses, and waiting for a recovery that never materialized was fatiguing. Carnegie's arrival couldn't have been better timed.
"The last three years have been amazing, but freight slowed down [in 2023]," Wilt said. "It's just the cycles that we go through but what you see is, now that things have slowed down a little bit, there's not enough money at the end of the paycheck. I've been here for 17 years and the thing that probably disturbs me the most is someone that maybe becomes medically disqualified, or they get ready to retire and they don't have anything put away and they're a paycheck or two away from being bankrupt.
"And the reality is they're making really good money. So what are you doing with that money? And so that's partially what we're trying to get at: How do you take care of your debt? How do you save money? How do you put money in retirement. And so what we're trying to do is really kind of structure on that," Wilt said, noting the education component is part of an ongoing financial independence course – a four-month Zoom series held in the evenings for all associates and their spouses.
"What we're focusing on is having a better grip of understanding of your finances around knowing how basic budgets work. We assume that people know that, but I don't think that's the case," he added. "How do you pay off debt? How do you save for retirement? What does that look like and how do we do that?"
The power in Carnegie's role, Wilt said, is that what the drivers share stops with Dre unless the driver asks him to help facilitate a conversation with a supervisor or wants to escalate the issue with someone else.
"It's all confidential," Wilt said, "although we will help them if they want to come in and talk to [management]," Wilt said.
Carnegie often sets up shop in ACT's cafe where drivers come in, eat, take showers or debrief – a position that puts him front and center with those he's seeking to connect with. That connection process, however, is a slow boil.
"Adults. We're very standoffish. So, really, the game plan in starting here was really trying to build some rapport and some trust. You know, 'I'm not going to talk to Dre if I can't trust him.' As kids, we're a little bit more apt to trust. We'll spill the beans where, as an adult, I'm going hold onto this problem. I'm not going tell you my business. There's no way. So that's kind of the game plan and really trying to build some trust and rapport around here."
Carnegie's made a lot of traction in barely eight months. He estimates that he connects with upwards of 40 people a week and "I'm having some serious conversations almost daily," he added.
"I think the biggest thing I've been reminding folks of is that it's okay to have emotions... People are messy, love 'em anyways... I think we live in a day and age, especially in adulthood, where so many of our relationships are very superficial," Carnegie said. "You ask someone how you're doing, 'Man, life is great. Things are well,' and inside they're dying and nobody knows. So I'm big about mental health; that it's okay to have these feelings, but we just can't stay there. It's okay to feel those feelings because we're human and there's like 8 billion of us."
The CCJ Innovators program is brought to you by Bestpass, Chevron Delo, Comdata and Freightliner Trucks.
