Up Front

Rites of spring

As I’m writing these words on my laptop computer on the third day of spring, I’m sitting in the West Wing of the massive Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, KY, surrounded by literally thousands of over-the-road professionals and driver recruiters. We’ve all come here for the Mid-America Trucking Show, the industry’s annual business gathering that seems to be signaling for many the start of a new era of trucking.

Here in the Recruitment Center, it is impossible not to get caught up in all the excitement. Driving opportunities are abundant, and trucking companies are working harder than ever to attract—and even more importantly, retain—quality drivers. What are the companies doing? The real question is, what aren’t they doing? They’re boosting pay, they’re adding benefits, they’re upgrading equipment, they’re offering more miles, more routes, more options and more home time. From our vantage point here at ground zero, it’s a great time to be a truck driver.

At the same time, we know this industry still has a long way to get to where it needs to be in terms of driver pay and respect. We’re not going to get there overnight, but at least on this beautiful, clear spring day in Louisville, the future has never looked better.