College, Trans-System team up to train local drivers

It seems they’re everywhere: cruising the middle lanes of Interstate 90, parked in narrow downtown alleyways, and inching along busy city streets.

Yet there’s a need for many more semi-tractor trucks in the Inland Northwest and the rest of the country (see related story).

The number of drivers for those trucks — currently at 3.2 million — is expected to swell by 600,000 within six years if companies can find enough people, according to the federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The shortage of drivers has driven up wages and forced the industry to improve the image and training of drivers, said Jeff Benesch, personnel director at Trans-System Inc. in Spokane.

Starting pay at Trans-System, for example, is $32,000 to $35,000. After two to three years, truckers can expect to make $45,000 to $50,000. Teams such as a husband and wife can gross more than $100,000.

“You hear about the lack of good-paying jobs in Spokane. Well we’re sitting here with 20 trucks that we need drivers for,” Benesch said. “We can’t hire fast enough.”

The catch, however, is that those truck-driving jobs need to be filled by qualified, trained drivers.

In Spokane, the need is being partly addressed by a partnership between Trans-System and Spokane Community College.

“These folks want to make sure they have the right person behind the wheel of a $140,000 tractor and trailer,” said Mike Mires, SCC’s dean of instruction and technical education.

The college began training truck drivers in a program that started in September. The coursework is part lecture, part hands-on training.

Students learn the rules; they talk about driving ethics and courtesy.

They learn about running a small business.

The college gives future drivers a look at the workings of the huge trucks in a shop setting. They learn the basics of diesel mechanics and see first-hand how jake brakes work.

Then they start driving the rigs on the road with instructors. This training doesn’t resemble a cones-in-the-parking-lot course; rather, it’s real-world driving in city traffic.

The training is stretched over two quarters, and drivers can earn their commercial drivers license along with a professional certificate that virtually assures them a job upon completion just weeks later, Mires said.

The course costs about $5,000, an amount Trans-System will repay if the driver goes to work for the company.

SCC’s program is among several truck-driving programs in the region, any of which can be found in the Yellow Pages.

Trans-System owns about 850 trucks and hauls flatbed loads, refrigerated freight and tankers, boats and other goods. It operates 10 hubs across the country.

Benesch said recruiting truck drivers isn’t easy, but insisted that many companies are raising their hiring standards rather than lowering them. The goal: turn truck driving into a lucrative career opportunity rather that a last-resort job.

Today, many truckers are short-haul drivers. Their routes are regional and have them home at night for dinner and to tuck their children into bed.

There’s plenty of work, of course, for long-haul drivers. But companies increasingly try to work out favorable schedules with drivers, such as giving them closer turnaround points that maybe keep them away from home for four days rather than six to eight.

The flexible schedules and the luxury of new tractors — high enough to stand up in, with double sleepers, refrigerators, microwaves, and a hookup for a laptop computer — are becoming standard, said Mires.

He put himself through college driving trucks.

“I look at truck driving as a career or a launch pad into other things, especially within the growing transportation industry,” Mires said.