It’s been a sad week of news so far this week with many manufacturing plants announcing closings and changes to their workforce. It is always sad to see people losing their jobs and having to look to either retraining, moving, or searching for new work. General Motors announced the closing of several plants across North America this week and Maple Leaf Foods announced the moving their plant from Toronto to London Ontario. Good for some people bad for others. Those good jobs in manufacturing have been on the decline for decades since our economy began to buy on global scale and that’s what makes trucking such a lucrative and viable option.
Careers these days are not about working at a plant because your family before you worked there. Those were the old ways of thinking where you got a good job and then worked at a company for thirty years. In today’s world working at a company for five years is a major career and the secret to longevity is to keep retraining yourself and improving your knowledge of technology. Those not willing to learn and upgrade will find themselves left behind in a drastically changing world. There was a company that announced up to 800 new positions in the region at the same time of the other closings, all the jobs announced were in technology. Start upgrading!
We may be surprised today but this has been happening for years. I personally went back to school many years ago to learn some new skills when I wanted to move up in the company I was working with. At that time four drivers in our fleet were in a race for promotion to become supervisor of the fleet, myself included. All had years of experience, good work record, and respect from the team. This was a time however when everything was becoming more computerized and items like expense reports and dispatch services were transferring from paper to computers. As I had returned to school and was upgrading my computer skills where the other candidates had not and that got me the position. This is one of the reasons I am big on self education to this day as it will offer you so many opportunities for the future.
Let’s get back to trucking and the benefits of flexibility. I think the transportation industry may be one of the only industries that can offer you that life-long career due to the many options available. If we take the news of plants closing and jobs going to Mexico that is a terrible thing for workers here, no doubt. For trucking however that will offer many news lanes and an increase in jobs for individuals. If you pursue a job in trucking there are many opportunities in the seat but there will also be other positions required in safety, dispatch, administration, and other services specific to transportation.
Making high wages in the manufacturing sector won’t be sustainable for the future even if we want it to be. Labour costs are generally the highest expenses a company can have and will always be looking at that expense when trying to survive in a global economy. Transportation offers flexibility with change and even if products are made outside the Country they will need to be transported into locations for the future.
About the Author
Bruce Outridge has been in the transportation industry for over 30 years. He is an author of the books Driven to Drive and Running By The Mile, and host of The Lead Pedal Podcast. TTSAO also known as the Truck Training Schools Association of Ontario has certified member schools in the truck training vocation ensuring quality entry level drivers enter the transportation industry. To learn more about the TTSAO or to find a certified school in your area visit www.ttsao.com