Parked among the bright and shiny custom cars on the floor of the CHI Health Center convention center in Omaha, Nebraska, this past week at the World of Wheels car show was a 28-foot cargo trailer featuring a truck driving simulator mounted inside.
The Nebraska Trucking Association (NTA) debuted the simulator at the Nebraska State Fair last August, using it as a tool to engage the workforce in conversations about careers in the trucking industry. The simulator then attended Nebraska’s large agricultural show Husker Harvest Days before rounding out the year hitting high schools and community colleges around the state for career fairs. NTA President and CEO Kent Grisham said the simulator reached more than 100,000 people between the state fair in August and the end of 2023, and 431 people experienced the simulator in the two and a half days it was at the car show.
Inside the trailer is a QR code that links prospective students to the NTA’s scholarship application as well as a map of Nebraska with QR codes placed at locations in the state where CDL programs are available. Though the NTA hasn’t tracked enrollment data at CDL training facilities based on the interactions with the simulator, Grisham said the simulator has been very effective in going beyond garnering interest in industry careers to actually getting students enrolled in programs.
“Our scholarship applications … have taken a dramatic increase,” he said. “We know a lot of those are generated by these public appearances because we will have a lot of potential CDL and diesel tech students hit the QR code and start their scholarship application right there.”
Though new to the NTA, simulators have long been used at larger trucking companies as training tools for their drivers, but in recent years, their use has begun to expand beyond training to workforce development.
Werner (CCJ Top 250, No. 13), for example, began integrating simulators into its training programs in the early 2000s and continues to use them today for comprehensive driver training, mandating all CDL-A drivers undergo simulation training biannually. New hires also complete simulator training as part of their orientation.
The company conducts nearly 30,000 hours of simulation training fleet wide every year. Werner Director of Safety Adam Cassidy said the investment in simulation technology has contributed significantly to safety outcomes, with 2023 marking a 19-year low in DOT reportable events and a record low in injuries, and drivers have taken note.
