Every industry across the world is daily is increasingly infiltrated with new technology, changing the way the workforce functions, and the trucking industry is no different.
With all of today’s tech options – from ELDs and AI dashcams to the many data-driven apps, and even widely available autonomous vehicles on the horizon – tech providers are tasked with bridging the gap between veteran drivers in their 70s (or older) and the incoming generation of drivers as young as 18.
Darrin Demchuk, vice president of solutions at software company Platform Science, which provides telematics and fleet management services, said a 22-year-old doesn’t want to fill out literal paperwork but rather expects to use their smartphone for those types of tasks, while some older drivers are still challenged by the small handheld devices, among other technologies.
Transportation companies are migrating toward more technology on and in their trucks to help improve efficiencies, safety and ultimately cost savings while using it to attract the younger driver population. But despite the industry steadily moving toward digital operations, the older population is pushing back.
“It's not usually cut and dry of old needs this; young needs this. At the end of the day, the older or more experienced folks who have been in the industry for a while have experienced things a certain way, so you have a certain type of change management to deal with … and change can be intimidating to people, whereas younger people might be coming in with certain expectations of technology,” Demchuk said. “You have to manage expectations with the experienced and older drivers, help them change what they're used to, to introduce more automation and streamline, etc. Then you have to meet the expectations of the younger folks coming in who were born into technology.”
According to ScienceDirect, the main technology generations are mechanical (born before 1939); electromechanical (born 1939 to 1948); analog electronic (born 1949 to 1963); digital computer (born 1964 to 1978); internet (born 1979 to 1989); and internet plus social networking plus smartphone (born after 1989). Those in their 50s, 60s and 70s grew to maturity with analog electronic technology.
While the average age of currently employed truck drivers is in the 40s – most of whom have experience with technology – many trucking companies still have drivers in their 70s, and maybe even older, who are part of the electromechanical and analog generations that grew up with things like electric mixers and toasters and were later introduced to radios and microwaves.
