Omaha trucking company finds creative way to deal with worker shortage

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Like most industries nationwide, trucking is facing a worker shortage. Truck drivers are in high demand and in short supply. So Hill Bros. Transportation in Omaha took matters into its own hands and created its own driving school.

Amber Floyd is a recent graduate of Pro-Fleet, the CDL Driving Academy created by Hill Bros. The single mother of three is a former nurse who decided to trade in her scrubs for a big set of wheels.

“I just wanted to try something different. I’d been a nurse for over 10 years,” she said.

Hill Bros. General Manager Robert Sauer says finding and keeping qualified drivers has long been a struggle, and became even worse during the pandemic.

“It’s been a challenge,” he said. It’s really limited our growth in the past five years trying to find the talent to do it.”

Adding fuel to the fire, Sauer says the industry will be losing even more workers.

“Right now, the age of our drivers is really increasing,” he said. “A lot of them got into the industry a long time ago, and that age keeps growing, and more and more of those people are retiring.”

Sauer says over the years, Hill Bros. has added incentives like better pay and flexible hours. However, he knew the company needed to switch into high gear and add its own driving school.

“As we looked out and saw that in the next 10 years, there’s going to be even more of that, it just sparked for us that we need to get and bring in more people into this industry,” he said.

Floyd is proud to be in the first class of 2023. She hopes her new career will take her down a long, lucrative road.

“It means a lot to me to be making more than I did in nursing,” she said.

Sauer says truck drivers can earn up to $100,000 a year.

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