As the Russian invasion of Ukraine is close to entering its fourth month, more and more Ukrainians are looking to flee the conflict and resettle in welcoming countries. And, Canada is one of many countries opening its doors to Ukrainian newcomers.  As they arrive looking to create a new home, many supports are being made available, such as settlement services, housing and employment services. Our industry is also well positioned to help. The following information describes various pathways into Canada for Ukrainians and how trucking and logistics employers may be able to help.

Pathway to Canada:

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRRC) has introduced new immigration streams for Ukrainians who want to come to Canada temporarily or permanently. A Canada-Ukrainian Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) has been created, which is available for those fleeing the Ukraine and their immediate family members. There are no limits to the number of Ukrainians who can apply. This will eliminate most of the usual visa requirements in order to acquire residency in a timely matter. Their stay can also be extended by two years if needed. The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) has made pending files a priority to renew work permits, study permits, temporary residence and proof of citizenship while Ukrainian nationals are residing in Canada. The Canadian Border Services Agency also has a temporary measure put in place (Administrative Deferral of Removals) in order to delay Ukrainian nationals, currently residing in Canada, from having to leave the country.

Family Sponsorship:

Canadian citizens and permanent residents can apply to sponsor eligible family members to come to Canada. Applications are still to be submitted through usual procedures. Applications for immediate family members will be prioritized by the IRCC through the use of a special family reunification sponsorship pathway.

For more information on the immigration process visit:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/ukraine-measures/cuaet.html

Employment for Ukrainian nationals in Canada:

All Ukrainians who come to Canada as part of these measures are eligible to apply for open work permits and employers will be able to hire Ukrainian nationals through the process of CUAET. Employers looking to hire Ukrainian nationals in Canada can set up an employer profile on the Government of Canada’s Job Bank website, and then create a posting and submit a form (provided by the Job Bank site) specifically designed for this purpose. Ukrainian nationals in Canada can also visit the Job Bank’s job board free of cost.

Organizations Supporting Ukrainian Refugees:

There are over 550 organizations helping refugees with settlement and integration into Canadian society.  These organizations help with settlement and adaption services such as health, housing, schooling for children, continuing education, social services, and employment services to just name a few.

Connecting and building relationships with these organizations may be a valuable link to connecting to refugees and providing an avenue for employment with your company.  The Government of Canada has a settlement services finder that refugees can use to look for services in the communities they settle in.  Employers may find the tool useful to identifying local agencies that they can reach out and partner with.

https://ircc.canada.ca/english/newcomers/services/index.asp

Jobs for Ukrainians Facebook Group:

Facebook groups have been created that aim to facilitate contact between Ukrainians arriving in Canada who are seeking employment and employers who are hiring.  This may be a potential resource to help support Ukrainian newcomers while filling some of your recruitment needs.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/331716475664506

https://www.facebook.com/groups/canadahostukrainians

https://www.facebook.com/groups/375451514101214/?multi_permalinks=413898476923184

As Ukrainians look to seek refuge or make Canada their new home, there are many opportunities for our industry to help make the process much smoother.  Offering opportunities and support to newcomers can help individuals who are fleeing incredibly difficult and traumatic circumstances while providing a head start on a new life in Canada.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) sometimes feel like a “check the box” exercise, which is why these initiatives can fall short as you try to establish a culture where employees can imagine themselves as key contributors.

For many trucking and logistics employers, just getting started with DEI is the hard part. The longer you wait to develop policies and practices, the more you risk missing out on finding top talent among underrepresented people and reaping the benefits of a more inclusive workplace.

This is why Driving Diversity is the theme of our annual Women with Drive Leadership Summit on June 2 in Toronto.

This year’s conference will examine what it means to hire, train, and retain a more representative workforce in trucking and logistics, with a special emphasis on DEI tools, strategies, and best practices.

Our morning panel includes DEI experts from academia, government, employers, and business who will share ideas and actions they have taken to increase diversity across the industry.

The afternoon features what has quickly become the most popular piece of the program, the Learning Highway, where delegates can participate in speed-learning on topics including:

• Using social media and marketing to recruit a diverse workforce
• Workforce planning through diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Canada Labour Code compliance
• Using industry-specific wage subsidies to support recruiting a diverse workforce

The conference is also a place for HR professionals to network and learn from each other, and to access DEI resources they can take back and share with their own teams.

These resources include Recruiting and Retaining Diverse Communities: An Employer Roadmap. Produced in partnership with the Alberta Motor Transport Association, this guide identifies specific groups that are underrepresented in the industry and provide strategies that can help attract, recruit, and retain diverse talent.

THRC will introduce a suite of tools that HR professionals can use to create and implement effective DEI policies; manage hybrid and flexible workplaces; improve performance appraisals; develop workplace wellness programs; and create a compensation philosophy. Developed specifically for trucking and logistics employers, these resources will be available from the THRC website and provide templates and step-by-step support for HR teams.

DEI policies don’t exist as a “favour” to underrepresented groups. They’re intended to help employers establish and maintain a workplace that is welcoming, supportive, and draws strength from the knowledge and experiences that come from a diverse workforce.

Register and join us in Toronto on June 2 to learn more.

Janine Welch doesn’t miss a single issue of Trucking HR Canada’s e-bulletin called “HR Insights”. That’s actually how the human resources manager at Emterra Group learned about the organization’s Career ExpressWay initiative and the different wage subsidy programs available.

The Canada-wide waste and recycling company has now hired over 15 new workers with the support of wage and new driver training subsidies available through the program. “We also use the program for different logistics positions,” Welch says to illustrate that, in addition to drivers and the people loading the refuse trucks, the Career Expressway contributed to the successful hiring of staff for roles in multiple departments such as mechanics and mechanic apprentices, dispatchers, operations specialists and marketing & communications experts to name a few.

Evaluating a candidates’ eligibility for the financial support brought by these Trucking HR Canada programs “up to $10,000 in wage subsidy for a worker aged 30 and under; up to $10,000 to pay the training fees of a new truck driver” has become second nature at the fleet. “As we hire people through our recruitment process, if a potential worker meets the hiring criteria, we submit their name to the program for approval,” Welch says.

With recycling being at the heart of Emterra?s mission, the money saved with Career ExpressWay is reused to find even more new talent. “The financial support is very helpful. It allows us an opportunity to consider and explore different recruitment and attraction strategies. The subsidy offers a fantastic opportunity for young workers to enter the industry and allows Emterra the financial flexibility to hire and train more employees,” says the HR expert who cherishes the concepts of diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Besides, the process is seamless. “It was very easy to navigate, and the turnaround time for processing a claim is minimal,” Welch says.

Getting access to young workers represents a considerable value in itself, according to the Emterra Group’s spokesperson. “The shifting demographics make it even more important to attract and retain a young workforce, the wage and the training subsidy programs are very important for companies like Emterra to take advantage of,” she says.

“Young workers bring new ideas and perspectives. They’re always confident to share their ideas and provide feedback. They have a natural attraction and understanding of technology, and a strong desire to make a positive impact in the world. These traits are beneficial in supporting Emterra?s mission of enabling people and businesses to become stewards of the environment.”

Curbside appeal

At 28 years old, Kyle McGlynn-Bye already has several years of experience in the waste and recycling business. He used to be the one running behind the refuse truck to load it. Now he’s the one behind the wheel, as Career ExpressWay funded the training that led him to get his Class 1 licence.

“My dad has been involved with recycling and garbage collection since he and my mom got together, so I’ve been around trucks my whole life,” says the young man from Peterborough, Ontario. But he’s still learning every day, building on his past experience, which gave him an edge as a driver. “I already knew what the job involved. There?s always more to learn, though, with doing this job because there are always new houses, new roads. There’s always something that can make things change in a moment,” he says.

Driving a refuse truck is certainly a unique kind of trucking that requires special skills. It’s a constant stop-and-go and the driver needs to stay focused at all times in case someone pulls out in front of his vehicle. There’s also the challenge of navigating in narrow streets with cars parked on both sides, a situation that gets even worse in wintertime.

Nonetheless, it’s still trucking, a heavily regulated industry. “I didn’t really realize how many rules and regulations there actually were for bigger commercial vehicles than there are for cars. There’s a lot more that you need to pay attention to,? McGlynn-Bye says, referring to what he learned during his subsidized driver training.

“It’s not always easy, but I work with a great group of guys,” McGlynn-Bye summarizes about his new career as a truck driver.

And thanks to Trucking HR Canada?s Career ExpressWay, that group could very well expand soon, according to Janine Welch. “It’s really an excellent program. It’s got lots of opportunities for those young people to get into the trucking and logistics sector. Emterra has been really pleased to be part of the program and we do look forward to continuing our support and participation,” she concludes.

To learn more about the wage subsidy and subsidized driver training programs, and how you too can benefit from this opportunity, please visit THRC Career Expressway or e-mail [email protected].

Labour shortages in the trucking and logistics sector have led several employers to use signing bonuses as a recruitment strategy. What if the tables turned? What if there were bonuses or incentives for employers who hire students or young workers?

That’s exactly what Arrow Logistics found through Trucking HR Canada’s Career ExpressWay when they hired a student, and were able to receive a subsidy equivalent to 70% (up to $7,000) of that student hire’s wages through the Student Work Placement Program (SWPP).

I had my HR people look to see if there were any programs that would align with what we are doing and they are the ones who found the program, says McLean Cruthers, Project & Logistics Manager at Arrow Logistics about SWPP.

During a particularly busy period at Arrow, they noticed they needed help in warehouse logistics. The financial support from Trucking HR Canada (THRC) certainly helped Cruthers sell the idea of recruiting additional staff to upper management, he says.

Cruthers, having experienced being a co-op student himself as he began his career, was excited by the opportunity to introduce a young worker to the industry. I myself was a younger person in the industry. I, too, went through a similar student program that I hired with, he recalls.

Jeff Duong, the young man he recruited through the Career ExpressWay program, is 26 years old and on his way to earning a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce with a major in Supply Chain Management at MacEwan University in Edmonton.

My main job was to make sure that containers were arriving at specific times as well as organizing the warehouse and making sure that the products are going at the time that is needed, Duong says about his placement experience.

Getting better all the time

Cruthers liked Duong’s analytic approach to his work. We can always work more on the continuous improvement and, even though we’re doing well now, it doesn’t mean we can’t be doing better, he says.

Duong contributed to improving some aspects of the company’s operations and the partial wage subsidy was an added bonus. By the end of my co-op internship, I was able to improve upon some of the communication as well as inventory accuracy and efficiencies within the warehouse operations, the young man says about his time at Arrow.

Getting work experience before graduating and thus becoming even more attractive to future employers was Duong’s plan when he joined the SWPP. According to Cruthers, it was a win-win situation. It worked both ways. We were giving a student an opportunity and we were getting somebody we could hire for eight months through that contract work and get financial support. When I look just at my division, it helped in the overall bottom line, for sure, he says.

Cruthers helped Duong understand the functioning of the warehouse from the ground up and taught him what the forklift operators and the drivers go through before taking it to the next level of supervising.

You definitely have to be able to balance giving them an everyday job where they can get to a role, have functions that help operate the business on a day-to-day basis and keep the business going while also finding ways to develop through new things that happen as well, Cruthers says.

And new things happen all the time in the trucking and logistics sector, Duong learned. Something that was not in his books at University. You can’t really plan out everything because at the end of the day, when you’re working with trucks there will be things that go wrong all the time, he says about the need to have contingency plans and continually adapt to the situation.

His initial interest in logistics developed during travel in China in 2019, as he was visiting a trade city called Yiwu. I was mesmerized by the amounts of inventory and products that were there. I wanted to understand how that worked, Duong recalls.

Arrow contributed to that understanding. Cruthers says he and Duong had very interesting discussions about the evolution of the whole supply chain environment. Just having engaged conversations about that was, I guess, the most rewarding thing, Cruthers says, referring to the passion he could see in the intern’s eyes.

While it was the first time that Arrow hired a young worker through such an initiative, it probably won’t be the last. If the opportunity is there, for sure we’ll definitely do that, Cruthers says about using the Career ExpressWay program again.

To learn more about the Student Work Placement Program, and how you too can benefit from this opportunity, please visit THRC Career Expressway or e-mail [email protected].

The beginning of the year has brought on a new set of changes that federally regulated employers will need to be aware of. These recent amendments to the Canada Labour Code include new standards for leaves of absence, occupational health and safety requirements and pay equity. As we roll into 2022 let’s take a closer look at these rules and some of the resources that can help trucking and logistics organizations prepare.

Bill C-3

Bill C-3 amends the Canada Labour Code to expand paid sick days and bereavement leave. Though the bill was passed in December 2021, there has been no announcement about when the new provisions will take effect. The goal is to give employers time to adjust their company policies and payroll.

Paid sick days: Employees will be entitled to three paid sick days after 30 days on the job, and one day paid sick leave per month of employment up to a maximum of 10 days per calendar year. Employers must pay the usual wage when sick days are taken.

Sick leave can be taken all at once or in shorter amounts, but employers can require that each period of leave is not less than one day. Also, employers can request a medical note for absences of five consecutive days or more. This request must be made no later than 15 days after an employee has come back to work.

Bereavement leave: An employee experiencing the death of an immediate family member is eligible for up to 10 days of leave (3 of which are paid if the employee has worked more than 30 days) between the day a death occurs and six weeks after any type of memorial service.

Death of a child: If the family member is a child, the employee is eligible for an unpaid leave up to eight weeks. This leave must be taken during a period that starts with the death or stillbirth of the child and ends 12 weeks after the date of the funeral, burial or memorial service.

Harassment and violence in the workplace

Last year the Canada Labour Code was amended to expand the obligation of federal employers to prevent, investigate and respond to incidents of workplace violence and harassment. The rules require employers to provide an annual report to the Minister of Labour by March 1 of every year, starting in 2022.

The Employer’s Annual Harassment and Violence Occurrence Report (EAHVOR) must detail any workplace incidents, the measures taken to resolve them and the average time it took to complete the process.

With the reporting deadline upon us, it’s important to know how to file an EAHVOR and meet other obligations regarding workplace harassment and violence. Our Understanding the Workplace Harassment & Violence Prevention Regulations resource can help.

Human Rights Commission on Pay Equity

The Pay Equity Act came into force last August, establishing that federally regulated employers must provide equal pay for work of equal value across job classes.

The first requirement under the Act was to notify employees about the creation of a pay equity plan (the deadline to post a notice was Nov. 1, 2021). Employers have three years to form a committee, complete their plan and adjust compensation based on the findings.

This process will take time and the requirements vary depending on the number of employees, so don’t wait to get started. Check out our guide, The New Pay Equity Agenda 7 Steps to Compliance, to learn more.

Things to Come

Labour Canada is considering other changes to the Canada Labour Code as stated in the Minister’s Mandate letter after the election in the fall. Among them:

• Development of a right to-disconnect policy within federally regulated workplaces.
• Making mental health as part of workplace health and safety and requiring federally regulated employers to have measures to deal with stress at the workplace.

Trucking HR Canada has a range of resources and will continue to develop more to support employers in complying with all new regulations. Keep your eyes open for upcoming webinars that will go into greater detail about some of the changes around paid sick days and pay equity.

Camille Pitt is a senior human resources advisor for Groupe Guilbault, a large fleet headquartered in Quebec City. Guilbault being one of Trucking HR Canada’s (THRC) Top Fleet Employers, she takes a keen interest in the organization’s activities.

That’s how she found out about the Career ExpressWay initiative. “I saw that there was a wage subsidy that could apply to us,” Pitt says about the program that provides financial support for hiring people under the age of 30 into various positions in the trucking industry.

In Guilbault’s case, this program has helped recruit seven forklift operators and truck drivers. “For example, when we hired a forklift operator, the first $15,000 he received was reimbursed by Trucking HR Canada,” she explains.

One of the goals of the subsidy program is to improve the employment conditions of young workers. “It was either to help someone who was unemployed get back to work or to improve their salary conditions a little bit,” Pitt says, adding that the program was hassle-free to manage.

“Signing up was very, very easy. I filled out a form, talked to the people at THRC, they explained everything to me and I was enrolled. We were reimbursed every month; it was a very simple process.”

The fact that the wage subsidy program applies to all industry occupations, not just drivers, is very appropriate according to the human resources professional at Guilbault.

“There is a labour shortage in all trades,” she says, adding that when a candidate shows interest in a company, you have to be very proactive not to lose them. “When someone applies at 8:15 in the morning, if they’re called at 1:30 in the afternoon they’ve already been contacted by four or five companies. It goes really fast,” she says.

25-year old Davin Larin was hired as a truck driver through the THRC program. He now has a Class 1 driver’s license after successfully completing his training at the Charlesbourg CFTC training centre. After initially being paired with an experienced driver for training, he now does a lot of local deliveries to Guilbault customers near the Quebec City terminal.

David was exposed to the industry at a young age as his father, Benoit, has been a truck driver himself for 20 years. He even took him on a trip to Maine when he was a child.

Field experience

Yet, being in the passenger seat or in professional training is no substitute for on-the-job experience, David admits, citing reversing maneuvers, which are common in local transportation. “You do a lot more backing up on the job than you did in school,” he says.

That’s the kind of thing Pitt is referring to when she talks about being patient with younger employees, and it pays big dividends, she says.

“We can really shape them to our corporate culture; they don’t have bad habits yet. Sometimes, it’s easier to train someone who is more junior than someone who has 25 years of experience at another company because there’s nothing to undo. You just have to build,” she says.

Given the opportunity, young people hired through the Career Express Way programs can also contribute to the evolution of their company. For example, it was David’s suggestion to the health and safety manager that a checklist for hazardous materials hauling be placed in the tablets used by drivers, a suggestion that was adopted and put into practice.

The young man envisions a career in the industry, as a truck driver or perhaps even a dispatcher. “If I can advance, I will,” he says of his eventual progression within the company.

Offering young people a career path is one of the benefits that Guilbault’s senior human resources advisor sees in THRC’s wage subsidy programs.

And not just for drivers. “Forklift operators can become team leaders and eventually foremen, or they can move into office positions,” says Pitt, giving the example of the route planner occupation.

Beyond the financial support, she says the Career ExpressWay program facilitates access to a pool of younger workers, a valuable asset in an industry with an ageing workforce.

“In terms of drivers and forklift operators, it’s really the next generation that we see. If we had to do without young people, we really wouldn’t have enough employees,” she says, noting that she also sees retention benefits in hiring young workers.

“Young people often learn and adapt more easily. They have a desire to do well and improve. They’re also often more loyal to their employer because they’ve been given their first chance, trained and everything. And they’re often more comfortable with technology,” Pitt observes.

When she looks at the industry around her, she notices that the Career ExpressWay programs have created a buzz. “It’s been a pretty popular grant,” Pitt says.

One thing is for sure, Groupe Guilbault plans to continue to take advantage of the programs offered through THRC’s Career ExpressWay. “We intend to do the wage subsidy program again to hire young workers. We’re definitely going to go ahead with this one,” says the human resources professional.

Especially that “Hiring young people with little or no experience requires the cooperation of co-workers, trainers and supervisors,” Pitt says about the sense of belonging being reinforced through team work.

That’s one of the goals of Trucking HR Canada’s Career ExpressWay programs.

To learn more about the Employer Wage Support for Youth program, and how you too can benefit from this opportunity, please visit THRC Career Expressway or e-mail [email protected].

Every sector in Canada’s economy is looking to attract and grow its labour force, which means students and young workers have lots of career choices at a pivotal time in their lives.

Amid this intense competition for talent, our industry is well-positioned to take advantage of public awareness around the importance of trucking and logistics to the economy and to leverage our labour force data which provides insight into the wide range of opportunities for young workers in our industry.

Trucking HR Canada’s labour market information shows that drivers account for 43% of the sector’s 733,000 workers, meaning we have another 57% representing all other occupations. Dispatchers, logistics coordinators, office administrators, warehouse workers, human resources, diesel technicians, accountants, the list goes on, and all are needed to keep goods moving.

Additionally, 46% of employers in trucking and logistics expect recruiting for non-driving occupations to be a challenge in the future.

Engaging the next generation

Employers looking to engage with the next generation of workers now have financial incentives that can help.

With more than 100 employers already enrolled, our Career ExpressWay program has become a popular way to attract young workers to our industry. It connects students with employers who can offer experience and a meaningful wage.

While there is a bit of administrative work to get set up, employers tell us that once they’re in and ready to go, the program runs smoothly. Many employers who start with one or two students quickly look to bring on even more.

Help, not hype

For starters, Career ExpressWay currently pays up to 75% of the student’s wage up to $7,500. Any full-time or part-time job that supports truck transportation is eligible, including special projects, co-ops and internships.

Post-secondary programs are seeing the benefits of what they call work-integrated learning,? where students gain experience in their field of study and can develop the soft skills needed to succeed in the workplace.

Career Expressway is a win-win-win, really. Employers get access to a pipeline of new talent; students learn about trucking and logistics while getting paid; and the industry as a whole benefits from a growing pool of interested workers.

Lets take a look at what some of our employers say about the program:

• Students bring fresh ideas, perspectives, and new approaches to business challenges.
• Being able to test drive a student or new grad before hiring lowers our recruitment and onboarding costs.
• We have been bringing on students through co-ops and internships and are happy to be able to benefit from the financial incentive offered (with some able to access the funds even if these placements were finished).
• We have brought on students to help implement special projects/new initiatives with the labour costs almost fully covered.
• Partnering with specific post-secondary programs like logistics and supply chain management is a strategic focus of our recruitment efforts. Trucking HR Canada’s Career ExpressWay is now a part of this plan.
• Sometimes it’s easier to train someone who is more junior than someone who has 25 years of experience at another company because there’s nothing to undo”.
• Hiring young workers enables us to shape them (new recruits) to our corporate culture; they don’t have bad habits yet.

Trucking and logistics employers talk a lot about how to showcase the many non-driving careers in our industry and make them more attractive through competitive compensation.

Career ExpressWay may be a solution that fits with your operations, too.

We are partnering with schools and other programs to help connect students with employers in our sector. If recruiting young talent is a priority for your business, and you’re interested in a way to help pay for it, reach out to us today. Contact [email protected] to learn more.

The New Year is an opportunity to turn over a fresh calendar and forge ahead with new innovations, approaches, partnerships and more. This year we have the added hope that we can transition away from COVID-19 and get back to some semblance of a routine life.

While the pandemic has been disruptive, it has revealed the best of what trucking and logistics has to offer. We’re unquestionably essential to a functioning supply chain and economy. More importantly, we’ve proven our resilience, leadership and ability to endure and pull through ongoing challenges. 2022 will be no different.

The industry should be an attractive place to work, given the respect we’ve generated among the public. Yet finding and keeping talent remains a top challenge for employers.

Trucking HR Canada is here to support you with practical, evidence-based solutions, including several new programs and points of emphasis in 2022. Let’s look at five areas of consideration in the year ahead:

?1. Fresh approaches for recruiting and retention

According to Trucking HR Canada’s Labour Market Information, there were 18,310 truck driver vacancies at the end of Q2 2021, an increase of 4,330 open jobs compared to the last quarter of 2019, before the onset of the pandemic. The demand for drivers is expected to increase each year through 2025, when the number of vacancies will reach 24,700.

Employers need fresh ideas to build the workforce. In 2022, our new Transformative Change Group will lead the discussion into issues such as work-life balance, more transparent compensation structures, better communications and other elements of an HR program that will help you compete for talent.

2. Holistic wellness

In trucking and logistics, the requirements for organizations to manage an employee’s physical health and safety are significant. The pandemic highlighted the connection between physical and mental health in the workplace and beyond. Investing in a holistic approach is good for the individual employee and makes sense for the business, resulting in higher productivity and engagement.

Trucking and logistics companies are learning how to make holistic wellness a larger part of the workplace culture. Stay tuned as Trucking HR Canada adds resources and seminars that can offer practical support to you and your HR team.

3. Hybrid work models

At the beginning of the pandemic, offices transitioned to work-from-home models practically overnight. Today it seems like hybrid work models are here to stay, and employers are focusing on ways to keep workers safe and supported while maintaining an effective workplace culture.

Trucking and logistics companies have always had some segment of the workforce working remotely, whether they’re in a truck, shop, warehouse or other front-line environment. What’s different today is how people and businesses are using technology to collaborate, communicate and take advantage of digital business processes.

With the right investments in technology and training, it’s never been easier for executives, managers, administrators, drivers and others to work together as a team in a hybrid model. We have already seen this with some of our Top Fleet Employers reporting happier workers overall.

4. Workplace diversity and inclusion

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) has catapulted to the forefront of business priorities. In trucking and logistics, an industry not known for its diversity, strong DEI strategies can differentiate your organization.

DEI is not a tick-the-box exercise. This year we’re introducing new resources and informational seminars to help you build programs that will increase your candidate pool, enhance innovation and increase genuine engagement.

5. Flexible workplace learning and development

We begin 2022 on the precipice of the fourth industrial revolution. Specific to trucking and logistics, this includes the impact of digitization on scheduling and dispatching, cybersecurity threats and the push for new technologies including electric trucks, semi-autonomous vehicles and more. This will affect the skills needed to perform existing jobs while also creating new ones.

During the pandemic, supply chain decisions that might be years in the making instead occurred at rapid speed. Today, the evolving training and development needs of our workers require a more measured, thoughtful, practical approach.

You can count on Trucking HR Canada to help you now and every day going forward.

We look forward to working with you in 2022.

Through Trucking HR Canada’s Career ExpressWay Student Work Placement Program, Light Speed Logistics hired their very first co-op student. Taking advantage of a $7,500 wage subsidy – Light Speed was able to bring on an enthusiastic student, Aman Minhas, to help manage a new driver mentorship program, and Aman was given a career-defining opportunity to gain work experience within the trucking and logistics industry.

According to Rob Aronson, Programs Lead at Light Speed Logistics in Calgary, building resiliency in difficult times is the ability to focus on efficient operations and economic strategy wherever possible, including in the recruitment and hiring process.

Subsidies and grants go a long way, he says about the financial support the fleet obtained from Trucking HR Canada through the Career ExpressWay program that subsidizes work placements for students.

The new generation tends to be more entrepreneurial and innovative, so they bring that mindset which is needed for a growing company. Young people can add a lot with how they think and how they work, Aronson says.

When the employer is willing to listen to young workers and provide them with room to grow, even with little to no experience in the sector, students can positively impact the teams they work with.

Minhas says he found just that type of open-minded spirit at Light Speed. They’ll actually take feedback into consideration and make changes for the better of the program, he says about the opinions he expresses.

He’s referring to a mentorship program that the fleet recently introduced, pairing new drivers with seasoned mentors in driving teams.

Monitoring 20 driver teams

Working in the safety and compliance department, Minhas? job is to monitor about 20 of those teams daily, gathering data to help the newer drivers improve. For example, he monitors telematics portals to ensure that safety compliance is upheld. Through this compliance diligence, there is acute attention to important safety areas including speeding, hard braking and hours of service.

Then he will issue recommendations or, if necessary, warnings to the drivers. A task that is not always easy at 22 years old. There have been cases where these guys don’t take me seriously. They kind of see me like the kid,? Minhas says.

He is overcoming that challenge by taking the time to form relationships with the drivers, in a courteous atmosphere. When I’m talking to the drivers, I’m trying to be as respectful as I can be.

Minhas also has a couple of aces up his sleeve. He’s Canadian and grew up in Calgary, in an East Indian family — a background many drivers at Light Speed also share. This often helps with communications, although the young man humbly admits that his Punjabi is not as strong as his English.

He also grew up surrounded by people working in the transportation industry one of his uncles actually drives for Light Speed which gave him a good understanding of how the industry works.

But he’s still learning every day. Although I’ve been around transportation my whole life, never in a million years did I think that there would be so many rules and regulations that are in place in the logistics industry, he says.

At the same time, barriers to overcome are part of what he appreciates most in his work placement. There are always new challenges to solve on a daily basis, Minhas says.

As an employer, Aronson certainly appreciates such a positive attitude. I am impressed by his enthusiasm and how he’s really rolled up his sleeves. He’s taking it more than seriously, he says about Minhas.

Osmosis process

And that opinion is apparently shared within Light Speed’s team of directors. I think there’s that feeling of accomplishment with management, knowing that there’s this osmosis happening where all this information gets absorbed by the new generation coming into the company, Aronson adds.

Light Speed decided to repeat the work placement experience. With the incredible experience we had with Trucking HR Canada so far, we definitely know that we’re going to find every opportunity to continue in this direction and try to maximize opportunities to bring in more young people in different departments across the company,? Aronson says.

Experiences such as this one, which benefits both the employer and the student worker is the ultimate goal of the THRC’s Student Work Placement Program.

To learn more about the Student Work Placement Program, and how you too can benefit from this opportunity, please visit THRC Career Expressway or e-mail [email protected].

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By Vincent Custode

While the driver shortage is certainly causing headaches for employers, a growing concern is the challenge trucking and logistics employers across the country are experiencing in finding workers to help with all aspects of business operations.

Our most recent labour market information shows that almost 40% of employers anticipate recruitment will be extremely or considerably challenging for non-driving occupations, and 32% believe retaining non-driving employees will be considered or extremely challenging.

As a new partner in the Government of Canada’s student work placement program our industry has an incredible opportunity to reach students to fill a variety of non-driving roles.

It is one of the most practical means yet that we have to engage and expose a new generation of workers to the vast job possibilities our industry offers.

Let?s take a look at how hiring a student through Trucking HR Canada?s Career ExpressWay program can benefit your bottom line, along with some tips for success.

Build your brand

Connecting directly with post secondary institutions and building your reputation as a great place to work can positively build your brand.? You are reaching a new group of workers, and ensuring they have a pleasant experience can help you build a new pipeline of talent.

Our industry is vast and diverse. Colleges and universities see the opportunity for meaningful, and relevant placement opportunities for their students. This program not only offers the industry a great opportunity to showcase the large range of jobs available and exposes more students to our sector the program offers employers a unique opportunity to showcase their organization, and their brand with a whole new generation of workers.

The sooner you start, the sooner you benefit

Students are currently looking for winter placements starting in January. By getting into the program now, we can work to support you in the jobs you want to post, giving you good leeway time in identifying a student that will be a good fit.

Additionally many employers who bring students for one term, look to have them on in the next. Getting in now can mean you also get a pipeline of students for summer placements.

Employers have a range of programs to draw from

Our webinar last week had us hear from both George Brown College and the University of Waterloo and the range of programs that employers can hire from is extensive. From HR , accounting, supply chain management, sales, brokerage, IT, communications, business analytics and more. And these are just two institutions that have provided examples.

The opportunities are there to bring on a student for a role that may not require a full-time job ? but can help you in running your business. This can include special projects, or seasonal job needs.

Start by building a strong partnership with one educational institution

Here we have seen employers benefit from focusing on one institution, and building a strong partnership. Once an institution is comfortable with you, and you are happy with the students that partnership can grow into more opportunities.

Financial incentives

Participating in Trucking HR Canada’s program will enable you to access up to 75% of the students wage, up to a maximum of $7,500.

Connecting students to jobs in our industry is essential ? and this program offers one of the practical means yet to help us in doing that.

Reach out to [email protected] today to learn more.