After graduating high school in 1976 I was living in an old steel/manufacturing town where there were few employment possibilities.  At that time continuing on to college just wasn’t an option.   I was 18 years old. I needed to decide what to do with my life. How do you know what you want to do when you’ve experienced so little?

My father ingrained in me simple but important qualities that you should always work hard and give a job your best effort.  Surely there were employers looking for workers with such traits. But what could I offer an employer? My father worked in a small family business alongside his 4 brothers.  The rest of my family worked in one of the large manufacturing plants.  There was no room in the family business, and the large plants were all in decline.

The only things at that time that interested me were truck driving and serving in the military.  If I wanted to enter a truck driving school, I would have needed to take out a loan.  Most employers wanted their drivers at a minimum age of 21. If I didn’t get a job in trucking how would I pay back the loan? If I entered the military, they would train me to drive a truck, and when my enlistment was up I would be 21.  So that’s the course I took, serving my country and being a truck driver in the military.

I came out of the service three years later, smack into a slumping economy. I decided to focus all my efforts on one employer that was hiring drivers.  I submitted 54 applications to this employer in hope for an opportunity.  Finally I got an interview and a road test.  While being tested, the safety manager told me he was impressed with my determination, and I got the interview because I always filled out a consistent application and never gave up.

I was so excited to get that job.  Not only did it alter my career, but it changed my life. It gave me purpose. It reinforced basic principles about respect, integrity, dignity, being accountable to yourself and others, and the value of an honest day’s work. It gave me confidence that I could achieve things I once doubted, such as owning a home and providing well for my family.

I have been a professional truck driver for 28 years now, and increasingly I ask myself, where will we find the next generation for our industry?  I realize that today’s young adults are different (Twitter? Facebook? Online everything all the time?) from my generation in lots of ways.  Yet many of them will come out of high school much like I did: unsure of their future, not knowing what options are available to them to shape it.  They will ask many of the same questions I did 28 years ago.

How do we attract them to the trucking industry? Simple. Just ask them. Take a page out of the past, invite them to join as an “apprentice” (when did you last hear that term) where they can learn and experience the profession through paid, on-the-job training.

That’s exactly what my company, Con-way Freight, has set up, and what I will be doing as a driver-training instructor in this new program. Apprentice drivers will be offered a part-time 20 hour week working on the dock to provide them with income.  The other 20 hours will be spent learning the industry’s rules, safety regulations and how to drive a truck – at no cost. When the candidate successfully completes the program, they’ll be offered the opportunity for promotion to full-fledged Con-way Driver Sales Representative.

This program is designed to do much more than fill the seats of Con-way Freight’s trucks.  When the student completes the program, not only will they have their Commercial Drivers License (CDL), they will have learned how to be CSA 2010 compliant – a requirement for the future. They’ll be among the best trained, safest and most knowledgeable drivers in the industry.

Many things have changed over my 28 years of trucking, but the need for good people has not.  Tomorrow’s drivers will have to be better and more knowledgeable than I was when I started.  I’ve learned a lot over the years, and as a driving instructor I hope to share that insight and experience with the young people who join our program.  For me, it’s time to “Pay it Forward” by giving back to an industry that’s given me so much.

David May is a driver-sales representative for Con-way Freight and works a city route for the company’s Buffalo, NY service center. A 28-year industry veteran, he is an America’s Road Team captain and a vocal advocate for the trucking industry, professional truck drivers and improving safety for all motorists on America’s highways.

Every day, thousands of our fellow citizens are deployed serving in the National Guard or Reserves, playing a fundamental role that protects our freedoms, maintains peace, and provides relief services to communities in the United States and around the globe.

It’s a role that will grow as our standing front-line military continues to evolve. Thousands of businesses have been and will continue to be impacted as more reservists are called to duty. It’s a challenge for the employer, who is often faced with having to backfill or replace key employees. We will only see these challenges increase as our country continues to deploy more resources in the global battle against terrorism.

For the Guard and Reserve member, the sacrifice endured when called to duty is significant on many levels. These men and women leave their homes, families, jobs and careers, sometimes with as little as a week’s notice, when their unit is deployed. They put their personal lives on hold in the name of freedom and service to our country — for anywhere from 12 to 24 months. Many are called up for multiple tours of duty.

As if the stress of a combat zone is not enough, some Guard and Reserve members also suffer financial hardships due to their service. This happens when their military pay while on deployment is less than that which they were making in their private industry job. Worse yet, even though federal law mandates that an employer must provide re-employment at a similar level and pay to returning employees, some Guard and Reserve members come back, find their employers have abandoned them, and have to fight to get their job back — a travesty that was brought to light by the TV newsmagazine “60 Minutes.”

These are honorable men and women who put their lives on the line for our freedom and safety. You may have noticed that people with military experience have certain intangible qualities like self-awareness, pride and a sense of purpose. The military instills these qualities in all of its ranks because it makes them good people. By embodying such core values as honor, courage and commitment, men and women build character and confidence, develop strong team skills, and learn to accept responsibility and accountability for personal actions. These are exactly the employee values and life experiences that create and sustain successful businesses.

Our citizen-soldiers should not come home from serving our country only to face yet another battle to get their job back. They deserve our respect and admiration, and our unqualified support. Nothing less is acceptable.

My company, Con-way Freight, recognizes this not only as a responsibility, but a duty.  At any one time we may have as many as 100 employees on active deployment. While on leave for deployment, the families of these service men and women continue to receive company medical benefits. In the case where the deployed-employee’s military pay is less than their Con-way pay, the company makes up the difference. Upon return, these employees have access to resources and counseling under the company’s health plan to help them deal with the stresses of their deployment and reintegrate into society.  And finally, the job they had when they went on deployment is there for them when they come home.

Our Guard and Reserve members and all active-duty military are heroes in every sense of the word; we should not take them for granted. Consider doing something to support our troops. For example, this past holiday season, Con-way employees in several cities participated in a “Santa Claus for Soldiers’ Families” effort, collecting gifts and presenting them to families of deployed Guard and Reserve soldiers who otherwise were not able to afford or manage Christmas on their own. In addition, several times a year, Con-way employees around the United States band together and collect donations of goods into care packages that are sent to the troops.

You can also participate in similar “support our troops” collection drives done by community service organizations. You can encourage your local schools to adopt a solider or a unit, sending supportive cards and letters.  And you can participate in national and local military support groups that reach out regularly to deployed-soldiers’ families and provide basic assistance.

These efforts make a huge difference to our men and women in the military. They are the front line of our freedom. Your kindness and support will be recognized deeply and broadly, confirming to them that their sacrifices and commitment to the defense of our liberties are not only recognized, but respected, honored and revered.

Lt. Col. David L. “Duke“ Ellington (ret.) is a 30-year military veteran who served as a logistics officer in the U.S. Army and the Indiana National Guard. He also served as executive director of the Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), Indiana Chapter, a national advocacy organization that facilitates collaboration between employers and all branches of the active military and reserves. He is currently a personnel supervisor for Con-way Freight’s Indianapolis service center and participates actively in the company’s recruiting, hiring, training and support programs for veterans.

Source: The National Guard

As we approach the Holiday Season, it’s a good time to remember and recognize those citizen/soldiers and active military who are “standing the wall” for us in countries around the world, protecting our nation and defending us against those who would try to take away those freedoms that so many of our fellow citizens before us have fought and sacrificed for.

In today’s military, the burden of this defense falls not only on active military, but also in large part on the shoulders of the National Guard and Reserves, who continue to serve our country in important capacities that are critical to the success of our front-line military.

When our citizen/soldiers go in harm’s way, they put their lives on the line for their country and for their fellow citizens.  They need the assurance that while deployed, we (the private sector) have done everything in our power to assure continuity of support for their families, in their communities, and in their work places awaiting their return.  When a company employs veterans and members of the National Guard and Reserve, they join other patriotic companies that willingly support our greatest national resource – the men and women who voluntarily and faithfully serve our great nation, or who have done so during active military service.  These men and women undergo extensive training to protect our country and families. We simply cannot do enough to honor their commitment to that duty.

Con-way endorses hiring veterans and hiring members of the Reserve and Guard, and we actively seek them out for employment.  We encourage businesses to support the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR).  This organization provides important recognition for the many companies which actively support their employees in the armed services.  For many service men and women, the ESGR is the conduit that helps them reenter their lives in mainstream America.  It is also important for employers to actively engage with veterans’ outreach programs to help facilitate the hiring of our Nation’s veterans as they complete their military service.

Veterans and Reserve/Guard members are disciplined, hard workers, family oriented, and used to working long hours under some of the most arduous of conditions.  They are good corporate citizens, who firmly understand Esprit de Corps, and they lead by example.  They are the embodiment of the phrase, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

Every employer can benefit from hiring veterans, and by employing members of the Reserve or Guard.  It is a responsibility we all share, because supportive employers are critical to maintaining the strength and readiness of the nation’s National Guard and Reserve units and to provide returning veterans the opportunity to pursue the piece of the American Dream they’ve earned.

Please keep our veterans, active military personnel and those serving in the Reserve and Guard in your thoughts this Holiday Season and every day as they defend our Nation.