2021 Benchmark: U.S. Transportation Industry Spotlight
The transportation and trucking industry was hit hard by the pandemic. Our latest blog takes a deep dive into findings from our HireRight Benchmark report, focusing specifically on responses from HR professionals in the transportation industry. Read more.
Employers regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) were profoundly impacted by the pandemic of 2020. The impact in this vertical was a bit different than other sectors of our economy with motor carriers showing the most significant differences. Some motor carriers, particularly those who supported last-mile shipments (shipments to peoples’ homes) grew in 2020 due to the unprecedented use of internet ordering. Others stayed essentially the same since their businesses were not affected since freight still needed to be moved to distribution centers. The last group of motor carriers showed a contraction in business (and workforce) since their primary focus was distributing goods to small businesses. The mixed results in motor carriers was not shared by the other modes, particularly aviation. FAA-regulated employers’ businesses shrank due to the pandemic restrictions with many of them still not recovered at this point in time.
As in any year, DOT-regulated employers are challenged with finding qualified staff. There are many candidates out there willing to fill these jobs (due to relatively good pay and benefits), but unlike many industries, DOT imposes rules on these employers regarding the vetting that must happen before fully-fledged employment. These regulations and the overall litigious environment that safety-sensitive transportation companies need to consider always makes attracting and retaining good employees their primary focus from a human resources perspective.
The following summarizes some of the highlights from HireRight’s 2021 Global Benchmark Survey based on the respondents from the U.S. Transportation vertical.
For more U.S. Transportation insights, we look at these findings in more detail in the U.S. Transportation Spotlight Report as well as in our recent webinar, titled “Navigating the New World of Work,” which you can watch back on demand in our Resource Library.
Release Date: September 14, 2021
Dr. Todd Simo
Dr. Todd Simo currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer and Managing Director of Transportation at HireRight. He came to HireRight with a decade of experience in the medical consulting arena. Prior to HireRight, he was the Medical Director of an occupational health clinic in Virginia and owned a consulting firm providing medical director service to multiple companies located throughout the country. In that capacity, he established multiple customer specific health and drug screening services. In his current position, he oversees HireRight's medical department.