Fort Leonard Wood, MO (May 5 and 6) – FASTPORT CEO, Bill McLennan, was privileged to address over 400 garrison leaders and transitioning service men and women at the Fort Leonard Wood Hiring Our Heroes Transition Summit about the great career opportunities with great employers in the U.S. Trucking Industry. As veterans swarmed the event, many were struck by the sheer number of opportunities in the trucking industry.

“The U.S. Trucking Industry has committed to hire over 150,000 veterans in great careers,” explained McLennan. “This industry offers veterans among the highest skilled, highest paying entry level positions with no experience needed to start their next careers. Regardless of their military job type, veterans have opportunities they might never have imagined before learning about the career opportunities in trucking.”

Trucking companies from all over the country attended the summit to attract new military talent. Among FASTPORT’s partners attending were all industry leaders in veteran employment, including Con-way Truckload, JB Hunt, Ryder, TMC, YRC Freight, Trimac, PGT Trucking, and FedEx Freight. Collectively, the team worked together to help veterans find the right opportunities with the best matched employers.

“This was our first transition summit, and it exceeded our expectations,” said Jason Platt, Capacity Development Director for Trimac Transportation. “Bill did a great job promoting trucking as a reputable career choice for veterans, and it showed by the amount of traffic we had at the career fair.”

Our partners were inspired once again inspired by the quality of the candidates who attended the summit. Mike Raley, recruiting manager for Ryder System, Inc. and retired member of the U.S. Navy, said, “We had a wonderful time and counted it a privilege to be able to meet and get to know the service members at Fort Leonard Wood. As always, we found each of them to be of excellent character and bearing. Though we had no immediate hires or pre-hires, we plan to follow up with several people who expressed interest in Ryder as a company of interest upon separation.”

FASTPORT is committed to provide the on-ramp for veterans into important careers in the trucking industry. In partnership with Hiring Our Heroes, FASTPORT’s Trucking Track helps veterans transition into positions with the nation’s best carriers committed to hiring veterans. “Going on to truckingtrack.org to find great career opportunities anywhere in the country and learn about the industry is an easy but essential step for veterans before entering the trucking industry,” said McLennan. “The Fort Leonard Wood summit helped educate hundreds of transitioning service members they already have industry experience and are hard-wired to succeed once they get started. We look forward to educating and inspiring more talented veterans at the next summit to pursue these great career opportunities in the trucking industry.”