Spanish Newspaper

The hardest parts of most truckers’ jobs are driving long hours, loading and reloading the truck, and performing maintenance or tune-ups on the vehicle—it isn’t trying to read the load board or truckers’ news.  

But for truckers who speak English as a second language, trying to read enough to communicate within the industry can be a major challenge.  That’s why many web sites and publications for truckers are now launching Spanish language versions of their sites or publications.  

For instance, Randall Publishing released Truckers News en Espanol, the first Spanish language publication to target Hispanic truck drivers, in 2005.  The publication, which appeared in newsstands at truck stops across the nation, had a booming circulation of 50,000, and consisted of news articles and information especially pertaining to truck drivers. According to the Vice President of Randall’s Truck Stop Division, the publication was created because of the large role Hispanic truckers were playing in the industry.  In fact, when the publication was launched, the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that fifteen percent of the 3.2 million truck drivers in the United States were Hispanic.  

So truckers from all backgrounds could be on the same page, the magazine provided the same article in both its English language publication and Trucker News en Espanol.  A translating company was hired for the translation of the English article into Spanish. In addition to providing identical information in the two publications, researchers at Randall Publishing also recognized the importance of producing unique material specific to the Hispanic trucker.  

Though providing news and articles about the trucking industry in Spanish is an important way to reach out to Spanish speaking truckers, it does not make many aspects their job easier.  Instead, truckers who do not speak English as a second language must struggle to make it through many duties of their day that include reading or speaking and understanding English. For this reason, C.H. Robinson has gone a step further than providing Spanish language news publications.   

Just recently, the company’s worldwide and often-frequented site, CHRWTrucks.com, has become available in Spanish.  The site, where C.H. Robinson’s contract carriers can choose loads throughout North America, provides relevant information to truckers including discount fuel program information and answers to payment questions.  Most importantly, the site allows Spanish-speaking truckers, who may be from Mexico, to search for loads, making this part of their job a little easier.  

According to the Vice President of the company, the site was created in order to create a more comfortable environment for all carriers. Although these are just two examples of the Spanish language infiltrating the trucking industry, truckers should keep alert for more Spanish language trucking materials, as Hispanic truckers are beginning to make up a large part of the industry.