The tall, slim brunette is a familiar presence at truck shows and truck stops across the country. She greets you with a warm smile, a friendly handshake — and a few questions about your truck equipment preferences or maintenance habits. Diane Gainer is a field research manager for Markinetics Inc, a marketing firm with expertise in the transportation industry.
When manufacturers or service providers need to know what truck drivers think, Markinetics works up a plan and recommends a venue. The choice is typically between direct mail, telephone or face-to-face interviews. The face-to-face interviews call on Gainer's administrative and personal skills.
“Face-to-face interviews can be at a truck stop or a trade show,” she said. She handles the logistics of getting the research into the field and training the staff to recruit drivers to take surveys. “We have relationships with a network of truck stops and shows across the country, so we can choose the locations most likely to put us within reach of the people we need to talk to.”
Before arriving at a show or truck stop, she arranges in advance to get a location in a high traffic area with electrical outlets for her array of computers. The heavy laptop computers and support equipment have to be set up and taken down each day on location.
“It is labor intensive,” she admits. Occasionally, a driver offers to help load the heavy cases. More often, Gainer wrestles them alone. “Being able to handle them is one of the benefits I get from working out at the YWCA all year long!”
Once the computer-based surveys are up and running, her next task is to recruit drivers to answer the questions. But not just any driver will do.
“We look for drivers that meet the research criteria. The criteria depends on what we're trying to find out,” she said. “Sometimes the criteria just states “owner/operator” or “company driver” and that makes it easy. Other times, we screen for a very narrowly defined set of qualifications, such as a long distance haul owner/operator using a particular make of a certain product, such as an engine, tire or polish. Typically, we have only one to three days to talk to at least ‘X' number of drivers who match these criteria. That's much harder.”
Despite the pressure to meet survey quotas, Gainer and her field staff remain friendly and respectful when asking drivers to take surveys. “The drivers have a job to do, just like we do, and they're probably tired, hungry or worried about schedules.”
Gainer recalled one occasion when “a young driver fell asleep in the middle of his survey. We let him doze for a bit, then nudged him awake so he could go take a nap.”
Sometimes a driver will sound gruff in his refusal. “But more often than not, those drivers will come back later and apologize,” said Gainer. “After a shower, or a hot meal or some sleep, they feel better and offer to take the survey. I appreciate their thoughtfulness very much.”
After seven years of visiting truck shows and truck stops across the continental U.S., Gainer has developed an appreciation for drivers and their demanding lifestyles.
“Drivers come from a variety of backgrounds,” she said. “I've met a former highway patrolman who had enough of law enforcement and became an owner/operator. Another was a pharmaceutical salesman earning a six-figure salary. His company wanted him to relocate his family. He joined a relative in the trucking business instead.”
One veteran driver recalled that in his early days, trucks had no air conditioning, little heat and few ergonomic comforts. One truck stop offered drivers a meal and a cot in a stuffy room. Now, the driver told her, he qualifies for retirement, but continues to drive because the company gave him “a fancy truck — and because he just loves being on the road.”
Gainer also met one memorable husband-and-wife team — twice.
“The husband-and-wife team took our survey in a truck stop in New Jersey. A month later, we were conducting the survey in a truck stop in California and they came in. We were all surprised to see each other again,” she said. “In all these years, that was the first time I've encountered the same drivers in two different locations.”
Over the years, Gainer has discovered some truths about driving that don't show up on the average survey.
“One of the hardest things for a driver to get on the job,” she said, “is respect. It's hard work, a demanding lifestyle, and it can take its toll. Yet most drivers are good people who do an important job for this country. They're underappreciated. When we invite them to take our surveys, we make an effort to show them the appreciation and respect they deserve.”