"When I first started at a different truck company (in western Victoria), I was kind of fast-tracked into it," he said.

"It was very confusing for me, even taking trailers off or even knowing anything about trailers, even hooking on.

"I was thrown in the deep end; 'Do it'."

So Mr Howson values the transport industry career pathways program he completed at O'Brien Transport, which helped him progress to a multi-combination (B-double) licence.

"I've always wanted to, my dad's an MC driver and I felt like that's where I'd go," he said.

"It really gave me the chance to be able to do it."

The pathways program O'Brien Transport developed over the past year built on the unofficial training and mentoring already taking place at the South Albury company.

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Human resources manager Rod McIntosh said it aimed to tackle a industry-wide shortage as truck drivers aged and retired.

"A lot of experience goes out when they leave but we're not seeing the younger generation come through," he said.

School leavers, for example, could start off washing the trucks, then progress to the forklift, then smaller trucks around town and work their way up to bigger trucks and longer trips.

Safety and compliance manager Leonie Scanlon said the monitoring helped develop safe habits and highlighted any areas for improvement, such as managing fatigue.

"Historically, it would be one of those last professions where you didn't need any academic stuff, you just jumped on a truck and drove, but it is so much more now," she said.

Corporate services manager Christine O'Brien said drivers needed skills in customer service and teamwork, as well the ability to be adaptable and dependable.

"There's personal qualities that you're looking for as well, we want to bring people like Luke through who can mentor the other people coming through, so there's a fit," she said.

"There's all these attributes that go into making a professional driver a Professional Driver."

Not all transport and logistics careers involve truck driving, with other roles in the workshop, administration, accounting, warehousing, operations and business development.

The O'Brien Transport representatives also point out their industry is less affected by COVID-19 shutdowns than many others.

"Our industry keeps on moving, so there is opportunity for people who might be in hospitality to consider a career option where our wheels keep on turning, we don't stop," Mrs O'Brien said.

Mr Howson said the pathways program had been a big help and the support continued.

"I'm always pulling up people who've been here longer than me, who'll tell me if I'm not 100 per cent sure," he said.

"It's definitely a way to become a professional driver."

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