Darrel Harris is the first Black president of a major trucking company. Yellow is the fifth largest transportation company in the country and the second largest “less than truckload” (LTL) company in the nation. After working his way through trucking and shipping over 25 years, Harris speaks with a confidence and passion that is balanced with his humility and desire to serve.

Yellow, based in Kansas, has 30,000 employees, operates in all 50 states as well as Canada and Mexico and has 200,000 customers ranging from Walmart and Target to small businesses. The company’s leader refers to himself as “a servant for our employees with a platform and opportunity to make a difference in underserved communities.”

Over the last 18 months, many companies have promised their solidarity and pledged resources to diversity and inclusion. Few have decided to take their efforts literally to the street. Harris says of Yellow’s new messaging, “we’re going to take the message to these communities. We’re going to offer people the opportunity to get them into the trucking business, to help them learn the industry. In certain cases we’ll train them to become truck drivers. If they seek other opportunities and leadership, we’ll offer those mentorship and development opportunities, very similar to what I was provided with early on in my career, so that we can help people grow and develop. And this is something that we’re taking very seriously, something that we’re working very diligently on, and we look forward to learning from our efforts, building on the program as we go forward.”

This is something that we’re taking very seriously, something that we’re working very diligently on, and we look forward to learning from our efforts, building on the program as we go forward.

In a 2017 survey, it was estimated that more than 90 percent of truck drivers were male, and two-thirds of them white. In the midst of a national supply chain crisis, neither women nor non-White workers are flocking to fill the gap. Harris believes there are many industry executives that want to “figure out how to bring more diversity into their organization. He explains, “I think where the efforts have been lost in the past is we don’t put enough into educating and communicating specific goals that align not only with the company’s objectives, but also with folks that are working to get into the business from underserved communities.

Harris is speaking from experience. He says, “my first job in this industry was working as a part-time dock worker at $10.50 cents an hour. I try to tell people that may not realize it, that when I got that job, I was one of the highest paid people in my family.”

He spotted an open door and his strong work ethic kicked in. “I realized that there was a tremendous amount of opportunity for upward mobility. I was interested in growing as a leader. Although that wasn’t on my radar when I first went to work the dock at $10.50 an hour, the industry has a way of sucking you in. There’s a tremendous amount of opportunity to grow for those that are willing to do the work.”

Darrel Harris certainly put in the work. In addition to moving across the country nine times, he shares, “I had to do a lot of things early on that don’t fit the profile of my job today. I had to come in and work the dock in unfavorable weather conditions, starting out in Kansas city where it gets very hot in the summer and it gets very cold in the winter. But you’re going to have to meet people at the 50. You have to do the job, work hard, show up on time and be willing to humble yourself and learn things and do things that maybe don’t seem very appealing initially at the time.”

It’s not only the right thing to do, but the successful businesses going forward are going to be the companies that take diversity initiatives seriously and are active in it.

Yellow’s “Drive for Diversity” initiative is not just another marketing ploy or effort to appease a company’s fear of missing out on the trend. Harris states he has an “obligation” to create change and it’s not just because diversity offers a competitive advantage. Harris insists, “when you find yourself in a situation like we’re in, that has been prompted by this national pandemic where we just can’t get enough help, there’s a great opportunity that allows us to improve our efforts around diversity, bring new perspectives and new people into the business that weren’t previously considering it. It’s not only the right thing to do, but the successful businesses going forward, whether they’re in trucking or not, are going to be the companies that take diversity initiatives seriously and are active in it.”

It’s easy to hear the clear desire Harris has to stimulate the growth and profitability of the company, to open doors to people who have been traditionally excluded from the industry, and to offer life-changing careers to people who typically have not considered trucking. But the newly minted President offered up another critical reason for the Yellow’s Drive for Diversity initiative. He stated, “it is important for our employee base and our strategic initiatives to mirror the communities that we serve. And you can only do that if you reach out and find the talent that is out there in these areas to drive this company to the next level.”

That’s how Darrel Harris and Yellow are driving toward progress – right through the center of the city.

Click here to learn more about Yellow and their opportunities.

About 500 people have overdosed from the little blue pill that’s a counterfeit of Roxicodone, according to South Carolina’s Opioid Emergency Response Team. Many of the cases involved people ages 20 to 29.

Roxicodone is an opioid that’s prescribed to treat pain. The pills are also known as fake roxis, WYFF-TV reported.

Many of the people who have overdosed got the pills from a relative or friend who did not know what they were giving out, authorities said.

Greenwood and Union counties are hot spots for overdoses involving the blue pills, officials said.

In 2016, I had a straightforward question for Black Americans: “What do you have to lose?”

Black Americans don’t have to ask what they have to lose in 2020. Instead, the question should now be, “how much more do we have to gain?”

As your President, I’ve done more for the Black community than Democrats like Joe Biden have done in 47 years, and we are going to do so much more. As part of our efforts, we’ve unveiled my second term agenda called the “Platinum Plan” for Black Economic Empowerment, to ensure even more Black Americans have the opportunity to succeed over the next four years.

The plan is built around the pillars of opportunity, security, prosperity and fairness. I’ve committed to adding 3 million new jobs for the Black community, creating 500,000 new Black-owned businesses and increasing access to capital in Black communities by almost $500 Billion to create an era of new prosperity and to finally close the wealth gap.

We are increasing access to capital and economic empowerment for the Black community as a way to build Black generational wealth.

I knew that I could do more for Black America than the Democrat Party has ever done because I am aboutaction. In fact, it’s the Democrats who exploit the sympathies and trust of Black Americans with false promises and empty rhetoric.

Since I became your President, I’ve fought for all Americans. Unlike the D.C. political establishment, which looked out for only a small group of elites at the expense of working families — my Administration is empowering all Americans with an agenda that puts you first, because I care.

The unemployment and poverty rates for Black Americans hit record lows just before we were attacked by the China Virus. Wages are now growing faster than they have in over a decade, especially for blue-collar workers. 

My Administration is fighting to stop illegal immigration, which hurts Black communities, protect school choice, giving parents more options to access better schools for their children, create new and high-paying jobs, and increase investment in low-income areas — these initiatives create unprecedented opportunities for long-forgotten communities across the country.

I was also honored to work with U.S. Senator Tim Scott to create the Opportunity Zones program established through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which has already attracted $75 billion in new private investments and created 500,000 new jobs in struggling, underserved communities.

When it comes to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), it was my honor to be the first sitting President to invite all HBCU leaders to the White House, address the HBCU Week Conference and permanently fund these important schools through the FUTURE Act.

I am proud that we also passed landmark criminal justice reform to undo the damage of mass incarceration. This is helping people, who in many cases have served harsh sentences for non-violent crimes, to have a second chance at their American Dream. This is widely viewed as one of the greatest bipartisan victories in a long time, and a testament to what we can achieve together.

When there was increased violence and deaths in Democrat-controlled cities, we started Operation Legend, after young LeGend Taliferro and we are seeing results. When lawless criminals kept looting, burning and destroying Black businesses and communities, I said we needed peace, law and order in these same cities to keep communities, and families safe.

In Black communities across the nation, there’s been a reckoning to the reality that the Democrats have failed them for generations. D.C. Democrats are happy to leave urban communities mired with failing schools, no jobs and lost hope while wasting time and taxpayer money on baseless and partisan politics.

The truth is this: Democrats despise my America First agenda because it broke up their taxpayer-funded gravy train that enriched their friends and families, shipped jobs overseas, supported illegal immigrants and continued endless wars while leaving Black American families high and dry.

I will continue to work with any and all Americans who want to Make America Great Again by bringing back American jobs, improving our schools, building safer and more prosperous communities and reuniting families through meaningful justice reforms.

When I promised to stand for the forgotten men and women of this country—whether they live in Chicago or Charlotte, Detroit or Dubuque, or if they are black or white—I meant it. And that’s exactly what I’ve done.

So, I ask you to examine my record and consider voting for me to continue to fight for you, as your President, for four more years.