“Celebrating 15 years is about looking back and paving the way,” said founder and CEO Kamel Gaines (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves).
Third party truck driver recruitment agency Rig on Wheels celebrates its 15th anniversary next week.
The Houston-based recruiting agency has partnered with trucking companies across the country to innovate recruiting strategies, improve driver retention and inform industry leadership.
To celebrate 15 years in business, CEO Kamel Gaines is hosting a virtual event on January 24, where he will discuss key company events live YouTube: and – if possible – TikTok:.
Ahead of the event, FreightWaves spoke with Gaines in a phone interview about his journey as an entrepreneur in the trucking industry, his insights on driver recruitment and what it’s like to see increasing diversity in the industry.
“Rig on Wheels is more than a recruitment agency; we partner to help trucking companies grow and prosper,” he said. “Celebrating 15 years is about looking back and paving the way forward.”
Gaines, a Chicago native, first started Rig on Wheels after being laid off when the school he was accepted to closed. Answering an ad recruiting contract truck drivers, he found his passion for an industry he knew little about at first. :
Gaines said entrepreneurship is in his blood. her mother ran several of her own businesses when she was a teenager, so she is not afraid to start her own business.
It wasn’t easy, though. Gaines recalled a turning point early in his new business when he considered going part-time so he could work elsewhere full-time.
“It made me sad,” Gaines said. “That’s when I knew I loved it. I poured everything I had into it. I started to educate myself so much about everything in trucking… At that point, I realized it wasn’t just “I like it.” It’s “I love this.”
At Sterling Recruitment Solutions, Gaines honed his recruiting skills with the help of his mentor, Larry Johnson, who he said is a father figure to him, and he still looks up to this day.
“He was a strong figure when it came to mentorship, more than when it came to trucking,” Gaines said.
When asked how he manages all these components of his business, Gaines said it helped to have a great team working for Rig on Wheels.
“My team is great,” he said. But you hire someone who compliments your personality so you can all work together as a team.”
Gaines also said it’s important to hire employees who are versatile and can grow and develop their skills within their own company.
“You don’t want to get someone who can only do one thing,” Gaines said. “You want to get someone who can do AI, [who] is open minded [and] works well with your company culture.”
Rig on Wheels’ Faces of the Road initiative launched in 2024 to celebrate the diversity of America’s truck drivers with a product line that showcases drivers’ unique journeys and contributions to the industry.
“A lot of times when you see truck drivers, it’s just an old white man,” Gaines said. “But those days are over. Our truck drivers are white, black, Hispanic and Asian… It’s more than just, but they usually fall into those four categories.”
This year, Rig on Wheels has developed a calendar where each month different drivers from different backgrounds and ethnicities will share their experiences in the trucking industry.
“Rig on Wheels is very driver-centric,” Gaines said. “We needed drivers to see themselves. I think retention starts with recruitment, it’s not a stand-alone thing.”
She said truck drivers and society as a whole should view trucking as a respectable career for all people.As an African-American woman and business leader, Gaines said she sometimes faces “problems” based on discrimination.
“What I do is I always try my best,” Gaines said, “and I tell my staff that [they] working with and for the black woman in this industry, and we can’t afford to make mistakes. We don’t get second chances.”
Gaines talked about the changes he’s seen in driver recruiting over the past 15 years.
“The driver has changed because the industry is not as respected,” he said [because of that.] Now I see us changing that.”
He said that in the past 18 months, carriers have begun enforcing more discipline on drivers who are erratic or have a poor work ethic.
“That culture has been in this industry for years and years,” Gaines said are not accepted.” They really step in and are strict about it.”
Gaines said this change is being driven by shippers putting pressure on carriers to introduce a different type of driver to the market.
“Operators have had to compete at levels they haven’t had to compete for in a very, very long time,” Gaines said.
He said this changed the hiring discussion from “not hiring drivers with safety issues” to “not hiring drivers who left their last company or were fired for attendance.”
“It brings some respect in the industry,” Gaines said. “And I think truck drivers should be respected as much as pilots.”
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