Podcast: Ryder recruiter Suzanne Varghese on veteran hiring best practices

Ryder recruiter Suzanne Varghese, a former Navy maintenance supervisor, explains the best practices that make Ryder one of the top employers for veterans looking for a job in trucking.
Dec. 4, 2025
2 min read

Key Highlights

  • Veterans can bring leadership, dependability, and technical skill to their civilian jobs, not to mention CDLs and certifications
  • But hiring them can mean fleets and shops need to go the extra mile, such as recruiting at installation career fairs and partnering with Hiring Our Heroes.
  • During hiring, it also helps to connect with them honestly during their interviews, and once they're onboarded, make sure that they can see a career path ahead of them and have a mentor to help with questions 
Suzanne Varghese / ID 10393792 © Rcpphoto | Dreamstime.com
Ryder recruiter Suzanne Varghese

When it comes to adding veterans to your fleet or shop, there are plenty of benefits you stand to gain. After all, many veterans bring both hard and soft skills to the table, from technical training to leadership, dedication, and reliability.

For instance, Suzanne Varghese, a gas turbine engine mechanic and maintenance supervisor for the U.S. Navy has parlayed her skills to the civilian world with Ryder as a recruiter. In this episode of The Fleet Lead, listen to Fleet Maintenance's Editor-in-Chief John Hitch, a former submarine sonar technician, discuss vet hiring best practices with Varghese.

And along with commercial vehicle maintenance, this is one area Ryder excells at. Ryder has more than 4,000 veterans on staff and is routinely recognized as a top employer for vets. Since 2011, Ryder has hired more than 15,000 veterans.

Photo courtesy of Suzanne Varghese
Before becoming a recruiter for Ryder, Suzanne Varghese spent several years maintaining and troubleshooting gas turbine enignes for the Navy.

Before becoming a recruiter for Ryder, Suzanne Varghese spent several years maintaining and troubleshooting gas turbine enignes for the Navy.

Chapters:

1:29 - Varghese's role with Ryder

4:25 - Life as a Navy technician

11:50 - Where and how to recruit veterans

13:42 - How to interview a veteran

17:44 - Veterans' soft skills

Listen to the interview on this week's episode of The Fleet Lead podcast below or search for The Fleet Lead on your favorite podcast app:

For more on veterans in trucking:

About the Author

John Hitch

John Hitch

Editor-in-chief, Fleet Maintenance

John Hitch is the award-winning editor-in-chief of Fleet Maintenance, where his mission is to provide maintenance leaders and technicians with the the latest information on tools, strategies, and best practices to keep their fleets' commercial vehicles moving.

He is based out of Cleveland, Ohio, and has worked in the B2B journalism space for more than a decade. Hitch was previously senior editor for FleetOwner and before that was technology editor for IndustryWeek and and managing editor of New Equipment Digest.

Hitch graduated from Kent State University and was editor of the student magazine The Burr in 2009. 

The former sonar technician served honorably aboard the fast-attack submarine USS Oklahoma City (SSN-723), where he participated in counter-drug ops, an under-ice expedition, and other missions he's not allowed to talk about for several more decades.

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