The Peak Season Driver Shortage: 5 Ways Fleets Can Get Ahead

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Peak season can put pressure on every part of a fleet’s operation, but staffing problems become especially difficult when freight volume increases faster than the driver workforce can support it. 

Whether your busiest months are driven by holiday freight, retail demand, produce season, construction, or another industry cycle, waiting until volume starts climbing to recruit additional drivers can leave your team competing for candidates at the same time as other carriers. By then, recruiters may be trying to fill urgent openings while operations teams are already dealing with scheduling gaps, overtime, and capacity concerns. 

A stronger approach is to prepare for seasonal demand before it becomes an immediate staffing problem. Fleets that understand where their recruiting challenges are likely to occur and begin building candidate pipelines early have more flexibility when freight picks up. Keep reading for five ways fleets can get ahead of peak season driver shortages. 

Recruiting usually becomes more difficult when a hiring need turns urgent. If freight volume increases in November, for example, beginning a major recruiting push in November leaves little room for sourcing candidates, reviewing applications, completing background checks, scheduling orientation, and getting new drivers ready to work. Other fleets may also be increasing their hiring efforts at the same time, creating more competition for qualified CDL drivers. 

Starting earlier gives recruiters time to build relationships with potential candidates before every opening needs to be filled immediately. It also gives fleets more freedom to evaluate candidates carefully instead of rushing the process because an empty truck needs a driver. 

Consider working backward from your expected peak period and estimating how long your typical hiring and onboarding process takes. From there, recruiters can establish a timeline for increasing job advertising, outreach, referrals, and candidate follow-up. 

Even when a fleet does not need every driver immediately, developing a pipeline of interested and qualified candidates can make it easier to respond when openings become available. 

Identify Your Hardest-to-Fill Positions 

Not every driving position is going to create the same recruiting challenge during peak season. 

Some routes may already attract applicants consistently, while others remain difficult to staff because of location, home time, schedule, freight type, compensation, or job requirements. Looking at previous recruiting results can help fleets determine where shortages are most likely to occur. 

Review your hiring data and talk with recruiters and operations teams about positions that repeatedly take longer to fill. You should pay particular attention to factors such as: 

  • Geographic areas with limited applicant pools 
  • Night, weekend, or irregular schedules 
  • Routes with less frequent home time 
  • Specialized endorsements or experience requirements 
  • Positions with higher physical demands 
  • Compensation packages that regularly lose candidates to competitors 

Once those jobs have been identified, you can direct more recruiting resources toward them before they become urgent openings. 

That might mean increasing advertising spend in a specific market, adjusting compensation, expanding the recruiting radius, creating a referral incentive for a particular location, or developing campaigns specifically around difficult routes. 

 

During competitive hiring periods, drivers may review multiple opportunities within a short period of time. A job posting that leaves important details unclear can quickly lose their attention. 

Drivers generally want to know what the position will mean for their paycheck and daily life. Make sure that information is easy to find. 

A strong CDL job posting should clearly explain: 

  • Pay structure and realistic earnings 
  • Home time and typical schedule 
  • Route type and operating area 
  • Benefits and eligibility 
  • Equipment 
  • Freight type 
  • Touch or no-touch requirements 
  • Required endorsements and experience 
  • Sign-on, referral, or seasonal incentives when applicable 

Try to avoid relying on phrases such as “competitive pay,” “great home time,” or “excellent benefits”  when more specific information is available. Candidates should not have to speak with a recruiter before learning the basic conditions of the job. 

Peak season also provides a good reason to review existing job postings and make sure the information is still accurate. If compensation, routes, benefits, equipment, or schedules have changed since the posting was created, update the description before increasing advertising spend. 

 

A single source of applicants may work during slower hiring periods, but it can become a major limitation when a fleet suddenly needs to increase hiring. 

Recruiting across several channels gives fleets more opportunities to reach drivers with different job-search habits. Some drivers regularly use trucking job boards, while others may respond to social media advertising, recruiter outreach, employee referrals, or targeted digital campaigns. 

Depending on the positions you need to fill, your recruiting mix could include: 

  • CDL-specific job boards 
  • General employment websites 
  • Social media 
  • Direct recruiter outreach 
  • Email or text campaigns 
  • Targeted digital advertising 

Fleets should also track which sources generate qualified applicants rather than focusing only on application volume. One channel might produce a large number of leads but very few drivers who meet the job requirements. Another may deliver fewer applications but significantly stronger candidates. Reviewing that information before peak season can help recruiters make better decisions about where to invest additional time and budget. 

From Applicant to Hire 

Getting more applicants will not solve a staffing problem if qualified drivers are then just getting stuck in the hiring process. 

During peak season, speed matters because strong candidates may be speaking with several carriers at once. Long applications, repeated requests for the same information, delayed recruiter responses, or unclear next steps can give another employer time to make an offer first. 

It helps to review your application and hiring process from the driver’s perspective. Look for unnecessary steps that can be removed or combined, especially at the beginning of the process. 

Drivers should also have a simple way to connect with a recruiter when they have questions. A candidate who is interested in the position should not have to submit multiple forms or wait several days before speaking with someone. 

Recruiting teams can prepare for increased seasonal volume by establishing clear expectations for applicant follow-up, identifying which screening steps can happen earlier, and making sure recruiters have the information they need to answer common questions about each position. 

 

Peak season driver shortages are much easier to manage when recruiting begins before freight volume reaches its highest point. 

Starting early gives fleets time to build a stronger candidate pipeline, identify difficult positions, improve job advertising, test different recruiting channels, and remove unnecessary delays from the hiring process. Those preparations can give recruiters more options when demand increases instead of forcing them to solve every staffing problem at the last minute. 

Drive My Way helps carriers connect with qualified CDL drivers based on the details that matter to both the fleet and the candidate. Talk to Drive My Way about building a driver recruiting strategy that can help your fleet prepare for peak season. 

 

 

For more ways to stay ahead of the curve in the transportation industry, be sure to check out the rest of our Employer Blog posts and connect with us on social media.  

Strategic Driver Recruitment Budgeting for 2025

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As we approach 2025, CEOs in the trucking industry face a critical challenge: how to effectively budget for driver recruitment in an increasingly competitive and technologically advanced landscape. The ongoing driver shortage, coupled with evolving recruitment technologies and changing driver expectations, necessitates a strategic approach to recruitment budgeting. This article aims to provide CEOs with insights and strategies to optimize their driver recruitment budgets for 2025. 

 

Understanding the Current Landscape 

 

The trucking industry reportedly needs more than 1 million new drivers over the next decade to meet demand and replace those leaving the industry. The ATA expects the current shortage of 78,000 drivers to more than double by 2031, putting unprecedented pressure on recruitment efforts. Moreover, the cost of recruitment has been steadily rising, with the average cost-per-hire in the trucking industry is between $5,000 to $10,000 according to recent industry reports. 

 

Key Components of a Strategic Recruitment Budget 

 

  1. Technology Investments

 

In 2025, technology will play an even more crucial role in driver recruitment. Your budget should account for: 

 

  • Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS): Your applicant tracking systems can streamline the application process and help manage candidate relationships more effectively. Be sure that your ATS includes a CDL compliant application.  
  • Technology enabled candidate matching platforms: These can significantly reduce time-to-hire by quickly identifying the most suitable candidates. 
  • Mobile-friendly application processes: With more job searches happening on mobile devices, ensuring your application process is mobile-optimized is crucial. 

 

When budgeting for these technologies, consider not just the upfront costs but also ongoing maintenance, updates, and training for your team. 

 

  1. Marketing and Advertising

 

The shift towards digital recruitment strategies is likely to continue. Your 2025 budget should reflect this: 

 

  • Analyze the results across all your recruitment marketing sources, scale back to the few that produce the greatest return on your investment, and increase the allocation for targeted campaigns across those sourcing channels 
  • Focus on improving how you advertise your employment value proposition to attract new drivers to the industry 
  • Maintain a balance with traditional methods that still yield results in certain demographics 

 

  1. Recruiter Training and Development

 

As recruitment processes evolve, so must your team. Budget for: 

 

  • Upskilling programs focused on new technologies 
  • Training to improve the candidate experience and engagement 
  • Courses on data analysis to make better use of recruitment metrics 

 

Investing in your recruitment team can lead to more efficient processes and better hiring decisions, potentially reducing long-term costs. 

 

  1. Retention Initiatives

 

Remember, an effective recruitment budget also includes retention efforts. Consider allocating funds for: 

 

  • Comprehensive onboarding programs 
  • Ongoing training and development opportunities 
  • Regular driver satisfaction surveys and feedback mechanisms 

 

Industry data shows that the cost of replacing a driver can be up to 30% of a driver’s annual earnings, making retention a crucial part of your overall recruitment strategy. 

 

ROI Metrics to Guide Your Budgeting 

 

When planning your budget, ensure that you have robust reporting capabilities that will allow you to focus on these key ROI metrics: 

 

  1. Cost per hire: Track this closely and aim to reduce it over time through more efficient processes. Focus on results, not activity; on quality, not quantity. Cost-per-lead is not a valuable measure. 
  2. Engagement and Funnel Conversion: Understand how, when, and why drivers are progressing through your recruitment funnel to improve your candidate experience and ability to convert interested drivers to hires. Examine your interest to hire ratio. 
  3. Time to hire: Faster hiring means trucks get on the road quicker, directly impacting your bottom line. 
  4. Quality of hire: Monitor performance metrics of new hires to ensure your recruitment efforts are bringing in the right talent. 
  5. Retention rates: Higher retention means lower long-term recruitment costs. Understanding voluntary turnover reasons and tenure time can provide you with valuable insights to improving driver retention.  

 

Forecasting and Flexibility 

 

Your 2025 budget should be data-driven but flexible. Use historical data and industry projections to forecast your needs but build in contingencies for market changes. Consider scenario planning for different economic conditions—what would your recruitment needs and strategies look like in a booming economy versus a recession? 

 

Leveraging Partnerships 

 

Consider allocating budget for strategic partnerships that can amplify your recruitment efforts: 

 

  • Recruitment partners with specific industry expertise 
  • Driving schools for a pipeline of new talent 
  • Industry associations for networking and shared resources 

 

These partnerships can provide access to a wider talent pool and potentially reduce your overall recruitment costs. 

 

Balancing Technology and Human Interaction 

 

While technology can dramatically improve efficiency, the human element remains crucial in driver recruitment. Your budget should reflect a balance: 

 

  • Invest in technology for initial screening and matching 
  • Allocate resources for personal outreach to top candidates 
  • Ensure your recruiters have time for meaningful conversations with potential hires. A recruiter’s time should be spent on the most valuable part of the process, conducting the assessment and selection, not on administrative tasks.  

 

Finding the right balance can lead to more effective recruitment and higher-quality hires. 

 

Legal and Compliance Considerations 

 

Don’t overlook the importance of compliance in your budgeting: 

 

  • Allocate funds for thorough background checks and drug testing 
  • Stay updated on changing regulations and budget for any necessary adjustments to your processes 

 

Failing to comply with regulations can lead to significant costs and reputational damage, making this an essential part of your budget. 

 

Measuring Success and Adjusting Strategies 

 

Your recruitment budget should not be set in stone. Plan for regular reviews and adjustments based on performance: 

 

  • Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) aligned with your company’s goals 
  • Schedule quarterly budget reviews to assess performance against these KPIs 
  • Be prepared to reallocate funds based on what is working and what is not working  

 

This agile approach allows you to optimize your budget throughout the year, ensuring you’re getting the best return on your recruitment investment. 

 

The Strategic Imperative of Recruitment Budgeting 

 

As we look towards 2025, it’s clear that strategic driver recruitment budgeting is more than just a financial exercise—it’s a key differentiator in a highly competitive industry. By focusing on technology, balanced with the human element, and remaining flexible and data-driven, you can create a recruitment strategy that not only fills seats but builds a stable, satisfied driver workforce. 

 

The most successful companies in 2025 will be those that view driver recruitment not as a cost center, but as a strategic investment in their company’s future. By carefully allocating resources, leveraging technology, and continuously measuring and adjusting your approach, you can build a recruitment strategy that gives your company a significant competitive advantage. 

 

As you plan your 2025 recruitment budget, consider how each allocation can contribute to not just hiring drivers, but building a resilient, high-performing fleet. In doing so, you’re not just preparing for the challenges of 2025—you’re positioning your company for long-term success in an ever-evolving industry. 

 

Remember, in the world of trucking, your drivers are your most valuable asset. A well-planned, strategic approach to recruitment budgeting is one of the most important investments you can make in your company’s future. To win in this industry you always need to be recruiting, even when you are not hiring.  

 

How to Recruit Truck Drivers in 2023

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Recruiting and retaining quality truck drivers is one of the biggest priorities for companies across the country in 2023. As one of the largest occupations in the United States, companies are always looking for new ways to hire. The question is, how do you recruit truck drivers, while simultaneously increasing your retention rate? The answer is to get creative and stand out from your competitors.  

What Are Truck Drivers Looking for in Their Next Job?  

With so many options available, truck drivers are making careful considerations before they accept a job offer. Trucking is one of the toughest jobs out there and drivers want to make sure the company they work for aligns with their career goals and personal needs. Some of the most common benefits that drivers look for include:  

  • Fair Pay 
  • Consistent / predictable home time 
  • Health Insurance 
  • Retirement Options 
  • Versatile Schedule & Paid Time Off 
  • Ongoing Training & Development  

When deciding how to recruit truck drivers to your team, you will want to ensure that you offer a comprehensive benefits package that is appealing to drivers in all stages of life, including those who are single, married, have children, etc. Offering competitive pay, bonuses, and regular raises is also key in attracting and retaining drivers. Ultimately, each driver you hire is going to have unique needs, so working with each person to understand what he/she wants during the recruitment and hiring process is also important.  

Who Are Your Potential Candidates?  

When companies consult with us about how to recruit truck drivers, we always want to make sure we help them identify the type of candidates they are looking for to fill their open positions.  

  • How much experience would you prefer they have? 
  • What are the routes you need filled?  
  • What can a driver expect in terms of pay, perks, and benefits? 
  • Do their values and work ethic match the company’s mission?  
  • Do you need drivers interested in team jobs?  

It is also important to remember that the demographics for truck drivers have evolved in recent years and your top candidates may not be the same as they were ten, or even five, years ago. The United States Census Bureau states that, “Among younger truckers under age 35, more of them are women, Hispanic and more educated than their older counterparts age 55 and older. They are more likely to be high school graduates and have some college education.” With that said, old recruiting tactics may no longer apply in trying to connect with a younger demographic or with women entering the trucking industry.   

Millennials 

A key demographic that is emerging with truck drivers is Millennials. This age group ranges from 27-42 and were born in, or after, 1981. This age group is less than the median age of truck drivers, which sits at 46, but offers potential for companies looking to recruit new talent. Truck drivers in this age range are looking for positions that will fit well with their lifestyle including benefits packages, flexible schedules, opportunities for advancement, positive work culture, and community. Recruiting a younger demographic requires creativity and willingness to foster an online presence on social media.  

Women 

“The percentage of professional drivers who are female has increased to 13.7 percent in 2022, an increase of more than three percent since 2019,” according to the Women in Trucking Association (WIT). With this substantial increase, companies must be more cognizant of the female demographic and what it will take to recruit female drivers to their teams. WIT offers a couple strategies to help recruit and retain drivers including broadening the talent search to include underrepresented demographics, including the female demographic, as well as offering opportunities and benefits that would resonate with female drivers.  

By recognizing the unique capabilities of different demographics, you can diversify your candidate pool and recruit talent from across the board.  

A Few Things to Avoid During Recruitment  

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “between 1995 and 2017, the annual turnover rate at large TL carriers averaged 94.0 percent and that at small TL carriers averaged 79.2 percent.” This alarming statistic shows that recruiting new employees is more than just onboarding; it is an ongoing relationship that must be fostered to be mutually beneficial for company and employee.  

Recruiters can follow all the best tips out there when it comes to finding top truck drivers to join their teams, but certain mistakes can end up costing even the most experienced recruiters a new hire at present, or later down the road, if an employee feels unhappy with his/her position. During the recruitment and onboarding process it is vital to remember: 

  • Communication is Key: From the first interaction to successfully onboarding a new driver, communication is the foundation of a successful relationship. People feel valued when they feel that employers are keeping them updated on where they are at in the hiring process and have a support system once they accept an offer. Even after onboarding, touching base with your recruits and asking for their feedback, goes a long way in establishing loyalty and increasing retention.  
  • Hire More Than the Stereotypical Truck Driver: As discussed earlier, the demographics for new drivers entering the market are very different than they used to be, so it’s important to keep an open mind when it comes to reviewing resumes and interviewing candidates. Don’t rely on referrals alone, consider the benefits of hiring younger drivers, female drivers, and even new drivers, especially for team jobs.  
  • Make It Personal: Drivers want to feel that they have a connection to your company, so offering personalized feedback is a nice touch during the recruitment process. Company-wide, it is also important to create a culture that makes each employee feel valued and that there is a community atmosphere.  

For more tips on recruiting truck drivers, download our Ultimate Guide to Truck Driver Recruiting. We look forward to helping you recruit and hire for your team! 

4 Tips for Recruiting Truck Drivers

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If the ongoing  shortage of truck drivers  has made one thing clear, it’s that recruiting and retaining drivers is more important than ever. Hiring, training, and retaining dedicated drivers is crucial to finding success in today’s economy, and it all starts with the recruitment of the right candidates for the job.  

Struggling to attract talent or recruit them into your organization? Wondering how to meet the demands of the market and stay competitive in an ever-changing industry? These 4 tips are sure to help you set your organization up for success when recruiting truck drivers.  

  1. Make Your Marketing Driver-Centric

In today’s world, drivers look to the regular marketing channels to find information about prospective companies and fleets. This means that good recruitment strategies begin with strong marketing and carefully curated content.  

What kinds of content currently exist on the company website and social media pages? Information about how successful a company is won’t be of much interest to a potential employee. It’s important to highlight driver-centric content, or the kinds of benefits a driver can receive from your company.  

Ultimately, a driver wants to know that the company will treat their drivers with care and provide the benefits they are looking for.  

Highlight any wellness programs or culture initiatives that differentiate your company from the competition. Providing information on schedules, work-life balance, and fleet amenities can help drivers see how much you care. Including testimonials from current, satisfied employees builds trust and offers the real insight drivers are looking for.  

Remember, drivers are always wondering “what can they do for me?” Driver-centric marketing will leave no doubt in their mind that you’re the right company for them.  

  1. Target the Right Audience 

Before you start moving prospective drivers through the recruitment pipeline, you have to be sure you’re selecting from the best pool of candidates for the job.  

Many driving fleets have very specific needs and requirements that not all candidates are ideal for. Knowing how to target the right segment of candidates will make the process more efficient and effective.  

Databases allow you to select drivers based on driver type, years of experience, haul experience, geographical location, and other factors. Focusing on any of these segments early in the recruiting process can save you time and energy. It will also increase the overall effectiveness of the company. By not optimizing this stage of recruitment, you could potentially lose hours chasing leads which were never well suited for that particular fleet or job.  

If you don’t have an easy or effective way to browse data on prospective drivers, Drive My Way can help you target the specific segment of drivers needed for your particular situation.  

  1. Use the Latest Digital Recruiting Methods

Driver recruitment methods are constantly changing, so it’s important to stay up to date with the latest and most effective strategies. Social media continues to evolve as a tool, and drivers use these platforms to research companies, read comments, and evaluate employers. Since drivers are often on the road, they’ll use their mobile devices to search for job leads.  

When viewers like, follow, share, or comment on your content, it can increase the audience exponentially. But advertising job postings on social media channels isn’t enough to attract the talent you’re looking for.  

Post engaging content on your platforms which drivers will want to view. In addition, search engine optimization of your content will ensure that your website is receiving as much traffic as possible. Use software like Google Analytics and Google Keyword Planner to optimize your post by including trending phrases and words.  

Applications should be short and mobile-friendly to avoid any bottlenecking in the recruiting process. Drivers often don’t have enough time to fill out a long application, so a shorter version with only basic information required is best initially, with the option to complete the remaining components later.  

It’s helpful to stay on top of the latest digital tools for recruiting and analyze which strategies could be useful for your company.   

  1. Re-engage Old Leads

In the trucking industry, the unusually high turnover rate of drivers poses a unique challenge for recruiters.  

One of the best ways a recruiter can continually bring people into the pipeline is by re-engaging old leads or cold leads.  

Many drivers who could be a perfect fit but were previously unavailable or chose to drive for a different fleet might be available and looking for opportunities again. Leads and prospects that have gone cold or did not convert into driver status should not be forgotten. Instead, keep them in mind for the future and maintain a connection.  

Drip marketing, engaging content on blogs, social media, and newsletters are all great strategies to stay connected to old leads and assure that your fleet remains fresh on their minds when they’re considering a new employer.  

 

 

While driver recruiting in the trucking industry can be daunting, many of the unique challenges you face can be combated by these solutions. Master these four tips to experience recruiting as it should be: easy, effective, and rewarding.  

How to Reduce Driver Application Abandonment

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truck driver application

Trucking recruiters are tasked with finding top candidates, matching them to the right jobs, and converting them into drivers for the fleet. That’s why it can become so frustrating when you notice that the number of drivers who apply for your jobs starts to drop. 

There could be many reasons why this is happening, but if you’ve got a solid reputation, great pay, and nice benefits and home time, the real reason could be right under your nose; application abandonment.  

Your carrier could have the best reputation, pay, benefits, and perks in the industry, but it amounts to little if you have an application process that is so frustrating for a driver to get through that they don’t even bother finishing it.  

A recent survey found that 92% of jobseekers who hit “apply”, never actually get through the entire job application. Just think about the great drivers your carrier could be missing out on because of a bad application process. Here are three things that could be causing truck driver application abandonment and what you can do to fix them.

1. Cut Down on the Length

If you’re dealing with high application abandonment, try putting yourself in a driver’s shoes. Most drivers don’t want to spend their limited free time filling out lengthy and complex applications. In fact, this is usually the top reason job seekers quit in the middle of applications. 

If your applications require drivers to answer multiple long form answers, input the same information multiple times, or they’re being asked tedious questions related to small details of the job, most will decide it’s not worth it and move on. Worst case, you may be losing these candidates to rival carriers who have optimized and shortened their applications. 

Ideally, your carrier’s application should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete. Instead of requiring drivers to provide every bit of information up-front during the application, focus on the basics and stick to questions that require simple answers. You can ask more detailed questions later, during the follow-up or in-person phone call.

2. Make Applications Mobile-Friendly

Since drivers spend most of their time on the road, they mainly search for and apply to jobs using their smartphones. In this mobile-first world, recruiters and fleet managers need to make sure they’re able to communicate and interface with drivers this way. Otherwise, you risk a large number of drivers abandoning your application. 

Optimize your applications for a mobile-first experience by using mobile rendering, saved login information, and other useful features. A lot of web providers will give you the ability to look at what a page will look like on a mobile device before you publish, so you can see if there are any issues.  

3. Collect Feedback

driver recruiterWhile you, as a recruiter can create what you think is the most efficient, painless, and all-around great application experience, you won’t really know how it is until drivers start applying. Even when they do start, it can be hard to gauge what’s working and what’s not since gathering data around job application abandonment can prove to be difficult. 

The solution lies in collecting driver feedback. Reach out to drivers who have completed your application process and see how they felt about it. You could offer an incentive to do so or tack it on as the last question during your initial phone screens with drivers. 

This information is invaluable in helping you and your recruiting team understand what’s working and what’s not in relation to your application.  

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Is the Truck Driver Shortage Real?

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For the better part of ten years, the trucking industry has been faced with what’s commonly been called a “truck driver shortage”. The thought is that there’s simply not enough drivers to fill the open positions that trucking companies have.  

Only recently have people started to challenge that narrative and ask themselves, “Is the issue a true shortage of truck drivers, or is it an issue of retaining truck drivers?” 

How did the “truck driver shortage” start?

There are differing accounts of when this issue started, but most agree that the deregulation of the trucking industry in the 1980’s kickstarted what we know as the “truck driver shortage”. Among many other things, less government involvement in the industry meant that carriers could pay drivers less and afford them less benefits.  

This helped to create the conditions that the industry finds itself in today. Fast forward to today, and due to a variety of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s a huge demand for moving freight and subsequently a huge demand for truck drivers.  

Couple that with fewer drivers on the road due to tight insurance requirements and suspensions from the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse, and the drivers who are left have the upper hand in which company they’ll drive for. Many carriers have already found out that truck drivers aren’t in a position where they have to accept poor working conditions, low pay, and subpar benefits anymore.  

This tight labor market isn’t just an issue known by people in the transportation industry anymore. It’s been making headlines for the better part of two years. Time Magazine, CBS News, the NY Times and more have covered the issue. Late night host, John Oliver even did a 24-minute segment on the “truck driver shortage” in early 2022.


Do truck drivers not want to work anymore?

A common misconception is that truck drivers, like a lot of other workers in our country, don’t want to work anymore and are exiting the industry. The fact is that there are many drivers who do want to work. They just have more options for where they can work and won’t hesitate to make a move if they find a carrier that’s offering better pay, a better work environment, and better home time

This leads to the metric we hear about all the time; driver turnover. Many people talk about it, but there’s a common misconception as to what it actually measures. The American Trucking Association, (ATA) who calculates the metric, clarified the issue in a recent blog post. 

“Turnover is not an indicator of people exiting the industry (we know, because ATA created and tabulated the metric). Rather, it more accurately measures drivers moving between carriers. It captures churn within the industry—not attrition from the industry. While retirements and exits account for a small percentage of turnover, by-in-large that is not what this figure is counting.”

In the trucking industry, turnover (as calculated by the ATA) measures drivers leaving one carrier for another, not drivers leaving the industry all together. 

This means that while there are drivers exiting the industry, it’s not happening at the rate that we’re led to believe. Instead, drivers are switching from one carrier to another for better pay, benefits, and routes. It’s not that there’s a shortage of truck drivers, it’s that drivers are in control of where they can sell their labor to.  

How will the “truck driver shortage” be resolved?

Since the problem isn’t a shortage of drivers, but a problem of retaining drivers, the solution is simple; make working conditions better for truck drivers. If you look at any data around truck driver happiness, you’ll see that there’s a laundry list of issues that frustrate drivers.  

Long wait times at shippers/receivers, lack of parking, little home time, and no input on company/driver policies are just a few of the issues that are causing drivers to look elsewhere for employment opportunities. 

It’s not surprising that the carriers that have an answer to these problems are also the ones with the highest driver retention rates.  

What can recruiters do?

Recruiters should focus on what they can control. This includes knowing your positions inside and out, making sure the driver’s first impression of your carrier is a positive one, and being communicative with candidates from start to finish. 

Another great practice for recruiters and HR professionals is to conduct exit or stay interviews with your drivers. This will give you extremely useful information as to why drivers are leaving your carrier, or why they’re choosing to stay.

While recruiters and HR professionals aren’t usually the ultimate decision-makers for things like pay, benefits, and work perks, that doesn’t mean they can’t influence those decision-makers.  

Do some research on what competitors in the area offer drivers in terms of pay, benefits, and home time. If your carrier doesn’t match up to them, make it a point to try and talk to management about making some changes.

The Bottom Line

Referring to the problem that the trucking industry is facing as a shortage of truck drivers shifts the blame off of carriers and onto truck drivers. Instead of focusing on improving the conditions that drivers are faced with, (low pay, sparse home time, demanding deadlines) calling it a shortage simply writes off the issue as “truck drivers are too picky and don’t want to work.” 

As more and more carriers begin to see that investing in their drivers’ happiness is the way to increase retention, the industry should begin to see those turnover numbers drop.  

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Rethinking Your Minimum Qualifications for Your CDL Jobs

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minimum driver qualifications
The higher the driver qualifications, the better the driver applicants. Right? Not always. In some cases, high minimum qualifications bring top driver leads, but it may also cause you to miss top drivers who are strong candidates but don’t meet your minimum criteria. Especially when you are hiring for several positions in challenging geographies, you may be better off with a high-volume hiring strategy. If you’re having trouble getting good drivers behind the wheel, rethink your minimum qualifications and open your hiring pool. 

Find True Minimums

When you set minimum qualifications, are you starting with the true minimums? Before you modify the job description to fit your internal, company-specific qualification minimums, start with federal and state requirements. Many companies aim above the 21-year-old age minimum for interstate driving or simply displaying a valid CDL. However, it’s important to be strategic about where to raise the bar and where to keep minimums at or near their base level. When you do finalize hires, best practices include keeping a driver qualification file for each driver. 

Use the Job as the Foundation

Before you set minimum qualifications in a job posting, closely analyze the details of the job in two rounds. In Round 1, make a list of the skills and qualifications that you are looking for in a driver. Which ones are “nice to haves” and which ones are essential for a driver to be able to successfully complete the job? Are any of the skills or qualifications that you listed in Round 1 on the list primarily because they are intended to drive up application quality? For requirements that are just “weed-out” criteria, consider lowering your bar slightly to increase the hiring pool for jobs that are difficult to fill. 

Which ones are “nice to haves” and which ones are essential. Distill your qualifications list to the true minimums.

In the second round of developing appropriate minimum qualifications, focus on the “need to haves.” Distill your qualifications list to the true minimum qualifications. Use federal and state requirements as well as the minimums that you determine for your company and the specific job in question. Do not inflate the required qualifications from the essentials. Keep all of the necessary qualifications on the job description skills list. From there, determine your next round of priority qualifications. Decide where to increase your minimum qualifications and where to leave them at their baseline. 

Minimum Qualifications Are Not Static

Once you have reevaluated the qualifications for each job posting, consider those requirements the starting point. Optimize minimum by making them responsive to driver supply and job demand. When applicant volume is low, decrease the minimum qualifications to increase the hiring pool. This is often an effective recruitment strategy when hiring in challenging geographies with limited drivers. Even within a single company, some jobs may mandate different qualifications. 

Qualification requirements are not static. When applicant volume is low, decrease the minimum qualifications to increase the hiring pool. When applicant volume is high and job demand is low, consider increasing minimum qualifications.

On the other hand, when applicant volume is high and job demand is low, consider increasing minimum qualifications. Rapid changes to job postings may cause interested drivers to get frustrated by the perceived changing standards. Increase the required qualifications gradually to find the balance point between a sufficient candidate pool and maximizing driver quality. Then, boost your efforts with other recruiting best practices to connect with the drivers who will be valued members of your fleet.

ultimate guide to truck driver recruiting

Ultimate Guide to Truck Driver Recruiting

Current ways of recruiting truck drivers just don’t work anymore. That’s because recruiting isn’t a transaction. This ultimate guide helps carriers recruit for retention.

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4 Ways to Expand Your Recruiting and Attract Minority Truckers

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4 Ways to Expand Your Recruiting and Attract Minority Truckers

Taking score of your overall recruitment efforts is important. Who are you reaching? What candidates are you obtaining? When you ask those questions, you need to measure the overall demographics of who you’re attracting to your open jobs vs. your goals. Setting out to expand your recruiting reach and get the attention of new prospects should be a measurable goal. When you seek to increase your reach to diversify your pool of drivers, you sometimes need to include new tactics. Here are 4 ways to expand your recruiting and attract minority truckers.

1. Create a Culture of Diversity

Your hiring plan should reflect the applicants you’re seeking. Therefore, it’s important to have a hiring plan that helps you broaden your reach and mix of candidates. Creating a culture of diversity is something that can help you attract a broad range of minority truckers’ applications.

Does the workplace reflect a welcoming atmosphere for everyone? Is your environment welcoming to everyone?

Setting up a culture of inclusivity in your workplace can be a great advantage in bringing in more minority truckers.

2. Use Marketing to Your Advantage

minority truck driverDoes your marketing work for attracting minority truckers? That can mean everything from featuring women and people of color in your images on your website, to showcasing that your benefits package is inclusive across all applicants. Marketing to minority truckers is advantageous and can just take a little bit of adjustments to your current plans.

Take stock of the images and the language you’re putting out in your communications. Is it inclusive to all? If the answer is no, it’s time to adjust!

Don’t forget to include your benefits packages and other HR policies to be inclusive of these objectives. After that, you might find that you’re getting the maximum pool of candidates that you’re trying to reach.

3. Implement Referral Programs

Use your current driver pool to expand your recruiting efforts. This should be an effort to have all your drivers refer a candidate, but it is an opportunity to be overt to your current minority drivers to refer qualified friends and family to your open positions.

If you don’t ask your current drivers to send driver opportunities your way, they will never find you. Research shows that “word of mouth” plays a huge factor for drivers looking for trucking jobs. When looking for minority truckers, referrals can be great.

4. Align with Minority Truckers’ Organizations

There are several trucking organizations geared towards women, or minority truckers. Find ways to get in touch and align your efforts in conjunction with those organizations. Can you find opportunities to sponsor an event or activity? Or simply promote their organization’s badges or messages on your website? Regardless, there are plenty of ways to get engaged.

ultimate guide to truck driver recruiting

Ultimate Guide to Truck Driver Recruiting

Current ways of recruiting truck drivers just don’t work anymore. That’s because recruiting isn’t a transaction. This ultimate guide helps carriers recruit for retention.

Get the Ebook

How to Overcome These Trends Impacting the Truck Driver Shortage

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truck driver shortage

There’s nothing that keeps trucking recruiters up at night like the ongoing truck driver shortage. Without a doubt, it’s the biggest factor influencing the transportation industry. Truck drivers and carriers alike know that it is difficult to hire and recruit top drivers for retention when there is tremendous competition for a small pool of drivers. Overcoming the truck driver shortage requires understanding the forces causing them. Here are 4 trends impacting the driver shortage and solutions on how carriers can overcome them.

Trend 1: Not Attracting Younger Workers

As a whole, the trucking industry is currently failing to attract younger workers. Most current truck drivers are middle-aged and have worked in trucking or other industries for many years. In past generations there were more young truck drivers, but those trends have changed. In addition, the industry must comply with the federal rule which requires commercial vehicle drivers to be at least 21 years old. The regulations aren’t entirely to blame for the truck driver shortage. The labor force participation rate for ages 16 to 24 is trending downward. This means there is increased competition for a smaller pool of young drivers today than ever before.

Solution:

If the trucking industry wants to tap into a larger pool of drivers, it needs to start appealing to millennial drivers. Millennials have different priorities and attitudes than their generation X and generation Y predecessors. In order to appeal to younger drivers, recruiters need to evaluate what millennials really want and then make sure a trucking job can provide it.

Trend 2: More Workers Go Straight to College or the Trades

The percentage of high school graduates going to college has increased over the last few decades. In 1984, only 56% of students went to college after graduating from high school. The rest of them went into the labor force including trucking and trades like welding, mechanics, and work as plumbers or electricians.

Today, nearly 70% of students are going to college, which leaves fewer workers for both trucking and the trades.

Sure enough, many of the trades are also experiencing a shortage, and they directly compete with trucking industry for a smaller pool of workers. If these workers find the trades to be a more attractive as jobs, it impacts the shortage in the trucking industry.

Solution:

Recruiters need to focus on making trucking more attractive than the trades. While both of these industry paths have many things in common, there are important differences as well. The biggest factor is travel and the impact on home time. While this may seem like a disadvantage at first glance, recruiters need to turn this into a benefit. By highlighting the opportunity to travel and the independence and flexibility of the job, recruiters can make trucking more appealing. Trade industries don’t offer many of the same perks and benefits that trucking does.

Trend 3: Automation is Hurting, Not Helping

Automation has yet to make a significant impact in reducing the driver shortage. Although many industry analysts had imagined self-driving trucks to be more prevalent on the road today, it is not yet the case. Autonomous trucks are still years or decades away from being a player due to technology, legal, and safety considerations. Instead of helping the driver shortage, autonomous trucks have hurt the industry in another fashion. The looming threat of self-driving trucks is discouraging career-minded people from the trucking profession. If drivers incorrectly believe that autonomous trucks will take their jobs in a few years, they won’t invest the time and money needed to pursue a career path in trucking.

Solution:

Recruiters shouldn’t be waiting for automation to solve the driver shortage. Regardless of the future of self-driving trucks, recruiters need to focus on finding innovative ways to compete for the best drivers and retaining them. Have data and statistics available on how the hype behind self-driving trucks doesn’t stand up to reality. Drivers want to know that they are still needed and that you rely on them for labor.

Trend 4: Most Current Drivers are Men

There’s no doubt about it, there’s a driver shortage because most truck drivers are men and they comprise only 50% of the workforce. There has been a significant increase in women drivers in recent years, but this hasn’t happened fast enough to offset the driver shortage. Most older drivers are still men, while younger generations tend to be less disproportionate.

When only half the population considers trucking as a profession, there’s no wonder there’s a driver shortage.

It’s a myth that trucking isn’t a career for women or that they wouldn’t enjoy the work. Although being a woman trucker comes with its own challenges, women who are passionate about the job and the independence it brings are happy to take on the role.

Solution:

Recruiters can focus on hiring and retaining more female truck drivers. Industry stakeholders can partner with organizations like Women in Trucking to advance and advocate for women in the industry. Carriers can go the extra mile to make sure women are comfortable with their companies. As your reputation as a woman-friendly company grows, more female drivers will consider trucking with your fleet. While there is a long road ahead, growing the number of women drivers will make a serious dent in the driver shortage problem.

ultimate guide to truck driver recruiting

Ultimate Guide to Truck Driver Recruiting

Current ways of recruiting truck drivers just don’t work anymore. That’s because recruiting isn’t a transaction. This ultimate guide helps carriers recruit for retention.

Get the Ebook

3 Reasons to Treat Drivers Like People, Not Leads

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As a recruiter in the fast-paced trucking industry, there are many challenges and obstacles in your job. You have a limited budget and need to fill a high number of driving positions within a short period of time. It’s tempting then, to treat truck driver candidates as leads instead of people. Treating drivers simply as a number will lead you to miss important information to help with your recruitment. Worse, it can be very off-putting to drivers who are looking to find meaning and value in their work. The truth is that treating drivers like people, and not just leads, is helpful to both recruiters and drivers. Here’s a look at why.

1. Reach Targeted Driver Matches

Probably the biggest reason to treat drivers as people and not leads is because, well, they are people! Individual people have different skills, career goals, and job preferences. If you’re looking at candidates simply as leads without any specific qualities, you run the risk of believing that you can fill any job with any driver. Most recruiters know that drivers need to be qualified for particular jobs, but it goes beyond just qualifications.

To find the best matches for your jobs, you need to take into account driver preferences, and not just qualifications.

Some drivers may prefer less home time while others need to be with their families at least once every few days. Newer drivers may prefer the newest model trucks, while seasoned veterans would be more comfortable with classic and reliable models. Finding the right driver for each position requires you to get to know the priorities, goals, and preferences of each individual. Your recruiting becomes more precise and accurate when you treat drivers like people. From a driver perspective, it is also helpful because you’re meeting their needs and they’d be more likely to be productive and perform at their best level.

2. Make Recruiting Efficient

Recruiters have limited time and resources to fill a large number of jobs fairly quickly. As a recruiter, you may be tempted to contact an endless list of job candidates to quickly land hires. This may work in the short-term, but you’ll likely lose many of those drivers in just a few months. Focusing on quantity instead of quality will only work for so long, and you definitely won’t find the best drivers for job. As mentioned above, focusing on matches will help you hire the best candidate for each job. Treating drivers like individual people will also save you time by contacting and cultivating only your top matches.

Instead of losing time and money by blindly calling an endless list of candidates, you can invest your limited time on the top matches for each job.

Focus your energies on specific, interested drivers and move them through your recruiting pipeline all the way to onboarding. From the driver’s perspective, they would appreciate this as you can get their questions answered quickly without them waiting around too long. This also keeps the interaction about the specific jobs they want, instead of soliciting them about random jobs they weren’t ever interested in or suited for.

3. Recruit for Retention

Treating drivers like people will help you recruit with more lasting value. Drivers who feel treated like people will be more likely to stick around longer. The trucking industry is notorious for high turnover, and some recruiters forget some of the solutions are this simple. The simple fact is that drivers don’t want to leave their carriers after just a few months. Most drivers would be very happy to find long-term jobs that fulfill all their needs and keeps them gainfully employed for many years. Drivers are simply looking for meaningful jobs that give them a sense that they belong.

Treating drivers like people is the only way they will feel dignified and respected as professionals.

This starts with carefully matching them with jobs that suit their needs but doesn’t stop there. Valuing truck drivers throughout their career means routinely checking in to make sure they are satisfied with the job. Driver engagement surveys and driver appreciation ideas all serve this same purpose. Drivers are sick of hearing empty promises which aren’t delivered on. Instead, be straightforward with them about what they can expect from the job, and what you can hope to realistically deliver to them. This refreshingly honest attitude can win drivers over. It all comes down to taking the time to treat drivers like people, not just leads. When drivers don’t feel lied to and cheated, they are less likely to leave your fleet.

When drivers are fully valued as individual people, you’re more likely to retain them for years on end.

ultimate guide to truck driver recruiting

Ultimate Guide to Truck Driver Recruiting

Current ways of recruiting truck drivers just don’t work anymore. That’s because recruiting isn’t a transaction. This ultimate guide helps carriers recruit for retention.

Get the Ebook