3 Tips for Partnering With Box Truck Owner Operators

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box truck owner operators
Josh Massay is a CDL B licensed box truck owner operator with three years of driving experience. He drove as a non-CDL delivery driver for two years and then decided he needed a better-paying job to support his wife and his 3-year-old daughter, Emma. Josh didn’t plan on a trucking career, but he decided to get his CDL B, and he’s proud of his trucking work. So, he put his independent streak and business sense to good use on his newest venture: becoming a box truck owner operator. Now, 1 year into being one of FedEx’s box truck owner operators, Josh is looking for his next job.

Would you partner with Josh? Would Josh partner with your organization?

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Josh isn’t real, but your open job is. There are many box truck owner operators just like Josh ready to be partners. Make sure you connect with the right drivers to make the partnerships you need.

1. Know Your Drivers

The cardinal rule of partnering with box truck owner operators is to know your drivers. It’s number one for a reason. Having a clear image of the drivers you want to reach sets the tone for your offerings, the position description, and all recruiting efforts. Drivers with some experience and a CDL A, like Josh Massay, may expect higher pay. Drivers who have a CDL C may need additional training if they will be hauling an atypical load.

box truck owner operatorWhile every box truck owner operator will be different, there are a few common traits that you can expect. Like most CDL owner operators, box truck owner operators are likely to be independent. Many became owner operators to be their own boss. Similarly, you can expect box truck owner operators to be business savvy. Even the newest owner operators must quickly learn the ropes if they want to stay afloat. Once you have a distinct driver persona, use your employee value proposition to connect.

On the technical side, box truck owner operators are probably not new to the driver’s seat. Many will have several years of driving experience, though that may not be as a box truck driver. On the other hand, some great box truck drivers may have only a CDL C or CDL B. They’re not your typical CDL A truck driver, but they can be a great fit for other box truck driving jobs.

2. Write Job Descriptions and Ads That Work

Posting a new job description can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. Far too many job applicants are unqualified or a poor position fit. Hiring managers lose precious hours wading through applicants for a few good candidates. In addition, the dramatic rise in e-commerce demands means competition from shipping giants like Amazon and FedEx is extremely high. Better job descriptions can help you get the right drivers into your hiring pipeline faster with fewer unqualified applicants. 

Driver applicants should be crystal clear on the job based on the description. No surprises. If you have specific criteria for the job, it must be in the position description. Have specific vehicle criteria? Are 3+ years of experience required? Looking in a specific hiring radius? Tell drivers in the job description. Similarly, be upfront about what you can offer drivers.

Drivers will self-select whether the job is right for them. If drivers are interested, they’ll apply. If not, they’ll stay away and save you time. 

A good job description does nothing for drivers who don’t see it. Box truck owner operator positions should be posted through a variety of distribution channels. Start with online resources such as e-newsletters, social media, and online forums. Since many box truck owner operators are doing local or regional work, consider advertising in local newspapers or other print sources near you as well. Tracking efficacy through print channels can be difficult and costly, so make sure you have a set budget before you start advertising. If you have a physical store in a visible location, post signs to let drivers know that you’re hiring. As you start reviewing candidates, track their application source. Continue using a multi-pronged advertising strategy, but prioritize the channels that are generating the best candidates.

3. Consider it a Partnership

Owner operators have a big decision to make in joining your company. Make sure it’s a mutually good fit. Consider the driver from the start, Josh Massay. He is running a business and takes pride in his job as an owner operator, and he expects respect and reliability from the companies he works with. As an employer, find the balance between setting clear guidelines without over-managing. Owner operators can choose to find other work if things aren’t going well, so maintaining a positive business relationship is critical to reducing turnover.

Treat owner operators as respected partners, and they’ll be happy to step in when you need them year after year.

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Not Hiring Truck Drivers? Don’t Let It Stop Your Recruiting

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hiring truck drivers

Recruiting is all about building, maintaining, and nurturing personal relationships. In this uncertain time, there’s one counterintuitive rule to remember. Even if you’re not hiring truck drivers, keep recruiting. Doing so will help you smoothly transition back to hiring drivers when your fleet is back to normal. 

Maintaining your recruitment efforts may seem like the last thing you’d want to do when you’re downsizing. Don’t be lulled into complacency. If you only focus on your plans for the next few weeks, you will be too late. Continuing to nurture your pipeline is critical to your company’s long-term health, but your strategy may have to change as a result of the global health crisis. Uncertain times require improvising, adapting, and overcoming obstacles. When you’re not actively hiring truck drivers, focus on building relationships in your recruitment pipeline. Here are a few best practices.

1. Don’t Lose Interested Applicants

As HR professionals know all too well, recruiting isn’t a faucet that you can turn on and off. Leads that are not consistently nurtured will turn cold and disengage. Even when you’re not hiring truck drivers, it’s important to develop your relationships for future employment.

Consider that consumers typically take three to nine months to make a decision. In this case, your jobs are a product, and applicants are your consumers. Most people spend the majority of our waking hours at work, and making a job change is a really big decision.

It’s too early to predict when freight demands will increase and hiring will resume, but you need to be ready. Continue to build a relationship with interested drivers. Found out what is important to them and whether you are a good fit. Then, when the time comes to bring in drivers, you’ll be prepared to quickly fill your open positions.

2. Stay Visible

Dee Sova from Prime Trucking

Example Campaign from Drive My Way

It’s important to stay top of mind for drivers even if you’re not hiring right now. While more drivers are in the market for a new job now, the competition remains very high for experienced, high performing drivers with exceptional safety records. A lull in recruiting is a good time to promote marketing campaigns. Highlight your current drivers with tasteful video campaigns.

There is no better endorsement for being a great place to work than one from current drivers who are happy that they joined and chose to stay. You can also take advantage of social media trends like #thankatrucker. Provide resources for current and prospective drivers to increase brand awareness and strengthen ties to your company. 

As a recruiter, it’s important to keep your energy high even when working from home. Continue making calls to drivers. Cultivating relationships in a hiring slowdown will make you an obvious choice when drivers are changing jobs in the future. Drivers are not shy about sharing their experiences with others. Employers will be remembered for the actions they took and how they treated drivers during this difficult time. 

3. Fine-Tune Your Message

With uncertainty rippling through the trucking industry, clear, positive communication is more important than ever. As a fleet, the best strategy is to be transparent about your position.

If you are not hiring new drivers, be honest with applicants. Even if you are not able to offer jobs right now, be a resource to drivers.

In recruitment conversations and all other company messaging, strive to acknowledge the current hardships, be authentic, and offer valuable, curated information that drivers can use. This is also an opportunity to optimize your outreach with video campaigns and a mobile-friendly interface. Setting the appropriate tone helps drivers respect and relate to your brand and will foster relationships with potential hires. 

4. Seek Out Opportunities That May Be Available in a Few Months

A hiring lull is the perfect time to look toward the future. The strategic recruiting plan that you laid out in early 2022 may or may not be the right fit for your company going forward. As you approach hiring for 2023 and beyond, do you anticipate your hiring needs changing? What is different about the drivers you need to recruit and how will your company meet those demands? Use the Drive My Way Ultimate Guide for Truck Driver Recruiting to create a comprehensive recruitment plan for the months ahead.

It is more important than ever to understand what drivers prioritize in a job.

Previously, drivers may have been asking for local jobs or flexible rider policies. Now, their focus may be on PTO policies for sickness or your truck cleaning standards. Listen carefully to what drivers are looking for and shape your marketing and recruiting efforts accordingly. This recruitment slowdown is also a great time to offer operations experience to recruiters to help your whole team align with current drivers’ experiences. Pairing a recruiter with a dispatcher or terminal manager may give them a perspective on drivers’ needs.

5. Prepare for Continued Remote Processes

Slowly but surely, companies are re-opening and finding a new normal. The widespread shutdowns due to COVID-19 will continue to ease, but the effects of the pandemic are likely to linger for far longer. With millions of Americans becoming remote workers overnight, virtual recruiting and onboarding have become the norm for many companies. Even as restrictions on in-person work environments are relaxed, prepare to manage your candidate lifecycle virtually.

While the circumstances have caused us to adapt and be distant, that does not mean that we have to lose the personal connection. In recent years, several companies, including Luma Brighter Learning, have started offering online Learning Management Systems (LMS) for onboarding truck drivers. It’s a strategy that is effective for both companies and drivers. We spoke with Luma Brighter Learning CEO, Gina Anderson, and she shared her perspective on why synchronous online learning is a great option for trucking fleets.

“The carriers are saving time, they’re saving money, they’re becoming more efficient, and they’re making their drivers happy.” Gina continued, “There’s not one way to train people. That’s why it’s so valuable to be able to provide mixed methods of training [using platforms like Luma]. You don’t have to get rid of synchronous (same-time) training — you can do it online. Drivers can learn any time, any place.”

Gina Anderson went on to add that it’s no longer a question of whether or not to implement online learning systems for drivers. Drivers still value real-time connections with peers, mentors, and trainers, so companies should be asking themselves how to make virtual onboarding possible. Asking drivers to complete the basics in a synchronous online environment is a cost-effective strategy to streamline your onboarding process while still complying with social distancing restrictions and engaging your driver community.  

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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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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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The Pros and Cons of Attending a Truck Driver Job Fair or Hiring Event

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In today’s ultra-competitive market, carriers are always looking for new ways to get in front of driver candidates. One way that’s gaining popularity is participating in a truck driver job fair or hiring event. Here’s what carriers should know about these events, including the pros and cons of attending them.

Why do carriers participate in job fairs and hiring events?

Most companies who attend hiring events recognize that there is a war for finding the best talent. Gone are the days of “posting & praying”, assuming dozens of applicants will apply overnight. 

With such a competitive market to obtain the best talent, companies are just as responsible for pitching to someone why they should come work for them as a candidate is expected to pitch to a company why they should be hired. Attending job fairs or hiring events allows you to get in front of drivers face-to-face and is one way to help increase your odds of finding and obtaining the best talent.  

What does a typical truck driver job fair or hiring event look like?

While not every hiring event or job fair will be exactly the same, almost all will follow the same core structure. Candidates pre-register for the event, and then have a chance to learn ahead of time about each company that will be in attendance. They may receive a job description laying out the perks of each job they can interview for.  

Candidates at these events are sometimes vetted ahead of time to ensure that they only speak with companies with whom they meet their minimum qualifications. Following the day of interviews, companies will provide feedback and immediately follow-up with the applicants they wanted to hire or bring on site for next steps. In some cases, offers are given on the spot at the event.  

You may have the opportunity to attend a job fair that allows for a more relaxed and open-door policy, where anyone whose interested can freely walk up to the table of a company in attendance to learn more information. While this style of hiring event doesn’t narrow down applicants to those who are the best fit for your openings, it does open the window for conversations that otherwise wouldn’t have happened. Use this opportunity to build rapport with drivers and foster relationships so you always have a pipeline of up-and-coming drivers.

3 Pros of Participating in a Job Fair or Hiring Event

truck driver job fairs1. Hiring Drivers

After all, this is the whole point of attending one of these events! You’ll get to meet drivers face to face, and you know you are talking to drivers who are genuinely interested because they made the decision to attend the event and talk to your carrier. You can pitch to the driver why they should come drive for your company and right out of the gate, you are building a personal relationship with these drivers thanks to meeting them in-person.  

2. Exposure

Another added benefit to attending these events is the exposure your carrier will get in the industry. You might not be the right fit for everyone but maybe a driver in attendance knows a friend who they’ll send your way.

Often, drivers might need that extra 6 months of experience before they can be hired on and now you can stay in contact with them over that period so that when the time comes, you can start the hiring process. The amount of exposure you get at these events cannot be understated. If a driver doesn’t know who your company is, this is your time to impress them.

3. Feedback

While your attendance may not always result in any hires, it’s possible you received valuable insight from the very people you were hoping to hire as to why they weren’t interested. This is information you can take back to your team then identify ways you can better advertise or promote your offerings to ensure you are best meeting drivers’ wants and needs.  

3 Cons of Participating in a Job Fair or Hiring Event

1. Time

Carriers will often note they don’t have the time to send their employees off to a hiring event all day long. While this is a valid concern, there are ways around this. Try having a few employees split up the hiring event schedule so one person doesn’t fall a day behind on their workload at the office and instead each person is only missing a few hours. You may also ask if you can attend an event for limited hours as opposed to the whole day.  

2. Attendance

While job fairs and hiring events can be a great way to meet new drivers, there’s always the possibility that there may be a lack of drivers who attend. This is why it is important to thoroughly vet the hiring events & job fairs you may plan on attending.  

Remember, it’s not always “What other carriers are attending?”, but instead “What is the expected turnout of job seekers?” Just note, a small turnout of job seekers shouldn’t be a deal breaker alone, as the one hire you may obtain at that event could turn into someone celebrating their 25-year anniversary with you down the road.

3. Competition

Since drivers have multiple carriers they can speak with, hiring events and job fairs are competitive in nature. Often, job seekers may continue to pursue a few carriers at the same time to weigh out all offers until they make a final decision.  

This is why time is of the essence and transparency is key. Don’t push someone to accept an offer prematurely and then count it as a win. It’s very possible that they’ll still be pursuing another carrier and then rescind their offer with you a week later. Instead, ask them what you can do to get them to stop all other interviews and see if you can better meet their needs with the initial offer you give them. 

The Bottom Line

Just as you are sacrificing time to attend these events, so are drivers. It’s fair to say, most drivers have reduced availability to attend events like these, as they are often on the road with limited hours. 

Be mindful to all who took time out of their lives to meet you. Even if it’s not the best fit for your organization, giving them advice on how to obtain qualifications to work for you one day will go a long way in that drivers’ eyes. It may even be the difference of them sending positive recommendations off to their fellow drivers to go check you out.  

It’s equally important to note, given a driver’s schedule and limited availability, you should be open to advertising your direct recruiting line for open phone interviews as well as offering zoom interviews for those who couldn’t make it but still want that face-to-face experience. 

The last piece of advice is not to wait for the next truck driver job fair or hiring event to come to you. Especially for mid-large size carriers, consider hosting an exclusive hiring event just for your company. Host it onsite so drivers can see the terminal or meet them at a neutral location like a coffee shop off the highway for pop-in interviews and buy the drivers a warm cup of joe to thank them for their time. Get creative and be sure you follow up with all drivers promptly after meeting them. 

Megan Andrews is a Customer Success Manager at Drive My Way. She worked for a National Recruiting Agency prior to joining the Drive My Way Team in early 2021. During her time with her previous employer, she worked with small mom and pop companies up to Fortune 500 companies to find the best talent across all industries.  

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What’s the True Cost of Hiring a Truck Driver?

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What's the True Cost of Hiring a Truck Driver?

There are many metrics that a carrier can use to measure its hiring success. Some metrics are more well defined and simple like time to hire, while others are more subjective and harder to wrangle, like driver happiness.  

But no matter what metrics you look at, the dollars spent to hire a candidate is traditionally thought of as the most important. That’s why carriers need to know what these costs are and how to measure them effectively. Let’s take a look at the true cost of hiring a truck driver. 

How to Calculate Your Cost Per Hire

Before you can reduce your CPH, you need to know how to calculate it. Luckily, calculating CPH is pretty simple math.   

You add up your total costs for recruiting new drivers, and then divide that by the number of drivers ultimately hired. This gives you the cost per hire for all your recruiting efforts. (Note that this factors in actual hires, not just leads.) You can use this formula to measure CPH over any time period you’d like, including month, quarter, or year. 

So, What’s the Real Cost of Hiring a Truck Driver?

When nailing down the cost of hiring a driver, the actual math is not the tough part. It’s finding all the factors that go into the cost of hiring. This means all the costs, not just the ones associated with finding driver candidates, like job advertising and using recruiting services.  

Your company’s cost per hire will be unique to the way you recruit and hire drivers. And it might take some time and refinement to ensure you’re calculating it correctly. Here’s a list of the most common costs associated with hiring a truck driver. 

Turnover Is Your Enemy

Now that you understand the calculation for cost per hire, there’s another piece of the hiring puzzle that needs to be factored in as well; your turnover rate. 

It’s widely known that the trucking industry faces very high turnover rates. According to some surveys, over 50% of newly hired drivers will leave their carriers within the first six months. In some cases, turnover can be closer to 90-100% over a year. 

Looking at those stats, it’s easy to see that turnover is a huge problem for many carriers. To avoid high turnover, don’t fall into the trap of hiring drivers to fill an empty rig as quickly as possible.  

If you’re hiring quickly and not taking the time to ensure you’re a good match for each other, it’s not likely it’s going to be a relationship that will last and will raise that hiring cost. If you keep repeating that cycle, it’s going to cost your company exponentially more and you’re still going to have empty seats to fill.  

Every time you hire a new trucker, do it with the intention to retain that driver for a long time. The best way to do this is by really taking the time to get to know your candidates during the interview process so you can see if them coming onboard with your carrier is truly a fit for both sides. Doing this is the number one way to lower driver turnover, and in turn, lower the cost of hiring. 

Measure Consistently for Best Results

Once you’ve found all your costs, the most important thing to do is to measure consistently. This is the only way that you’re going to be able to compare things year-over-year or month-over-month to see if the changes you’re making are truly helping to reduce your true cost of hiring a truck driver.  

Don’t add in costs for one timeframe, then remove those costs the next time you calculate. If you do this, then you’re comparing apples and oranges and won’t have an accurate picture of your recruiting process.  

Once you are tracking consistently, you should see some trends that help inform changes to your overall hiring strategies. Overall, you want this number to be as low as possible to deliver you a quality driver who wants to stay with your company. 

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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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3 Ways to Lower Your Cost Per Hire for CDL Drivers

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cost per hire

For driver recruiters, there are few metrics more important than cost per hire (CPH). For many recruiting and HR departments, it’s what defines their success to decision makers in the organization. Because of this, driver recruiters are always looking for ways to lower their CPH without having the candidate experience suffer. Here are 3 ways that recruiters can lower their cost per hire. 

What is Cost Per Hire?

Before you can reduce your CPH, you need to know how to calculate it. Luckily, calculating CPH is pretty simple math.  

cost per hire

You add up your total costs for recruiting new drivers, and then divide that by the number of drivers ultimately hired. This gives you the cost per hire for all your recruiting efforts. (Note that this factors in actual hires, not just leads.) You can use this formula to measure CPH over any time period you’d like, including month, quarter, or year.  

You should keep this number handy and have yearly goals set to manage it as needed or as budgets change. Once you have determined your cost per hire, you can then make more informed decisions on where to spend your recruiting dollars.  

What Costs are Part of Cost Per Hire?

While the formula for calculating cost per hire is pretty simple, knowing what goes into that top “cost section” isn’t as easy.  

The first thing to know is that there are both internal and external recruiting costs which need to be factored in. Here are some common costs that should be included in your CPH.  

Internal Costs 

  • Salaries for HR and Recruiters – Includes managers and freelance recruiters (if applicable) 
  • Referral or Sign on Bonuses for Drivers – Do you give drivers bonuses when they get hired on? Do you give current drivers a bonus when they refer someone who eventually gets hired? 
  • Interview costs – How many hours are recruiters/HR spending interviewing driver candidates? 

External Costs 

  • Recruiting Software – Do you utilize recruiting software or a service to help you find drivers? 
  • Job Fair/Events – Does your carrier participate in any trucking job fairs or career day events? 
  • Advertising – What are your advertising costs? This includes both digital and print. It could also include costs associated with an advertising agency, if you work with one.  

These are just some examples of possible recruiting costs your carrier could be incurring. Every carrier will have different costs that go into their CPH, so take some time to find what yours are.  

3 Ways to Lower Your Cost Per Hire

1. Leverage Past Leads

Every time you need to hire for a new opening, you don’t need a fresh list of candidates to contact. Check in on your existing pool of names and filter or scan for matches to your current job openings.  

Reaching out to these passive candidates, who may not have been a good fit in the past, is often a better bet than reaching out to candidates who you’ve never had an interaction with before.  

The dollars spent to generate and capture these leads are already spent, and no additional budget is needed to go back to those lists. 

You know that they’ve already been partially vetted if they matched up with prior openings, they might just need to be checked-in for these new opportunities. If you put a little bit of effort into keeping these older leads engaged between new job postings, you might have the perfect person sitting in your database already.

2. Reallocate Ineffective Spending

One of the best things about CPH is that once you have it, you can use it to dig deeper into the different costs you’re using to hire. You can find the CPH for specific costs like recruiting software, sign on/referral bonuses, interview costs, or any other cost you may have.  

Use the same formula above, just replace the total recruiting cost with the amount for that specific cost. Drilling down further like this helps you find extremely useful information about whether your recruiting dollars are being spent as efficiently as possible.  

For example, you could find that 25% of your carrier’s recruiting costs go towards job fairs and events, but you’ve only hired two drivers from them. 

With this information, you can start to make decisions to reallocate funds from higher CPH channels to lower CPH channels to increase efficiency. This should result in faster hires, at a lower cost.

3. Try Something New

If you’re struggling to attract and retain the best drivers, that’s probably a good indication to switch things up. Keep your eyes and ears open for new recruiting ideas, and as your budget allows, give something new a try. You might find something that brings in new drivers faster and saves on your CPH over time. 

Knowing you’ve got a finite budget for recruiting new drivers to your open jobs, it’s important that you have a handle on what you’re spending to hire each new driver. And of that spend, what tactic(s) are producing actual hires most efficiently. Effectively managing cost per hire, and other key recruitment metrics, will lead to the ultimate success of your hiring process. 

These tactics can certainly help decrease your cost per hire and improve your bottom line. However, working to reduce your overall driver retention rate is a huge time and money saver over the long run. If you’re ready to start recruiting and hiring for retention, schedule a demo of our platform today. 

Comprehensive CDL Recruitment Solutions

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3 Tips for Hiring Local Truck Drivers

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3 Tips for Hiring a Local Truck Driver

As a truck driver recruiter, it’s easy to fall into the mindset that all driver candidates have the same needs and wants. But, just like candidates in any industry, truck drivers are individually unique in what they want out of a job, what motivates them, and how they like to be communicated with.  

While it’s impossible to have a truly unique approach for every driver candidate you’ll encounter, you should be tailoring your recruitment experience based on whether the driver is looking for local work or OTR/Regional work.  

If you’re hiring for local positions, here are three tips to help you fill your fleet with quality drivers.

1. Talk About What Local Drivers Care About

local truck driver

Home Time

While many OTR drivers are drawn to the call of the open road, local truck drivers highly value home time. In fact, it’s one of, if not the biggest reason these drivers prefer to drive local.  

When hiring local drivers, clearly state up front and early in the job description the amount of home time that this position will afford. If you don’t, you run the risk of losing quality drivers, just because it wasn’t obvious enough that your job is for local drivers.  

Pay

Every driver wants to know about pay, local truck drivers included. As a baseline, your carrier should be offering compensation near or above the average for your area. If you’re not sure what that average is, look at some of your competitor’s job postings and go from there.  

Just like home time, share pay information clearly in your job description and in early conversations with prospective drivers. If your company pays hourly, include the average hours that drivers typically work weekly. If they receive overtime pay after 40 hours, share the rate.  

Similarly, if your company pays CPM, share the average miles drivers work per week. Then, drivers can decide whether the job is a good mutual fit before either side invests any more time.

CDL drivers are aware that driving local routes generally means less pay than driving OTR, but they still want to know what they can expect.  

2. Don’t Leave Out the Details

Schedule

Local truck drivers expect to be home every day. That’s the bare minimum. But it’s a good idea to include additional information about their schedule in the job description as well. 

Will they have weekends off? What time does the shift start? How long is the typical workday? Will the days off be consecutive? All these questions should be answered by your job description or during the first point of contact with the driver.  

Route

There can be a lot of variation in job type and responsibilities for a local truck driver. As a result, including more specific information can be a helpful recruiting tool. Will drivers be primarily on highways or surface roads? Will there be frequent stops on a typical route? Is there one dedicated customer or is it always changing? 

Customer Service

Another important thing to discuss with local drivers is the level of customer service. If there is a customer service component to the job, don’t just assume that the driver will be ok with that. While a lot of drivers may be, some chose this profession to avoid customer service, so it could be a deal breaker. 

Have a conversation about it early on in the recruitment process and consider offering specific customer service training to your drivers if you feel it’s necessary.  

Level of Touch

Regardless of the level of touch required for your local truck driver position, include details about it in your job description. Loading and unloading isn’t usually a dealbreaker for local drivers, but be upfront about it just in case it is.

3. Articulate Your Value

Employee Value Proposition

Your value proposition is what sets you apart from other similar companies. In short, why should drivers choose to work for your company over competitors? It is critical that you are able to identify and stick to this value.  

It’s what will help you attract new drivers and prevent losing current ones to competitors. Your value proposition can be anything from an above average pay rate, to weekends off, or a great company culture. It’s whatever makes your carrier different from carrier B, C and D.  

Health Benefits

Many local drivers are very family-oriented, so offering immediate medical insurance might be particularly valuable. Having a full benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, and prescription is a huge incentive in getting these drivers to come onboard.  

Company Culture

Since local truck drivers see their supervisors and colleagues more regularly, a good work environment and company culture can be particularly strong assets. 

Comprehensive CDL Recruitment Solutions

Ready to start recruiting the right local drivers? Our solutions experts are happy to answer any questions and show you how Drive My Way uniquely approaches CDL driver recruitment.Request a Demo

Trucking Truth with April Smith from Lansing Building Products

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Lansing building productsApril Smith is the Recruiting Manager with Drive My Way client, Lansing Building Products. During her 7 plus years with Lansing, April and her team have helped the company grow their fleet while increasing retention rates. We were able to speak with April and fellow Lansing recruiter, Kelsie Rudd about the biggest changes they’ve seen during their time recruiting, how Lansing uses driver feedback to inform their decisions, and how they’re able to screen for drivers who will be a cultural fit for Lansing.

How are you able to properly screen candidates so that you only hire drivers who will fit Lansing’s culture?

We ask some specific questions during the interview process to see how the driver will align with our culture. For example, we ask, “What does respect, service, and excellence mean to you?” This question comes directly from our mission statement.

We also have noticed that drivers sometimes tend to get boxed in by recruiters as simply drivers, and we assume that’s all they’ll want to do for the rest of their career.

During the interview process, we always talk to the drivers about where they see themselves down the road and what their long-term career goals are. We ask these kinds of questions because Lansing offers a number of opportunities for advancement, and we love to bring drivers in who will take advantage of them.

What are some of the things that Lansing does to promote driver retention?

There are a couple different things we do to promote retention. One is the safety program that we’ve implemented. If a driver doesn’t get in an accident for an entire year, their name goes into an end of the year raffle, with the winner getting a free YETI cooler.

Aside from that, we participate yearly in the Great Place to Work survey. Once we collect the data from the survey, we don’t just sit on it. It gives us some really great insights into how our drivers feel about working for us and what we could be doing better for them.

We’ve actually started a few different programs directly because of the data we’ve gotten from the Great Place to Work survey. One is our CDL Reimbursement Program. Through this program, we financially assist any current Lansing employee who wants to either get their CDL A or upgrade their CDL B to an A. It’s just one of the ways we want to show our drivers that we’re committed to their professional growth.

What’s been the biggest change in the driver recruiting space since your first started?

I think what’s changed the most has been the technology we use. There’s much more automation involved in the hiring process now than ever before. It all starts with our Applicant Tracking System (ATS), then from there, we figure out who the partners are that will work within that ATS to help us fill our hiring needs.

That’s how Drive My Way became one of our most valuable partners. We were able to easily integrate their platform with our ATS of choice, Lever. Because of this, we were able to get more quality applicants for our jobs faster.

April and Kelsie finished with these thoughts,

As a recruiting team, it’s important to not only fill the jobs, but to make sure we’re communicating with all the other teams and individuals involved in the hiring process as well. Having a high level of communication with candidates, hiring managers, and our vendors every step of the way has increased our ability to be more productive and to have the right people on our teams.

Lansing Building Products Partners with Drive My Way for Success

Lansing Building Products partnered with Drive My Way to hire CDL A and B straight truck drivers for a number of locations nationwide. See the results below.

View the Case Study

4 Ways to Use Marketing While Hiring Truck Drivers

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Hiring truck drivers is a competitive business. Driver recruiters are always trying to find new ways to get a leg up on the competition and bring in the best drivers to their fleets.  

But, as any recruiter knows, if you want to hire the best drivers, you first need to attract the best drivers. With many top carriers offering similar benefits and perks, that isn’t always enough to stand out to driver candidates.  

This is where strong marketing can be your best ally. With this on your side, you’ll be able to differentiate yourself from the competition and attract drivers to your fleet. Here are 4 ways you can use marketing to stand out while hiring truck drivers. 

1. Driver Testimonials

People are more likely to trust people who are like them over people who aren’t. This is why using testimonials from your current drivers in your marketing is a great way to help you stand out from the competition.  

Any carrier can speak about its own perks, benefits, and company culture. The real test is whether that company’s drivers will say the same thing. If your drivers will echo your own messaging publicly, it will have a much greater impact on truck driver candidates. 

Visit our blog on the subject for more information and examples on how to record and share driver testimonial videos.  

2. Experiment with New Channels

Though trucking remains an industry dominated by older males, there has been a major uptick in both women truck drivers and young truck drivers in recent years. Recruiters should be aware of this when advertising their jobs or just raising brand awareness, and not limit themselves to the same old channels. 

Experiment with channels geared towards different audiences, like Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube. While focusing on the core demographic of truck drivers is important, it doesn’t mean recruiters should limit themselves to just those. Today’s peripheral audiences can become tomorrow’s loyal truck drivers.

3. Use Technology to Your Advantage

hiring truck driversMany carriers still use recruiting processes which are outdated and cumbersome. You can stand out to truck driver candidates by adopting technology to make recruiting more efficient.  

Mobile friendly platforms and similar features will make applying quicker and easier for candidates. At the same time, recruiters can use programs like applicant tracking software to make the recruiting process easier and more efficient for themselves as well. 

Remember, technology won’t be able to solve all your problems. Recruitment still needs the human touch. Use it for what it can help with best, simplifying and speeding up the process, and focus your human efforts on other areas.  

4. Content Marketing

First impressions are extremely important in the recruiting process. When a driver candidate visits your company website or social media page for the first time, would you rather them be greeted by nothing but one company update from five years ago, or a number of blog posts, company photos, and videos sharing your company values and culture?  

Our guess is the latter, and that’s why content marketing can play such a big role when trying to stand out to truck drivers. 

Here are a few different examples of marketing content you can use to reach drivers: 

  • Blogs about industry topics 
  • Memes on social media 
  • Sharing pictures on social media that show your company culture 
  • Polls and open-ended questions on social media (What do you think? Let us know in the comments!) 
  • Day in the life profiles of one of your drivers 
  • Driver testimonials 

Pro Tip: Make sure you’re getting the most out of your content. Share it on all your social media channels so you can reach drivers before they are ever candidates. Once they’re ready to apply for a job, your carrier will be top of mind! 

If you’re looking for other ways to get in front of driver candidates, consider partnering with Drive My Way. Our patented and proprietary technology matches drivers with jobs based on their professional qualifications and personal lifestyle preferences.

Custom Commodities Transport Partners with Drive My Way for Success

Custom Commodities Transport is the nation’s largest transporter of Activated Carbon. See how they worked with Drive My Way to meet their driver needs.

View the Case Study

 

5 Tips for Asking the Best Truck Driver Interview Questions

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truck driver interview questions

Good truck driver interview questions do two things. They help you find drivers who are going to be a good fit for your carrier while helping you build a relationship with them at the same time. The best recruiters use a conversational style to learn more about drivers’ experiences and skills as well as their goals for a new job. 

Informative and approachable truck driver interview questions are the foundation of a strong recruitment for retention strategy. Here are 5 tips to help you get to know the drivers you’re interviewing and find one who fits well with your fleet. 

1. Start With the Basics

Chelsee Patton and Truck

Chelsee Patton, Director of Recruiting at RTI

The purpose of an interview is to find a driver who has the skills and qualifications to do a specific job. Inevitably, it is crucial to have a clear picture of their experience, endorsements, and total compensation needs. The challenge is to get that information in an approachable way.  

Drivers should feel like the interview is building a relationship rather than simply an effort to fill another seat with an anonymous face. Strong interviewers learn about drivers’ skills and experience through conversation.  

We spoke with Chelsee Patton, Director of Recruiting at RTI and CDL holder, about effective interviewing as part of recruitment. She shared these thoughts,  

“For carriers trying to improve their interview process, I would tell them to take a look at how they’re talking to drivers at the beginning of the interview. Are you automatically jumping into, “How much experience do you have? How many tickets? How many accidents?” If so, I would recommend conversationally talking through all of that instead of reading questions one after the other off a sheet.”

As you build relationships with drivers, keep a detailed record of their professional profile. Clearly denote the driver’s experience and endorsements. This information helps automatically filter out unqualified applicants. Drivers’ requested total compensation should also be clearly noted. If they express specific demands around home time, base pay, or benefits, make sure to include that information.  

Similarly, if drivers respond negatively to the total compensation you are offering, note that as a possible red flag. Delving into basic information such as skills and endorsements is an opportunity to learn key information while setting a positive tone for future interactions. 

2. Find Out What Drivers Are Looking for

Not all drivers are a good fit for every job, and that’s ok. Time is a precious commodity in the recruiting world, so find out early what drivers are looking for. Some drivers may talk about career plans and advancement opportunities. Understanding each driver’s underlying motivation helps frame the conversation and contextualizes that driver’s priorities. Use that information to focus on the job aspects that are most important.  

In some cases, a driver’s goals may not be compatible with the available position. That’s also valuable knowledge. In these cases, learning that quickly can help you end the conversation and encourage the driver toward other positions to save time.  

If you still want to attract the driver, make sure to be as transparent as possible about the open job. Unfulfilled or misled expectations will only lead to high turnover and a bad company reputation. Instead, put your efforts toward quickly identifying drivers who are a good fit and may stay in the job for many years to come.  

3. Ask Role Specific Questions

ChelseeInPink

Chelsee takes the wheel

Once you have a baseline of information about the driver’s qualifications and future goals, hone in on the specific job. Discuss features of the job that are atypical or have raised concerns from drivers in the past.  

For example, if drivers need mechanical knowledge, ask “What experience do you have fixing mechanical problems with your truck?” Similarly, if the position includes slip seating, ask drivers about their preferences and habits when sharing a cab. All of these truck driver interview questions shift the focus to recruiting for retention.  

4. Use Behavioral Interviewing

If you have a strong driver candidate based on their qualifications, the next step is to use behavioral interviewing to assess their on-the-job competencies.  

These questions look at how a candidate has handled past situations in an attempt to predict how they’d behave in the future. Behavioral interviewing questions look at a candidate’s problem-solving, priority setting, and conflict management abilities. 

To ask effective behavioral interviewing questions, use the STAR technique. Situation, Task, Actions, and Result. To start, ask candidates to describe their past experiences. Then, listen closely and evaluate based on the Situation or Task they encountered, the Actions they took, and the Result of their actions.  

Think about situations that current drivers for your carrier deal with and ask candidates how they would react if faced with them. This will give you a good indication of if they’ll be a good fit for your carrier. 

5. Share the Mic

Truck drivers want to know that their carrier will respect and value their contributions. One way to demonstrate your commitment to drivers from the start is by sharing the mic.  

Allow time for drivers to ask questions during the interview or at the end. Doing so signals to drivers that you care about their input and whether the job is a good fit for them. It’s also another valuable opportunity to understand what they prioritize. If they’re a strong candidate but undecided about the position, that insight may help you win the driver to your team.  

As a recruiter, it’s hard to predict exactly what drivers may ask, but prepare answers for common questions. This will likely include questions about home time, pay, benefits, and equipment among other things. Before you end the conversation, make sure the driver is clear about the job offer. Transparency upfront supports long-term retention.  

Good truck driver interview questions give you the opportunity to get to know potential drivers so you can focus on boosting retention. When drivers and carriers connect transparently over a job that is a mutually good fit, the interview time is well worth the investment. 

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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