4 Tips for Recruiting and Hiring Student Truck Drivers

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4 Tips for Recruiting and Hiring Student Truck Drivers

Truck driver recruiting can be a tough business, especially when it comes to targeting the most experienced drivers with the best driving records. Carriers can wind up counter-offering driver after driver, or losing them in a few months to another carrier making a sweeter offer to lure them away from you. There’s a reason those drivers are in such high demand. So maybe there’s a different hiring path to take into consideration. With a little bit of creativity and changes to your recruitment strategy, putting a focus on recruiting and hiring student truck drivers can be a great opportunity to plan and build your driver pool for the future. Here are 4 tips to help you find your next group of long-term and loyal drivers.

1. Expand Your Marketing

Look at your recruiting marketing collateral, especially the images and headlines. Do they feel inclusive to student truck drivers? Or are they clearly speaking to an audience of long-term road warriors? It’s easy to miss on this important step in the process if you don’t stop and take stock of what messages and images you’re using.

Your marketing materials, especially your website, can be the first impression you make on potential new hires. Be sure that the drivers you intend to recruit are seeing and hearing messages tailored to them in your marketing pieces.

Another marketing tip is to be sure the channels you’re using to recruit are reaching the right targets. Though print and referrals have a place in your strategy, are those the best channels to use when recruiting student truck drivers, who are likely younger than your average driver? Probably not, so make adjustments to your tactics based on your target. Social media and an easy online process will help when recruiting younger drivers.

2. Implement Mentoring Programs

Mentoring programs can be attractive to student drivers. Inexperienced drivers need help learning the ropes and many times, a mentor can be a tremendous help. These drivers are not coming to you with years of experience and all the answers, they are looking for their first job to get them started in a new career. They’re excited to get started and need some extra help to get moving down the road.

Connecting student truck drivers with a mentor can be a mutually beneficial relationship between your drivers.

The student has a designated “go to” person to ask questions and bounce around ideas, and your seasoned driver has an opportunity to share what they know from years over the road. Each of them will benefit from a mentoring opportunity and will appreciate your team’s willingness to foster these relationships.

3. Sell the Entire Job

When seeking to recruit student drivers, you need to not only sell your open positions, but you also need to sell the career, the lifestyle, and everything that comes with the job. People looking to get into a career as a professional truck driver can be coming into the industry for a number of reasons. But one thing is clear, they’ve decided a truck driving gig is the right fit for them. So help them understand how you and your team can help them make their dreams a reality. Reinforce their decision at every point in the hiring process and be there for them every step of the way while they’re on your team.

Act as a great resource for new drivers, by being transparent on what the job entails and being ready to answer a lot of questions. Selling your candidates on the whole job will help your relationship with these drivers start off great!

4. Have a Driver-Centric Strategy

A driver-centric recruitment and retention strategy is a great way to build a strong driver team. Putting practices and processes in place to ensure you’re targeting the right candidates is very important. If your plan includes recruiting student truck drivers, be sure that you take into consideration the tips here.

You want to ensure that new drivers know that they’re welcome, wanted, and included in your company’s long-term future.

For more ideas on how to recruit and hire the best drivers, let us help! At Drive My Way we have the tools and expertise to match you with your next best-fit drivers.

ultimate guide to truck driver recruiting

The 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 Reasons Your LinkedIn Posts Aren’t Reaching Truck Drivers

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Man look at LinkedIn Posts

LinkedIn is one of the most popular and powerful social media sites for B2B marketing. While it might seem out of place for the freight industry, LinkedIn can be a great place to generate interest and connect with current and potential new customers. Like all social media, LinkedIn uses proprietary algorithms to determine what content to feature. Each year, digital advertising trends change, and rules get updated, so it’s important to stay up to date! If your LinkedIn posts aren’t generating audience engagement, you may be missing one of these fundamental rules. 

1. Original Content Is King

Many companies try to boost engagement with a steady stream of sharing content. Unfortunately, if that content isn’t original, it will be very difficult to get prioritized by the LinkedIn algorithm. Even if you are sharing original articles or job listings from your own website regularly, this will be a low priority if it’s not originally published on LinkedIn.

To boost visibility, focus on quality, original content that connects with your audience. 

First, decide whether you want to create an article or a post. Articles are ranked in Google’s SEO, but they are a lower priority for the LinkedIn feed. In contrast, posts are internal and exclusive to LinkedIn. Unsurprisingly, LinkedIn posts are prioritized, though you are making small sacrifices on SEO. 

Best Practice:

Share an image or a video directly within LinkedIn as part of a post. Then, link to your job or article in a comment section rather than in the main post.

2. Instant Engagement Is A Must

LinkedIn wants to see that you can generate interest immediately. In brief, if your content isn’t interesting or engaging, LinkedIn won’t keep it visible. The first hour after you post content is the most important time to push post engagement. That hour determines what happens next with your content. Will it be pushed to the top of your audience’s news feeds? Or will it disappear into social media obsoletion? 

Man engaging with Linkedin posts

Instant engagement may feel like a big ask, especially if you run a small marketing operation. Luckily, this side of digital marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. LinkedIn post engagement can include adding a reaction, commenting (three words or more!), or sharing.

Each of these actions is weighted a little differently in the content scoring phase. For example, liking a post may only give one point. A thoughtful comment earns two points. Sharing demonstrates that the post is popular, so three points. Every engagement helps position your post for increased visibility going forward. 

Best Practice:

Alert your team when you or your company page shares a post and encourage genuine company-wide engagement. If you share from a company page, engage with the post from your personal profile and vice versa.

3. The Right Hashtags Make All the Difference

On social media, hashtags serve two primary purposes. The first is to bring all of the posts on a single topic to one place. This can be used at a large scale for general topics such as #trucking. These hashtags are helpful to follow to stay in touch with current events in your industry. Post consolidation via hashtags is also a common tactic for event marketing. In short, the intent is to generate interest by bringing together the people talking about the same event. 

Linkedin HashtagsInclude 3-5 of the top hashtags for your industry in each post.

The second purpose of hashtags is to increase audience engagement organically. If your goal is to increase post reach and expand your audience, start by doing some research. Identify the top-performing hashtags in your industry. Pay attention to spelling and stay professional in your language. In general, you should avoid punctuation and symbols in your hashtag. If you are using a multi-word tag, don’t include spaces, but do capitalize the first letter of each word. It won’t impact your post’s ability to be found, but it does make it a little easier to read.

Best Practice:

Choose hashtags that are relevant to the topic of your post and are also top performers in your industry. Include 3-5 of these top hashtags in each post to maximize impressions.

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.

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5 Digital Advertising Trends Not to Miss in Trucking

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digital advertising for truck drivers

Digital advertising is a core part of your company brand. Equally important is the way that your employees and customers talk about your company. The way you represent yourself online is like the store window to your company. Most people will decide whether to engage with your company based on what they see in that small preview and other people’s reviews. Optimize your digital advertising and hit your annual goals with these 5 digital advertising trends for the trucking industry!

1. Build your Trustworthy Reputation

One of your biggest assets is your company reputation. No amount of marketing or advertising can change driver or customer perception if they are not happy working for or with you. At the end of the day, people trust people. That’s why negative driver or customer reviews are so lethal. Don’t believe us? A recent Nielson report shared that 92% of consumer trust reviews from friends and family more than advertising. Even more importantly, a BrightLocal study found that 88% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. 88%! Strive to build a reputation so strong that your employees and customers can’t help but share their good experience.   

92% of consumer trust reviews from friends and family more than advertising, and 88% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. 

It’s important to support your reputation with nuanced content. Digital advertising campaigns are tactful and positive in their tone. Your content should ultimately be uplifting. That does not mean you should avoid crucial conversations. Doing so may be perceived as sacrificing authenticity. Instead, acknowledge hardship, and commit in words and actions to prioritizing the wellbeing of your employees and customers. If you are able to demonstrate that you care when times are tough, you will build a strong reputation that will serve you for years to come. 

2. Consistency is Critical

Once you’ve identified a target area for improvement or strategic growth, it is tempting to immediately dedicate resources to developing that channel. Before you launch into your next campaign, clearly identify how that campaign fits into your larger strategic goals. Then, articulate each step you need to take to get there. Consider how you can meet your goals while maintaining a consistent representation of your company and your brand through the process. 

If you are like many trucking companies, you may not be allocating a large budget to marketing or recruitment. We understand. Especially in years like 2020 that feel economically unstable, digital advertising is not likely to be at the top of your financial priority list.

When budgets are tight, be strategic and realistic, but don’t stop advertising. Get creative and take advantage of free marketing channels. Continuing to market your brand will keep your name fresh and top of mind for drivers and potential customers.

3. Go Where the Drivers Are

It may sound obvious, but the best digital advertising in the world won’t help you if you don’t get in front of the right eyes. It’s important that, as the employer, you deeply understand your target market and advertise where they are. Luckily, you don’t have to guess where to find truck drivers. The 2019 Overdrive Connectivity Report found that 39% of drivers rely on word of mouth to find a driving job. An additional 29% start with internet searches. The same year, the Trucker’s News Connectivity Report found that 56% of drivers used internet searches and 26% count on word of mouth. Social media is one of the natural intersections of internet searches and live feedback from drivers. Drive My Way’s Driver Happiness and Retention Survey found that 71% of drivers reported using Facebook. Youtube and Instagram were the next most popular platforms. 

You don’t have to guess where to find truck drivers. Internet searches and Word of Mouth are consistently top channels. Focus social media efforts on Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram.

In both studies, word of mouth and internet searches were clearly the top two resources for job searching. Word of mouth relies heavily on building a positive brand reputation and keeping your company top of mind with consistent marketing. On the other hand, social media, content marketing, and partnership-based brand outreach are great places to start for drivers who utilize internet searches. 

4. Make it Mobile

Quite simply, if you’re not prioritizing mobile digital advertising, you are missing a big opportunity. Recent data from our Drive My Way Driver Happiness and Retention Survey demonstrates that more and more drivers are relying on their phones for communication and their technological interactions. Knowing this, plan on your digital advertising being viewed on anything from a desktop computer to a tablet to a smartphone. The good news is, there are numerous ways to get tech-savvy without reinventing your advertising campaigns or your budget. 

The best way to start improving your mobile interface is to invest time in understanding digital channels. Evaluate the channels you are currently using, and create a vision for how users will optimally interact with those channels on desktop and mobile. Many digital advertising channels, including social media, search engine ads, and even your company website, may allow companies to preview ads in a variety of formats before publishing. Carefully review both mobile and desktop views for content and format to ensure that drivers get the best possible experience regardless of their viewing device.

5. Don’t Neglect the Essentials

As you look forward to digital marketing optimization, don’t miss this key trend! Get back to basics. The same fundamentals that you started with are the foundation of a strong digital advertising strategy. Have a clean, concise website. Make sure the content is up to date, clearly presented, and search engine optimized. Once you have communicated all of the essential information, complete a secondary test. Ask yourself, “Is there any other information or design elements that could be removed while still communicating clearly?” If yes, take it out! Clarity is key.

After your website is ready, strategically choose where else you want to have a digital presence, and conduct a similar review of those sites. 

  • Are you active on social media? 
  • Do you host or participate in a podcast? 
  • Is content marketing your main distribution channel? 

Carefully audit each distribution channel and decide whether it is still benefiting your company. Don’t keep a channel active unless you are willing to maintain it, AND it is still delivering value. Focus your time, attention, and budget on the channels that are performing best.

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5 Advantages of Truck Driving Jobs for Veterans

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truck driving jobs for veterans

Even amid the roller coaster of supply and demand for many trucking companies in 2020, the truck driver shortage remains a constant. The factors underlying the shortage—experienced drivers retiring and insufficient new drivers entering the candidate pool—are unlikely to change in Q4 of 2020 and into the new year. If the driver shortage is affecting your company, continue to reach out to untapped candidate demographics. Supporting efforts to promote truck driving jobs for veterans in your company can introduce a tremendous, underrecruited group of drivers. If veterans seem like an unlikely candidate pool, consider these five advantages of hiring veterans to your fleet. 

1. Hire for Experience

Many military personnel have credentials or experience that are directly applicable to CDL driving. Some servicemen and women drove large trucks as part of their regular duties. These drivers are essentially coming to your fleet with several years of experience already! In addition, military troops are frequently hauling hazardous materials. While these drivers will still need to earn their official HazMat endorsement, they are already familiar with many of the safety and skill requirements. Similarly, all truck driving jobs for veterans still require a CDL license, but for many service members, their experience will make the professional transition easy. 

2. Recognize the Value of Soft Skills

Veterans bring grit, self-discipline, dependability, and leadership to their jobs. Military personnel are specifically trained to be mission-focused and have a high level of situational awareness. As an employer, that means you can count on them to prioritize the success of the job and find a way to accomplish their route and overcome any obstacles. In addition, veterans tend to be highly attuned to their environment. 

Situational awareness can help drivers assess challenging situations quickly and efficiently while under pressure.

Similarly, veterans bring valuable mental stamina to their jobs. They specifically receive training to manage high levels of stress. As a result, many are able to perform well in chaotic or confusing situations that might leave others overwhelmed or indecisive. 

3. Fill Demand with Supply

Despite their wealth of skills, military veterans are not heavily represented in truck driving jobs. A few companies are industry leaders and specifically work to increase their number of available truck driving jobs for veterans. Perhaps more importantly, veterans are a largely unexplored candidate pool. Some veterans may already have their CDL, but others may not realize that they already have the skill set to earn their CDL license. Consider forming partnerships or direct recruitment channels with veterans with trucking experience.  It is a great way to recruit quality drivers who other companies may shortsightedly overlook.

4. Fit your Company

One of the big reasons for driver turnover is a low satisfaction rate with home time. For many drivers, especially those in OTR positions, long nights or weeks away from family may be a deal-breaker. In contrast, most veterans are used to time away from home while on deployments.

That said, it’s not just an easier adjustment for drivers. Families also have experience with limited home time and remote communication. 

The lifestyle fit between the military and trucking goes beyond home time. The structure of military life can lend itself to the hierarchical nature of many trucking positions. Also, just as many veterans got to travel through new parts of our country or other countries, truck drivers are also on the move. For many with a wandering soul, truck driving is a way to keep seeing new places as part of civilian life.

5. Veterans are Trained for Teamwork

Teamwork is essential for military operations. In truck driving, collaboration also plays a central role. Whether it’s communicating with other members of the fleet, management, dispatchers, or external contacts such as shippers or customers, teamwork is necessary for building strong relationships on the job.

PTS Worldwide knows exactly how to highlight that strength when recruiting for truck driving jobs for veterans. In their job descriptions, they specifically look for teamwork.

“Are you a safe and professional driver looking for a company that understands that their success is dependent on your success? PTS Worldwide is a company founded by drivers that know we need your skills, enthusiasm, and commitment to achieve our goals together.”

PTS goes on to specifically highlight collaboration in their call to action by inviting drivers to “partner” with them and “join our team.” This demonstrates a deep understanding of military values as well as a company culture that recognizes the importance of teamwork.

Follow by Example

There are several companies that are already well known in the trucking industry for their strong veteran recruitment programs. In addition to PTS Worldwide, CRST Trucking, Averitt, Schneider National, and JB Hunt are just a few of the companies that are known for their strong veteran recruiting program and culture.

There are a few key ways in which these companies help themselves stand out as military-friendly workplaces. Implementing even one or two of these strategies can make your company more attractive to veterans.

Active Recruiting

Companies who successfully recruit veterans don’t just rely on inbound marketing for hiring. They are proactive in reaching out to potential drivers early and often. For some companies, the recruiting process starts even before personnel have fully completed their duties. 

Align Language 

Language is powerful. In recruiting, it can be the difference between someone seeing themselves in your post and applying verses simply skimming through and ignoring.  Just as PTS Worldwide consciously recruits for teamwork, there are other ways to consciously align your marketing language with military vernacular. Schneider is a great example. When marketing to veterans, they include phrases such as “next mission,” “integrity,” “pride in your work,” and “core values” — all words that directly relate or appeal to people with military experience.

Value Military Experience

As you work to recruit more veterans, spend time creating a company culture and policies that support those future drivers. When applicable, consider counting military service as job experience. If that’s not feasible for your company, show your support through words and actions. Publicly and privately thank veterans for their service. Additionally, support programs for veterans such as Wreaths Across America or the Run for the Fallen. 

Ease the Transition

All new employees will go through a job transition period. For drivers making the transition from active duty to truck driving, there will be added changes. As an employer, consider promoting mental health support services, training your staff on working with veterans, or building a mentorship program to help ease the transition. Some companies, like JB Hunt, also make a Statement of Support to actively showcase their commitment to employing veterans. This is a great way to support truck driving jobs for veterans. 

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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Are You Making the Most of Training CDL Drivers?

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Are You Making the Most of Training CDL Drivers?

Ongoing training is essential in any workplace. The trucking industry is no exception. You work hard to recruit and hire the best team of professional truck drivers you can find. So it’s very important to keep their skills sharp and keep them up-to-date on training requirements. You can offer many types of training, and various methods to conduct the training sessions. The key is to make sure the training sticks and is sustainable. So here are a few ways to be sure you’re making the most of training CDL drivers.

Purpose of the Training

Workplace training isn’t always every employee’s favorite thing to do on the job. Some employees see it as a chore, and some see it as an important benefit of the job. So you want to ensure that you’re providing training for the right reasons. And at the right time. What is the purpose of the training? Why are you offering it now? You need these answers before you start any planning. If you go into planning before you have your needs and goals clearly defined, you might wind up creating confusion in the workplace. If you’ve got these things well thought out, your training will be much more impactful and more well-received.

Types of Training

The Quick Guide to Remote OnboardingThere are several diverse ways you can execute training. You can bring in a trainer and conduct training live and in-person with a large group. In addition, you can offer opportunities for group training online or individualized online training. You want to make sure the delivery matches up well with your driver’s needs and workplace conditions. Find ways to best leverage your current resources to offer training. Training CDL drivers in a group setting might not be very feasible at this time, but online options might be a better fit right now.

Stay Ahead of Needs

Anticipating your long-term training needs and planning accordingly can go a long way to stretch your training budgets and positively impact your business. Pricing for training planned well in advance is usually at a cost savings vs. needing to get a trainer lined-up at the last minute for an emergency session. Your best strategy is to document upcoming needs and plan training out at least a few months in advance. This will help ensure best pricing and no schedule surprises to your team.

Training For the Long Term

When investing in training, it’s important to make sure that you’re setting up a plan for the long term. If you need to bring in resources from the outside to train your team, ensure that you’re appointing team members to become leads for the new training to keep the new learnings alive and well. Be prepared to have these team leads help with training new employees on these topics or reinforcing the training to keep the learning fresh and evergreen within your team.

When you’re working to plan your training for your employees, think about how this will help your overall recruitment and retention plans. Find ways to include topics in training that you can use to clearly showcase why working for your company is a good choice for any candidate to come onboard.

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Ultimate Guide to Retaining Truck Drivers

You work so hard to recruit the best truck drivers for your fleet. The trick is retaining them. This guide is packed with tips for retaining your fleet.

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How to Increase Your Driver Recruitment Efficiency on a Budget

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How to Increase your Recruitment Efficiency on a Budget

The process of recruiting truck drivers can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. Now more than ever, the name of the game is efficiency. Getting fast results with as little impact to the budget as possible is key. But how do you improve your overall recruitment efficiency, especially during these uncertain times? Here are 5 ideas to get you started.

1. Work Smarter, Not Harder

One of the best pieces of advice for anyone in business is to always find ways to work smarter, not harder. Look at your overall processes and find the trouble spots and the jams. Once you have those identified, think about what you might be able to change. What pieces of your recruitment process can you streamline, or better yet, eliminate? If there’s a certain process that’s always taking more time than you can afford or using up more resources than planned, create a better plan.

2. Don’t Lose Any Driver Leads

One great way to increase recruitment efficiency is to make the most of the leads you already have. Going back to your hiring funnel, when potential drivers fall out, what is your process to re-engage them when new openings arise? Drivers who were found to be good matches but didn’t sign-on might be the best place to start. Recruitment efficiency is the combination of process improvement and leveraging all of the assets at your disposal.

3. Look to Rehire Former Drivers

If drivers left for another job, it’s worth keeping track of details that let you know why. If they left to chase a higher paycheck that’s one thing, but if they left due to a poor culture or other internal issues you have since improved, it might be time to reintroduce yourself to former drivers.

Bringing back former drivers can be the fastest way to fill an empty truck. Having a pool of qualified and experienced employees to call on for rehire can be a valuable resource. Make sure the people you want to come back to work for you know they are welcome back in the future.

4. Maximize Your Existing Technology

Ensure all of your technology is working for you. From your chosen applicant tracking system (ATS) to your website, make sure that you know how to measure success.

If there are features and functions available that you’re not using, find out what it takes to implement those to your advantage. There may be steps in the process that you can automate. Do it! Using your technology to its fullest advantage is a clear advantage in hiring.

Looking for an ATS? Improve Your Recruiting with DriverReach

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5. Lower Your Cost Per Hire

Lastly improve recruitment efficiency by focusing on saving money for each new driver onboarded. Finding ways to save money or otherwise stretch your recruiting budget is one way to positively impact your company’s bottom line. In addition, working to reduce your cost per hire is a critical step. And freeing up funds that can be then reinvested or reallocated to drive other improvements. Take a look at all of the tactics you’re using for driver recruitment and then remove the least effective pieces. The goal is to have faster hires, at a lower cost overall.

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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Timely CDL Lessons Delivered By COVID-19

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4 Timely CDL Lessons Delivered By COVID-19

By mid-March, most everyone was impacted by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, professional truck drivers included. Schools closed, office workers went to working from home full-time, and the grocery stores were wiped out of cleaning supplies and toilet paper. Everyone across the globe was forced to adjust to their “new normal”. But with all this seemingly bad news, there might be a silver lining to come out of it. All this rapid change might have forced companies into making decisions and changes they might not have otherwise. Here are 4 timely CDL lessons delivered by COVID-19.

1. Long-Term Planning is Important

The global pandemic affected virtually everyone in 2020. Hiring freezes are commonplace across many industries currently. Trucking companies are no exception. Quickly needing to shift gears from rapid hiring to potentially significant downsizing in a matter of weeks, was a tough change. But this time is a great opportunity to keep recruiting and getting your message out to potential future hires.

Maintaining your recruitment efforts may seem like the last thing you’d want to do when you’re downsizing. When you’re not actively hiring truck drivers, focus on building relationships in your recruitment pipeline.

Use this time to invest in your future needs and hiring once things get back on track. Many companies are coming up with creative ways to keep current employees engaged while things might be slow. Investing in the long-term is one of many great CDL lessons for many trucking companies.

2. Supply Chain Disruptions Can Be Mitigated

Global disruptions in the supply chain forced companies to make quick decisions in key areas. Production was adjusted while new suppliers were located. Longer lead times were baked into schedules. And this often resulted in higher prices and longer wait times for end products. What does all that mean for the trucking industry? The CDL lesson here is that it’s important to diversify your supply chain as much as possible. For truckers, this lesson’s impact might be felt soon, if there is a second or third wave of the virus that some are predicting.

Now that things are opening back up and shortages aren’t as common, what will happen if factories get shuttered again, or raw materials are delayed in transit? Having a resilient and diversified supply chain is the only way to mitigate this.

3. Technology is Key

Office workers in many trucking companies had to quickly migrate to working from home. Though unplanned, these transitions were easier through leveraging technology. Using new software for video conferencing improved the communications channels for remote workers, and keeps your teams informed and connected.

For your drivers, working from home is not an option. However, this is the perfect time to invest in technology and equipment upgrades for your trucks and drivers.

Finding ways to take manual paper processes out and implement more contactless options will prove to be a great investment for the future. Anything that helps keep your drivers safe is a great investment.

4. Truck Drivers ARE Essential

While many industries came to a sudden halt, truckers kept rolling. Hospital equipment that needed to move quickly to areas of need – a truck driver got it there. Those empty grocery store shelves need refilling – here comes a truck with a load of supplies. The biggest CDL lesson here is that truck drivers are essential. Those of us in the industry already knew this, but now many more people do.

It’s a great time to thank a trucker and show that you care for all that they do to keep this country moving.

If you’re still working on your plans and making changes, we hope these CDL lessons are useful to you. If you’ve have thoughts on what other lessons this time is providing to the trucking industry, drop them in the comments below, we’d love to hear your feedback.

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How to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Trucking Industry

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How to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Trucking Industry

The trucking industry overall is very dynamic, with plenty of changes over time. However, one thing that seems slow to change is the general perception of a typical trucker. Older, white, and male are the words that many people think of when picturing a truck driver. That stereotype exists because it has been true for a long time. And that’s not necessarily a good thing. So when it comes to diversity and inclusion in the trucking industry, what can be done to change the narrative?

In recent years, things are changing from the “old guy club” people sometimes describe. The data tells us that there is a “new face of trucking” starting to emerge. This new change should start to shift those old perceptions.

Per the US Census Bureau: Among younger truckers under age 35, more of them are women, Hispanic, and more educated than their older counterparts age 55 and older.

This means that for the younger people entering the trucking industry, they’re also more demographically diverse than the historically typical driver. This change is a welcomed one for those who have been looking to broaden the pool of candidates for their open jobs. If you’re looking to change things at the local hiring level, here are some ideas of how to promote diversity and inclusion in the trucking industry.

Change Your Demographics

One way to keep pace with the changes, is to have a hiring plan that helps you broaden your reach and mix of applicants.

Women

female truck drivers

As mentioned, trucking has historically been a male-dominated field. However, statistics also show that female trucker numbers are growing. You want to find ways to bring women into the industry, and as a hiring manager, you want to avoid making mistakes that keep women from wanting to work for your company.

Addressing female driver’s concerns up-front, will help appeal to more women applying for your open jobs.

Things like safety, equipment ergonomics and company culture are more important to many women drivers than male drivers. Putting a priority on these things can lead to more female candidates, and ultimately new hires.

Millennials

Truck driving can be a great career for younger people. It’s a terrific way to get paid to travel the country. Truck drivers can make great money, and bringing in younger drivers can establish company loyalty with these new drivers. Putting a strategy in place to recruit younger drivers is another great way to promote diversity and inclusion in the trucking industry.

Focusing on wellness and benefits is helpful when appealing to younger people.

Reaching younger people via through social media channels works well with this group. Making the application process fully electronic and user-friendly is a bonus for millennial recruiting as well.

Develop a Good Plan

Just like any good long-term strategy, you need a good plan. Set a clear vision and assemble a team to work towards your goals. From there, you need to develop and add details your plan to make it work. Think through multiple scenarios until you’re certain the plan is solid. Implement your plan and then evaluate to see what’s working and what’s not working.

If your company only has bandwidth to focus on one or two changes, start there. Once you see the positive changes you set out to make, continue working the plan. You can reevaluate as you go.

Be the face of change that you want to see. If the culture of your company is non-inclusive, you might find it difficult to start to make changes. We know referrals from current drivers are a reliable source of new leads. So, the more diverse your base of employees, the more likely you would have a more diverse set of referral leads to filter. Continuing to change your culture to a more inclusive one is a great start if you want to promote diversity and inclusion in the trucking industry.

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3 Best Ways to Reach Truck Drivers for a Big Impact

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3 Best Ways to Reach Truck Drivers for a Big ImpactRecruiting truck drivers is a complex process. Drivers have so many things competing for their attention constantly. So, recruiters must be flexible and creative to be sure their messages get to prospective drivers, and that the message is clear and in a format a driver will best receive it. In the current climate, delivering a clear message to reach truck drivers is more important than ever. If you are hiring and looking to bring on new drivers, here are 3 best ways to reach truck drivers for a big impact.

1. Be Optimized for Mobile

Professional truck drivers don’t spend much time sitting behind a desktop computer. With most of the day spent behind the wheel, it is likely that a few quick peeks at their phone during pit stops would be the best time to get your message to a prospective driver. What do you need to do to improve your postings to get better engagement? Think about the way the driver will see them first.

If you’re sending out emails or running ads for your jobs, be sure that they are optimized for mobile devices. Don’t take the chance that your message will not be well-received if it’s not.

You want to ensure that the most common tool a driver is getting their info from is the way that you are tailoring your communications to them. Your first impression on a driver may be made on their phone. So it’s important to focus on optimizing your recruiting for mobile devices.

2. It’s a Digital World

Being competitive in the driver recruiting business means your overall strategy needs to have a strong digital plan to reach truck drivers. And a great way to help your people connect with drivers, is to use technology to complement your recruiting efforts. If a driver has an unpleasant experience with your website or application system, that might make a bad first impression on your potential new candidates.

Using systems and technology that put the driver’s needs and expectations first, is a fantastic way to have an electronic introduction be a smooth one.

Otherwise you risk alienating a good driver before you even get a chance to speak with them. You want to a make your interactions simple and straightforward to ensure they continue to engage with your recruiting efforts.

3. Is Your Message Driver-Centric?

Working to reach truck drivers truck drivers with your message, means your message needs to be focused on their needs. You need to be on trend with putting your driver’s needs first.

Do your research with your current drivers to find out their preferences in communication. Are they more inclined to one social media platform vs. another? What did they like and dislike about looking for their last job?

Take this information and help your team hone your recruiting messages that will attract and retain the type of drivers that you want to hire. Once you craft those messages, use the right tools to help deliver them.

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