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Dashboard Cameras: The Pros and Cons

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One topic that has become increasingly controversial in the trucking industry is the use of dashboard cameras. Everyone from drivers and carriers to industry experts has an opinion on the use of these cameras and whether they provide any real benefits. For some, the argument is in favor of dashboard cameras because they can increase protection for the driver and company, while reducing liability. Others argue that dashboard cameras infringe on drivers’ privacy and create distrust between drivers and their companies.  

Pros: Liability and Protection 

People who are pro-dashboard camera believe they benefit drivers by adding a level of safety and increased protection from liability during accidents.  

As truck driver Steve commented on our Facebook poll, “Outward facing cameras are great. They can be used to prove fault in accidents.” 

Even though most people do not realize it, the majority of vehicular crashes involving trucks are actually caused by passenger vehicles. Two independent studies by The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), found that cars are at fault from 71-91% of the time in fatal crashes with trucks. While drivers are often not at fault for the crashes, they, as well as the carriers, often end up being held liable for the accident. For trucks with outward facing cameras, they are most easily able to prove their case and liability status based on footage from the incident.  

They provide a constant eye in the case of danger and damage. 

Dashboard cameras are an important option for protecting truck drivers from wrongful allegations which reduces costs and liability for carriers. With such great benefits, many carriers are opting to install dashcams. 

Cons: Privacy and Micromanagement  

While dashboard cameras can improve safety and protection for drivers during accidents, many would argue that they are an invasion of privacy, especially inward facing cameras, as many drivers’ trucks are also their homes.  

As truck driver GS Bass told us, “I feel the cab is my personal space, private, my domicile while working. I know companies can dip into any inward camera and observe.” Similarly, another driver, Eric, observed, “This is my home when it’s not moving.” 

Most drivers live in their trucks while making hauls, so not only is it their office, but it is also their living room, kitchen, and bedroom. The use of dashcams takes away from drivers’ rights to have privacy and makes their every move available to the carriers, as well as anyone else you could access the camera’s footage. With that said, drivers would have no room to even scratch their nose without someone watching. 

Another argument against dashboard cameras is micromanagement of a driver’s decisions. Let’s say you have a trucker who has been a great driver for over 10 years and has vast experience making sound driving decisions. Dashboard cameras allow the carrier to scrutinize and judge every decision a driver makes, without understanding its nuances and consequences. 

Steve told us, “They make driving less safe because we now drive for the camera. If a traffic light turns yellow and you have to brake even minutely hard, it causes the camera to go off. We then get called in and coached on hard brakes. This coaching gets put in your record and you accumulate points for it. If someone pulls out in front of you, and you hit the brakes too hard, points. If you’re listening to the radio too loud when the camera comes on, or taking a drink of coffee, or looking out your side windows (like checking your mirrors), points.” 

For drivers, this can create frustration as someone who has never driven a rig tries to tell them how to do so.  

A Potential Solution  

While proponents and opponents of the argument each make valid points, there is middle ground that can be reached on the topic of dashboard cameras. Many truck drivers would be amenable to forward-facing cameras if they don’t have to deal with the inward cameras. The benefits of forward-facing cameras are undeniable to both truckers and carriers. If carriers take this too far with inward facing cameras, they will face resistance because of privacy concerns. 

Another consideration is how much flexibility and freedom carriers choose to give individual drivers. If a carrier decides to institute a dashboard camera policy without consulting with their drivers, they will likely see extreme resistance.  

On the other hand, if a carrier allows drivers to make their own decisions about dashboard cameras, and just educate them on the pros and cons, they may find that more and more drivers will voluntarily elect to install cameras. 

How COVID has Impacted Truck Driver Recruiting

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covid recruitingWhile the COVID-19 pandemic seems to mostly be in the rearview mirror, it brought a lot of changes to the trucking industry. While some of these changes seem to be going by the wayside, some look like they’re here to stay. Here are 5 ways that COVID has impacted driver recruiting. 

1. Remote Interviewing and Onboarding Process

One of the biggest changes that COVID brought to the workforce was remote interviewing and onboarding. While most carriers implemented remote interviewing and onboarding when that was the only option, some have begun to move towards it as full time.  

Why? One reason is that it can lead to carriers finding and interviewing better driver candidates. In a labor market this competitive, something as simple as offering a driver the ability to do the interview and onboarding process from wherever they’d like could be the thing that sets your carrier apart.  

Another reason is that speed has been shown to be a top metric in getting candidates to come on board with your carrier. Having a remote process speeds everything up, giving candidates less time to find and accept another job offer.

2. Vaccine/Booster Requirements

Even before the COVID vaccines were made available, there was a hot debate on whether or not companies should require employees to be vaccinated. This debate got even hotter when a federal mandate was announced that would require some truck drivers to get the vaccine.  

While nothing ever came of that mandate, with the Supreme Court striking it down as unconstitutional, companies still have their own discretion on whether or not they require drivers to get vaccinated. 

3. Driver Pay Increasing

Pay has been a pain point for drivers for decades. Though there are a number of issues that have contributed to it, most agree that the deregulation of the trucking industry in the 1980’s was the biggest reason that drivers began to earn less.  

But the COVID pandemic has led to a surge in driver pay. With increased freight demand and competition for drivers, carriers are increasing payroll budgets to ensure they have drivers in seats. Wal-Mart just recently announced that the average pay for their truck drivers would be increased to between $95,000 and $110,000 annually.  

While the majority of carriers may not be able to match what mega fleets like Wal-Mart can provide, offering drivers overtime and detention pay are two ways that carriers can show they’re committed to offering fair compensation.   

Another thing carriers are noticing is that it’s much easier to fill home daily positions than it is to fill traditional OTR positions, even if the money is better. A lot of drivers are fine with taking less in pay, if that means being home with their family each night.  

4. Truck Shortage

The truck driver shortage has been a well-documented and much talked about issue for years, even before COVID. Another issue that’s been becoming more prevalent is a shortage on trucks as well.  

Jason Crowell, Director of Recruiting with Drive My Way client, Custom Commodities Transport has been dealing with this issue since last year. 

“My bosses were almost ready to tell us to stop advertising our driver jobs because they were afraid we weren’t going to have enough trucks. Luckily, it didn’t come to that. It’s an interesting time for the operations people, the salespeople, and definitely the recruiting team to have a goal to get to x hires but not have trucks to put them in.” 

Just like with consumer cars and trucks, the shortage of semi-trucks is caused by a shortage in computers chips that are used in these vehicles. These issues were originally brought on by COVID supply chain problems, but are now being exacerbated by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as lockdowns in China.  

Carriers should prepare for this truck shortage to be the norm as it’s expected to go on for a while longer, with some predictions that it’ll last until 2024.  

5. Increased Driver Shortage

When the pandemic first started, many drivers were laid off due to an almost complete halt in demand for moving freight. Once things started to open up again in 2021, the opposite seemed to happen. Trucking companies found it more and more difficult to find drivers to help them meet the huge increase in demand they were experiencing.  

Just how difficult is it for trucking companies to find drivers? A study by Coyote and Emsi found that it takes 9 times the amount of job postings to hire a truck driver than it does any other blue-collar profession.  

This is why it’s more important than ever for trucking companies to focus their time and resources where it matters.

Drive My Way works with carriers to get their job postings in front of the right drivers at the right time. We’ve helped our clients find the right candidates to fill their CDL job openings and we’re able to help you too. 

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5 Ways to Recruit Gen Z Truck Drivers

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recruit gen z
Gen Z is described as the generation born between 1997 and 2012. This means that the oldest members of Gen Z are in their mid-twenties right now, the same age when most drivers start their career in trucking. While Gen Z is only 24% of the workforce right now, that number is only going to go up since Gen Z has eclipsed millennials as the largest generation globally. 

While it’s difficult to define a group of people this large, there are some common characteristics most share. These include being independent, communicative, and digital (specifically mobile) focused.  

So, what does this mean for driver recruiters who want to recruit these young Gen Z drivers? Here are five tips to help you when recruiting Gen Z drivers. 

1. Training Opportunities

While experience is one of the biggest things that recruiters look for, these younger drivers coming into trucking right now are the future of the industry. Carriers are seeing the benefits of offering training opportunities to their Gen Z drivers.  

It’s not just Gen Z drivers who are looking for training opportunities, it’s the workforce as a whole. A LinkedIn study found that 94% of employees said they would stay at a company that invested in their career development. 

If your company isn’t already, consider offering and advertising CDL training. Many young people may want to get their CDL but are put off by the high prices of driving schools. Carriers offering a way to do that affordably while guaranteeing them a job once they graduate is one of the biggest ways to recruit Gen Z drivers to your organization.  

2. Set Up Career Paths

Gen Z drivers will no doubt be looking to work somewhere they can advance themselves rather than staying in the same position for years. This could mean anything from going from local driving to regional or OTR work, or it could even mean moving to a different position throughout your company. The important thing is that you have career path options set up for these young drivers. 

Make sure that it’s communicated to them early on in the recruiting process that your company offers these career paths and advancement opportunities. This shows that you have a commitment to not only help the company grow, but help your drivers grow as well.  

3. Use Texting to Communicate

If your recruiting team has only contacted candidates via phone and email, you may be missing out on a number of qualified young drivers. A study done by Yello Recruiting found that “86% of Gen Z and Millennials like SMS text as part of the interview process”. A separate study by LinkedIn found that, “67% of potential candidates respond within minutes to SMS text messages”. 

If you aren’t doing this already, start making mobile communication a priority in your recruitment process. Just make sure that you have their consent to reach out to them via text before you do, as not overstepping boundaries and safeguarding personal information is very important to them.   

4. Mobile-First Presentation

Have you ever gone to a company’s website where you had to pinch and zoom over and over again to find what you needed? That’s because it wasn’t optimized for mobile devices. Odds are, you probably didn’t have a great experience and didn’t go back to that site. The bad news is, if your company site’s not mobile optimized, young candidates could be deciding the same thing about it. 

This is especially when you consider that more people globally use their smartphones to access the internet than computers, laptops, or tablets. While your job postings may be through Indeed and other job sites that are already optimized for mobile, if a candidate needs to return to your company’s site for any reason, including to just do some research on your company, you’ll want to make sure they have a quick and seamless experience. For more information on how your company can make their site mobile-first, check out this blog.

5. Quality Company Culture

Having a quality company culture can’t be overstated when recruiting any drivers into your organization, but especially Gen Z drivers. But, to have a culture that appeals to them, you need to know what they value. 

As a generation, Gen Z is known for questioning everything, especially in the workplace. They don’t take much at face value, and will be quick to let people know (think about online reviews) if they feel a company is doing something wrong.  

Having an internal system for gathering and answering driver comments and complaints will go a long way. This system could be anything from having an anonymous suggestion or comment box (digital may be the better option than on-site) to texting or calling drivers once every week or few weeks to check in on how they’re doing and if they have any concerns. It’s a small thing to do, but can make a big difference in recruiting and supporting Gen Z drivers. 

 

While there are some differences when recruiting Gen Z drivers as opposed to Millennials or Gen X’ers, the core principles remain the same. Have a strong and communicative company culture, make driver training and advancement a priority, and you’ll have no problem recruiting Gen Z driver into your organization. 

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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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Pros and Cons of Lowering the CDL Driver Age Requirement

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cdl age requirementFrom shipping delays to empty shelves and rising prices in supermarkets, the effects of the truck driver shortage can be felt all across the country. Carriers and advocates have tried a number of ways to get more drivers into the industry. From raising pay to letting pets ride in the cab, a lot of different perks have been offered to get people interested in a career in trucking. 

Probably the most controversial response to the driver shortage has been to lower the age requirement to cross state lines in a CMV to 18. As of right now, drivers can get their CDL at 18, but can’t go interstate until they turn 21. This leaves most CDL trucking driving jobs to drivers 21 or older. 

Advocates say opening up this new age demographic to trucking will help alleviate effects of the driver shortage and get the industry moving in the right direction again. Opponents say that the safety risks associated with lowering the interstate CDL age requirement aren’t worth the potential benefits. Here’s everything you need to know about the age requirement debate for interstate truckers. 

What’s the Latest News?

Back in September of 2020, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) proposed a program that would allow 18–20-year old’s to operate a CMV across state lines. Nothing happened at the time, but the program was eventually picked up as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill that was passed in November of 2021.  

This program is officially called the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program (SDAP). The program will be in place for 3 years, almost as a test run. After that, the FMCSA will publish their findings and let congress know whether they endorse it becoming law. As of right now, there’s no information on when carriers can start applying to be a part of the SDAP, but the FMCSA said they’ll post an announcement on their website when that happens. 

Cons to Lowering the Interstate CDL Age

The biggest and most obvious criticism of lowering the CDL age are the safety concerns associated with letting teenagers get behind the wheel of a 15-ton semi-truck. Teenagers are 3 times more likely to get into a crash than drivers over the age of 20. When you combine that statistic with the increased difficulty of driving a CMV, it’s easy to see why some are skeptical of lowering the CDL age. Also, some feel that lowering the CDL age requirement is just a way to avoid the bigger problems facing the trucking industry right now, such as low driver pay. 

Another issue that’s not considered a lot of the time with lowering the interstate CDL age is insurance. We spoke with Jeff Ice, Retired Managing Director with Risk Strategies Transportation about what this change will mean for the insurance industry and carrier’s policies.

“I don’t see the insurance industry modifying the underwriting requirement of a 21 year old minimum age for CDL or even non-CDL drivers. Actually, most insurance carriers have a 23-25 year old requirement and I don’t see them backing off that. So yes it’s a conundrum. Driver shortage vs. insurance experience/requirements. With the expanding use of real time fleet telematics, maybe this change will make a positive impact on the industry years down the road, but in the near term, I just don’t see the insurance industry backing down,” shared Jeff. 

Also, some drivers fear that if the CDL age gets lowered, so will their wages. 18–20-year-old drivers earn much less on average than older workers and are more likely to take lower offers from trucking companies. This will put older drivers who have made considerable gains in pay over the last few years in a tough spot. 

Pros to Lowering the Interstate CDL Age?

When we think of lowering the CDL age, we might think of freshly 18 year old drivers who have never been in a truck before, hopping on the highway. In the majority of instances, this won’t be the case. To address safety concerns, the pilot program institutes a mandatory 400 probationary period where any driver 18-20 must have an experienced driver in the passenger seat at all times. An experienced driver is defined as any driver who is 26 or over, has at least 5 years of CMV driving experience, been driving for the last two years, and has had no preventable accidents or pointed moving violations. 

Lindsey Trent, President and Co-Founder of the Next Generation in Trucking Association had this to say on the topic of training young drivers and the associated insurance issues.

“It’s going to be a process. There are companies that will allow a carrier to insure an 18-20 year old driver, but they’ll obviously have to pay more for that policy. If we can train a young person to be an exceptional driver and put them through a longer training process, we’ll eventually get those statistics in with the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Program. We’ll get answers to questions like, “Are these 18-20 year old drivers just as safe as a 26 year old who has their CDL,” shared Lindsey. 

Also, there’s already a number of young drivers out there who are already driving CMVs. In all 50 states, any person 18 or over can get their CDL A or B; they just can’t travel across state lines. Couple that with the SDAP only allowing 3,000 apprentices in the program at one time and you can see that many of the safety concerns have been addressed. 

18-20 is a very important age range, when many people choose the careers that they’ll be in for the rest of their lives. This is one benefit to lowering the interstate CDL age. The industry will be reaching young people at that critical time in their lives. For an industry that needs to get younger, lowering the CDL age seems like a no brainer. 

Whether you’re for or against lowering the CDL age requirement, as of right now, it’s happening. Even if it’s just on a small-scale test basis, we’ll soon see 18-year old’s out on the highway delivering freight. Only time will tell whether or not the concerns will outweigh the positive effect this change may have on the industry. 

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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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3 Reasons to Hire Driver Recruiters with CDL Experience

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driver recruiter
When building a driver recruiter team, experience can’t be overstated. But this doesn’t just mean experience in the recruiting world. Some carriers are finding value in bringing recruiters who have CDL experience into their organization. These recruiters have a knack for building relationships with drivers and turning candidates into hires, which is invaluable for any recruiting department.  

driver recruiter

Connie Garner, PWD Transportation Recruiter

We spoke with Connie Garner, Recruiter for Drive My Way client, PWD Transportation Inc. and CDL A holder. Connie shared with us how her experience as a CDL driver helps her to be a better driver recruiter. 

“I believe the fact that I have my CDL A and was a truck driver is how I’ve been able to recruit and retain a number of drivers. I know the life they live and the struggles they go through on a daily basis,” shared Connie.

Here’s why bringing on recruiters with CDL experience may take your recruiting and retention efforts to the next level. 

1. Drivers Trust Recruiters with CDL Experience

This isn’t to say that drivers don’t like or don’t trust recruiters who don’t have CDL experience. Drivers can have great relationships with recruiters of any background. It’s just that drivers will naturally gravitate towards recruiters who have experience as a CDL driver. Trucking is a close-knit community, where you’re more likely to trust people who are in that community than those who aren’t.  

Drive My Way’s President and CEO, Beth Potratz, shared her perspective on the value of recruiters who have CDL experience. 

Beth Potratz

Beth Potratz, CEO of Drive My Way

“At the end of the day, drivers have had so many bad experiences and broken promises that they’re almost at a point where they don’t trust. This leads to them to start looking for actual testimonials from other drivers who have actually lives it, to confirm whether or not this is something they want to move forward with,” shared Beth.

2. Trucking Industry Knowledge Goes a Long Way

There’s a common misconception among drivers that recruiters lie on purpose just to get drivers in seats. While it’s true that sometimes drivers aren’t given the correct information, it’s most likely because the recruiter doesn’t have the right information themselves, not because they’re trying to intentionally mislead drivers.  

The issue is that there’s a lot of vernacular, slang, and just general knowledge in the trucking industry that isn’t easy to learn right off the bat. This can lead to communication issues when a recruiter is trying to talk to drivers about a job opportunity that ultimately results in unhappy drivers and frustrated recruiters.  

For recruiters who have CDL experience, all that industry talk and specific information relating to runs, equipment, and hauls is already second nature to them. Drivers will appreciate speaking with someone knowledgeable of the industry and likely be more comfortable moving forward in the hiring process with your carrier.  

3. Building Long-Term Relationships

As any good recruiter knows, relationship building is key. Aside from just being in contact with a driver during the hiring process and then handing them off, CDL recruiters have that unique sense of camaraderie with hired drivers. These relationships can last well after the initial hire and could even be a factor in retaining talented drivers. 

“I don’t promise them anything I can’t give them. In the beginning, I didn’t want to be a recruiter, because I had only bad experiences with the ones I worked with. But as a driver turned recruiter, you really have a leg up. Drivers will come into conversations with you much more comfortable and open since they’re with ‘one of their own'”, shared Connie. 

Aside from that, recruiters who have CDL experience, will tend to know more people in the industry overall. This can lead to introductions with many great drivers your company wouldn’t have been able to get in front of otherwise. 

Having great recruiters in your organization is step one. Step two is finding the solutions that help your recruiters make the right hires. Drive My Way’s patented matching technology will identify top candidates based on your specific job requirements and match them with you.  

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The 2 Recruitment Podcasts You Need to Listen to This Year

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recruitment podcasts
If you’ve been in the driver recruiter space long enough, you probably know about Recruit & Retain: Trucking Edition with Chad Hendricks and Taking the Hire Road with Jeremy Reymer. Both podcasts focus on the challenges of recruiting and retention in the trucking industry. The recruitment podcasts also feature a number of industry experts who share their knowledge with listeners.  

We had the chance to talk to both Chad and Jeremy about how they started their podcasts, what their favorite episodes have been so far, and what topics they’re excited to tackle this year. 

How Did You Start Your Podcast?

recruitment podcasts

Jeremy Reymer, host of Taking the Hire Road

Jeremy: “Years ago, I had the thought of doing a podcast on my own. I loved the idea but felt that it wouldn’t be a good fit at the time. I wanted to do it, but just didn’t have the time. 

Fast forward a few years and FreightWaves reached out and pitched the idea of me hosting my own podcast with the help of their audio and content team. It was the perfect situation. I would be able to pick my own guests and host, while the FreightWaves team would handle all the production and promotion. I agreed and now here we are, 44 episodes later.  

As for the name of the podcast, it came from my belief that it’s important to surround yourself with people who do the right thing and who take the higher road. The play on words with higher and hire was the perfect fit.” 

recruitment podcasts

Chad Hendricks, host of Recruit & Retain: Trucking Edition

Chad: “We had a client in the building industry who was looking for ways to be known as an industry leader in his space. He asked us what we recommended, and we pitched him the idea of starting his own podcast. He wasn’t a fan of the idea, but it got us thinking about doing a podcast ourselves.  

Starting out, we thought it might be difficult to get guests on the podcast, but that wasn’t the case at all. It’s really surprising how many people were interested in being on it, especially our clients. That’s the origin of Recruit & Retain, and we’re still here, going on our third year.” 

What Topics are you Excited About Tackling on the Show this Year?

Jeremy: “From a company perspective, recruiting and retention are the two number one issues that they’re facing right now. For drivers, their biggest grievances are things like parking and pay. If a carrier is able to solve those driver problems, they’ll be working towards solving their recruiting and retention problems. My main goal is trying to find more material that addresses those issues. 

I also want to put a focus on more compliance talk to dispel certain misinformation out there. For example, so many times recruiters think, ‘I need to get 10 years of employment verification’ and that’s just not true at all. You may have a company policy that says that, which is different. Dispelling some of those common misconceptions and informing recruiters is a big focus this year.” 

Chad: “The biggest one I’m excited to dive into is helping recruiters find where they can differentiate from competitors. Most are trying to wordsmith their pay package in the job advertisement, but drivers and getting keen to it. You can’t have a job ad that just talks about cents per mile with the picture of the guy with his arms folded. Drivers have seen that 1,000 times. You need something to get their eyeballs to stop for a second on your ad.  

The second piece to differentiation is figuring out how to create a positive driver experience once drivers come on board. It only takes a week for a driver to decide how they feel about working for a certain carrier. You want your new drivers to say, ‘I’ve never been treated this well in my first week at a new job.’ I’m really looking forward to bringing on some guests who can speak on this topic.” 

What has Been Your Favorite Episode of the Show so Far?

Jeremy: “I really enjoy talking with Rebecca Brewster, President & COO of the American Transportation Research Institute. We have a good natural rapport that always leads to a great interview. I would also say any episode that features Leah Shaver is great too. She has such a great personality and is so knowledgeable about our industry. Every time she’s on, I know that listeners are going to come away with something they didn’t know before.” 

Chad: “I don’t know if I have one specific favorite episode, but I’ve really enjoyed when I’ve been able to be very transparent with the audience and talk about our internal processes and how we operationalize our values. What I mean is that if a company says, ‘these are our values,’ then how are they actually living those out? In those episodes, we lay out exactly how to do this at Brand Outcomes, with concrete examples that carriers can implement right now into their own businesses.” 

Jeremy Reymer is the founder and CEO of DriverReach. You can find new episodes of Taking the Hire Road every week on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and YouTube.

Chad Hendricks is the President of Brand Outcomes, Inc. You can find new episodes of Recruit & Retain: Trucking Edition every week on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and YouTube. 

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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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4 Steps to Reverse Your Bad Company Reputation

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bad company reputation

There are many reasons a carrier could be suffering from a bad company reputation. It could stem from issues years ago when the company was a different place, run by different people. A few poor experiences could have gained traction online, or there could even be criticisms against your company that have no basis in fact.  

Whatever the reason, a bad reputation can lead to a lot of headaches for your company. Most importantly, it can lead to recruiters having a much harder time filling seats. Businesses often don’t take the necessary steps to reverse these negative perceptions and instead choose to live with them.  This is a mistake no matter what industry you’re in, but especially trucking, where word of mouth is king. If you believe your company is suffering from a bad reputation, here are 4 tips to reverse it. 

1. Understand Why

Before you can solve a problem, you need to understand what caused it in the first place. There’s several reasons that your company could be suffering from a bad reputation. Whether it’s warranted or not, you need to understand what the complaints are before you can address them.  

Have open and honest conversations with people in your company and your industry about what they’ve heard. You can also track how people are talking about your company online. Higher end social listening tools like MeltWater are out there, but doing a simple search of your company on Google and the major social media platforms works as well. This might not be fun to hear, but it’s integral to the process of building your company’s reputation back up.  

2. Have a Plan

Now that you understand the problem, it’s time to find the best way to handle it. There’s a number of ways build your reputation back up. It all depends on what the problem was in the first place.  

Poor support network for drivers? Consider adding more resources to your operations department to address this, like bringing on a driver liaison. Recruiters not being upfront with drivers about job details? Make continuous transparency a priority throughout the hiring process. Low pay or old equipment? Think through how to improve this to be competitive in the market.   

3. Try Something New

Even if you’ve done everything you can to fix the problem and keep it from happening again, that negative reputation could still linger if people aren’t aware of your changes. Your first step is to address the issues. This can be a statement from a PR representative or high-ranking official with your carrier. 

 One thing to avoid is publishing a statement committing to change, but not giving any concrete details on how this will be done. The important thing here is to not only address the issues and take responsibility, but also to speak on what steps the company is taking to do better going forward.   

A great next step is adding testimonials from current drivers to your online presence. It’s not a secret that drivers are much more likely to trust what other drivers say about a company over what a recruiter says. Show them firsthand how your current drivers feel about working for your carrier and how things have changed. Have drivers address some of the negatives your company was previously known for. If you were known in the industry as having low pay, have a driver talk about how pay is increased and competitive with other carriers.  

4. Continuously Monitor

If you don’t already have an internal complaint system or engagement survey in place, now is the time to do it. This gives employees and customers somewhere to vent any frustration they have in a place that isn’t visible to everyone on the internet. Make sure your carrier is following up with complaints and issues in a timely manner. Otherwise, you’ll be falling into the same hole again. 

Reputations are everything, especially in the trucking industry. It may take time to see a bad company reputation be reversed, but it’s worth the effort if your company wants to bring in talented and experienced drivers.  

Quick Guide to Truck Driver Appreciation

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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.

ultimate guide to retaining truck drivers

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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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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Times like these create uncertainty, but they also lead to opportunity. We’re here to help you and your team, whether you’re downsizing or growing.

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How to Approach Truck Driver Layoffs During COVID-19

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truck driver layoffs

By March 2020, it had become evident that COVID-19 had spread to the United States, but it was difficult to anticipate the nuances of the economic fallout to come. The trucking industry has been deemed essential, yet few people accurately predicted the vastly different outcomes that would divide the industry. The fate for many fleets hinges on the presence or absence of a single word. “Essential.” That designation has created a feast and famine situation that has left some companies scrambling to hire drivers while others face heart-breaking truck driver layoffs.

If you are one of the companies that has been forced to consider layoffs and furloughs, you have our sympathy. These are difficult times that demand that you to make difficult decisions for yourself, your drivers, and your company. As you move forward, we encourage you to, above all, prioritize people.

Be a Hero to America’s Heroes

The way you treat drivers during hard times and bad situations will be the way they will always remember you. Choose respect, honor, and integrity. Even if you have to lay off drivers or place them on furlough, support them where you can. Here are a few ways you can help your drivers if a layoff is unavoidable.

1. Get Drivers Home Safely

Your truck drivers work hard for you. Make sure you don’t leave them with loose ends. If you have truck driver layoffs, treat your drivers how you would want to be treated.

Get drivers home safely and don’t turn off their fuel cards. Doing so demonstrates to your drivers that you care about them as people and not just for the work they do. The cost to your company is small compared to the respected reputation you earn.

2. Be Clear in Your Communication, Especially About Jobs

Each truck driver who is laid off is going to start looking for another job, but first, they will have an important question for you. Should they anticipate their job coming back? Unfortunately, most of us don’t have an easy answer to that question. As an HR professional or executive, the best approach is transparency. If there is a possibility you may hire again soon, let them know. Do you anticipate that it may be a long dry spell in hiring? Be honest about that as well, and connect your drivers to job finding resources like Drive My Way.

3. Familiarize Yourself with Valuable Resources

You may be facing quite a few truck driver layoffs within your company. Each person will react to the news differently, but many of them will have the same questions. Prepare for some of their most immediate concerns and questions your drivers might have. Drivers may ask how to file for unemployment, whether their health coverage will continue, and whether they will have disability insurance. Soon, they will become more work-focused as they begin looking for a new job and may wonder if they need to register for the FMCSA Clearinghouse.

Drive My Way’s displaced driver resources can help you navigate these questions and we’re here to help get your drivers back on the road as soon as they’re ready.

Displaced Driver Resources

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How to Have the Hard Conversation

No one likes to be the bearer of bad news, especially in such uncertain times. If you do have to make layoffs in your company, strive to be clear, concise, and compassionate. Your drivers are aware of the economic uncertainty right now, so don’t sugarcoat the truth. Acknowledge that no one is at fault for the global crisis, but it is creating very difficult circumstances for your company. Reassure drivers that your decision is not because of their performance and that they have been a valued part of your team.

Here’s our conscientious layoff template for getting started with hard conversations.

Due to the current economic state, it saddens me to share that we, unfortunately, need to downsize our fleet. This affects our entire company and is an extremely tough decision for us to make. Our drivers have gone above and beyond for our company, and we want to help you transition during these difficult times. We respect you, appreciate you, and want to assist you and your family. We hope to operate at full capacity again in the near future but, unfortunately, can’t anticipate a new start date due to the unstable state of the economy. In the meantime, we’re committed to providing you with resources as you make this transition and would like to stay in touch as our situation changes and we are able to hire again.

Consider the Health Impact on Managers

As you strive to be compassionate toward your employees, don’t forget to safeguard your own physical and mental health. Leaders who are consistently having to deliver layoff notifications to drivers and staff won’t get much sympathy from other employees but are likely coping with a tremendous amount of stress themselves. You might notice stress as the subtler signs of increased irritation or frequent headaches. For others, it might be obvious. Difficulty sleeping at night, emotional breakdowns, and the development of serious health concerns all point to stress. For the health of yourself, your colleagues, and your company, you can’t afford to ignore these signs.

To keep moving forward, give yourself time and space when you need it. Anxiety and stress over layoffs are normal. Be honest and compassionate with yourself, just as you are with your employees.

Ask yourself:

  1. Have I acted with integrity?
  2. Have I made well-educated decisions with the best interest of my company in mind?
  3. Am I systematically looking for solutions to sustain my company through this drought?

If you can answer yes to all three of these questions, be a little less hard on yourself. You are doing exactly what you should be. Manage stress by making time for exercise and healthy meals. Even on the busiest days, carve out a few hours of time each day to completely detach from work. You are the strongest asset to your company when you are able to work productively and maintain perspective on your job.

CDL Employment Verification

We’ll Get Through This Together

Times like these create uncertainty, but they also lead to opportunity. We’re here to help you and your team, whether you’re downsizing or growing.

Learn More