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How to Quickly Hire as a Large Trucking Company

hire drivers March 16, 2021/by Alayna Klco

As the freight market continues its strong outlook, hiring is again top of my mind for many carriers. Recruiting for retention should always be at the core of an effective recruiting strategy. It’s faster and more cost-effective to retain current drivers than to recruit new drivers. If you are a large trucking company that needs to quickly hire drivers, use these five tips to efficiently fill your fleet with quality drivers.

1. Capitalize on Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing is one of the most powerful recruiting techniques because it optimizes for efficiency. Ultimately, the goal of inbound marketing is to have driver candidates proactively reaching out as a result of your marketing efforts. This subverts the traditional model of contacting each driver lead directly and is frequently a more efficient way to speak one to many.

There are many inbound marketing strategies that are valuable when recruiting for a large trucking company. Referrals and Word of Mouth advertising have strong persuasive power because they are built on trust. Drivers want to know what working for your company is really like from other drivers. These two recruiting strategies are powerful because they hear about your company from a trusted source—your current drivers.

Social media and online advertising are inbound marketing strategies with a high reach potential. The goal of these campaigns is to generate driver interest and provide a signpost for ways in which serious candidates can engage more deeply with your company. If managing a digital marketing strategy exceeds your current staffing capacity, or you want to amplify your impact even further, consider partnering with a company like Drive My Way to extend your company reach.

2. Know When To Use Outbound Marketing

While inbound marketing strategies should dominate your recruitment efforts, outbound marketing can be tactically applied to selectively increase your reach. For example, outbound marketing may be necessary for high-impact geographies that are not naturally driver hotspots. Many top drivers are still re-entering the workforce after recent layoffs and focused, outbound marketing can help attract these top drivers.

Phone communication tends to be a particularly effective outbound recruiting strategy for truck drivers. That includes both calling and texting.

According to our Drive My Way Driver Happiness and Retention survey, 64% of drivers report talking by phone as their preferred means of contact with a recruiter.

Text communications follow closely behind in third place. Allocating additional resources to underperforming positions through outbound marketing is an effective way to boost driver engagement where it is most needed.

With any communication medium, the most effective strategies keep driver preferences at their core. Reach out to drivers on their own terms. This may mean adjusting recruitment hours to include evenings and weekends. Similarly, choose the right communication medium. For a first point of contact, a call is often more personal. After, switching to text messages allows for quick communication that won’t get cumbersome for recruiters or drivers. Each touchpoint in an outbound marketing campaign should continue building a positive relationship with the driver.

3. Prioritize Based On Company Resources

If you are a large trucking company, you likely have resources that are unavailable to smaller companies, but keen prioritization is still essential. It’s important to know your strengths as a company and as a department. Then, rank your top priorities and note any gaps between your strengths and the resources needed as you finalize your recruiting strategy.

For some companies, outsourcing resources can be a valuable strategic decision. Consider how in-house talent versus outsourced resources fit into your short and long term roadmap. If you outsource some of your recruiting efforts to a company like Drive My Way, this will extend the capabilities and capacity of your internal team.

Outsourcing specific aspects of your recruiting should amplify your existing efforts while giving you more time to focus on the things you do best. For example, Drive My Way pre-screens interested drivers using your screening questions and forwards or schedules screened drivers for interviews with your designated hiring manager. An outsourced company should seamlessly fit with your workflow.

4. Make the Digital Transition

Trucking is typically not the first industry to explore cutting-edge workplace technology, but a digital transformation is undeniably underway. Recent years have relentlessly shifted nearly every industry to rely more heavily on online communication, and trucking is no exception.

Digital advertising and communication should be a foundational part of your hiring strategy.

Digital advertising and communication isn’t the only area to add technological integrations. As you return to in-person driver orientations, consider successes from remote onboarding. Where did you save time? What aspects of remote onboarding increased efficiency or improved the accountability of training records? Blend these digital efficiencies into your larger hiring process. In addition, make sure your ATS seamlessly integrates with your recruiting process for a streamlined experience for drivers and employers.

5. Strive for Low Turnover

At the end of the day, retention must play a key role in a strong recruitment strategy. The best way to hire quickly as a large trucking company is to keep satisfied drivers behind the wheel and reduce turnover. According to Avatarfleet, hiring a new driver can add recruitment costs of $5,000–$10,000 per driver. Retaining quality drivers is typically far less expensive.

High turnover leads to increased recruitment time and costs. When you hire new drivers, use behavioral interviewing to ensure that they will be a good fit for your fleet. Then, clearly communicate your employee value proposition to potential drivers in the interview to make sure they are excited by what you have to offer. To boost retention among your current employees, consider ways to increase driver satisfaction. Financial incentives are always valued, but there are many other ways to show appreciation as well. Public or private recognition for a job well done, flexible home time, and making visible changes based on driver engagement surveys are all ways to boost retention with what you already have.

Top 7 Reasons Drivers Decline CDL Jobs

Unlock the top reasons why truck drivers decline your CDL jobs by downloading our free ebook. The book shares insight to what drivers really want.

5 Tips for Hiring Dump Truck Drivers

It’s tempting to use a universal recruitment strategy across all of your unfilled driving positions. Avoid the trap! That’s not the most effective strategy if your goal is to recruit for retention. While dump truck drivers may have a lot in common with other truckers, there are also key differences. Honing in on those unique needs and preferences will help set your recruiting strategy apart. When you are hiring dump truck drivers, there are a few specific job components that are essential to mention to candidates.

1. Home Time

Home time is always a top concern for drivers. Dump truck drivers are no exception. Not only that, but some dump truck drivers may have sacrificed higher pay for increased home time. With that in mind, make sure that drivers get the details they need. There are two key questions to answer. The first is, “How often can drivers expect to be home?” The second is, “Is the schedule consistent?” Drivers may have additional questions, but these two questions should be addressed upfront.

How To Talk About It

Chances are, dump truck drivers are looking for regional or local jobs for a reason. If drivers share that they have a family or other specific motivations for staying close to home, incorporate that into the conversation. Talking to a driver with a family with young kids? Highlight time for attending their little league game or birthday parties. When possible, make it personal.

2. Compensation

Compensation is central to every hiring conversation. At a minimum, drivers want to know how much they can expect in pay and how that pay is determined. For dump truck drivers, clarify whether their pay is hourly, load-based, or determined based on other criteria. If you offer opportunities for drivers to increase their salaries based on performance or longevity, make sure to mention it. Similarly, include bonuses and incentive programs as part of the total compensation. That said, all the bonuses in the world won’t make up for low pay. To attract drivers, the total compensation should be at or above the industry average for your region.

How To Talk About It

Talk about the highlights, and make sure to present this as a total compensation package, not just salary when hiring dump truck drivers. There’s no solution for a lousy salary, but you can create a more holistic picture of your job offering if the pay doesn’t tell the whole story. After you’ve spoken, give drivers plenty of opportunities for questions.

3. Route & Level of Touch

Since dump truck drivers can be residential or commercial, it’s important to clarify the expected route when hiring dump truck drivers. This should also be in the job description, so this information won’t be new for drivers. That said, it’s always helpful to make sure that drivers are crystal clear on the position expectations. This is not an easy job, and drivers should be prepared. Drivers also need to know the type of work environment they will be in. For example, if drivers will be working on a construction site, drivers should know that before they start.

Drivers should be crystal clear on position expectations. That includes work environment, route, and level of touch among other job elements.

Similarly, make sure to include the level of touch in all hiring conversations. Driving a dump truck can be a very physical job, and that needs to be communicated to drivers. That said, don’t assume that a high level of touch is necessarily a bad thing for all drivers.

How To Talk About It

Emphasize whether the job is typically the same routes or if drivers are frequently going new places. Some drivers prefer consistency while others find it monotonous. When talking about the level of touch, try not to make too many assumptions. Keep a positive tone and state the level of touch as a fact. Anticipating concerns could create problems where there otherwise would not have been any. By focusing on clarity upfront, you’ll find a driver who is a good fit for your job.

4. Schedule

As with home time, schedule is often very important for dump truck drivers. For some drivers, a better and more consistent schedule could be their reason for job searching. In the recruitment or hiring conversation be prepared to share specific details. For example, are there typical start and times? Do drivers have consistent days off? Will drivers work weekends or holidays? Are there other key scheduling details that might not be obvious to drivers? Include those details early in your conversation.

How To Talk About It

Workplace happiness is often about meeting expectations. With that in mind, try to set clear expectations about the schedule from the start. It might be counterintuitive, but that is especially important for any details that drivers might not like. When talking with a candidate, give as much detail as possible without over-promising. Then, drivers know what you are looking for, but they won’t have the overinflated expectations that can lead to high turnover.

5. Equipment

Operating a dump truck often requires manual labor from the driver. Unsurprisingly, that makes good equipment a top priority. Many drivers know what they’re getting into, and they are invested in having the right equipment to get the job done safely and efficiently. When you talk with drivers, make sure to communicate if you use roll off trucks, hooklift trucks, or something else. If you have specific expectations around skills drivers need to have, let them know. Similarly, if you are willing to train drivers on the job, share that too.

How to Talk About It

Because equipment is so important in this role, make sure the details are shared in the job description as well as in recruitment conversations. Drivers will want to know the make, model, and year, so be prepared with details. They may also have questions about the number of miles on the vehicle or its current condition. Use this time to highlight safety practices and how your company cares for drivers through equipment.

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.

4 Ways to Engage Drivers as a Small Trucking Business

engage drivers, retain drivers December 9, 2020/by Cindy Slanoc

According to Drive My Way’s Truck Driver Happiness and Retention Survey, only 54% of surveyed drivers say they are happy with their job. Younger and newer drivers expressed higher levels of happiness than older, more experienced drivers. In addition, females expressed higher satisfaction levels as did those working for larger companies.

Beth Potratz, CEO of Drive My Way shares: “Too many CDL drivers are not happy with their job. A truck driver’s life and job are inextricably connected, therefore it’s critical their job fits their needs and preferences so they can live the life they want doing the job they love.”

Taking that research into account, you might also wonder how the size of the employer might affect happiness and retention. What might make a smaller company an attractive place for a driver to work? What gives small carriers an advantage over larger carriers? In this case, there’s plenty of things that a smaller company can use to its advantage when working to recruit and retain great truck drivers. Here we’ll take a look at 4 little ways to engage drivers at a small trucking business.

1. Show Drivers You Care

Showing signs of appreciation for your drivers should be part of any company’s overall culture. Though grand gestures of appreciation are usually well-received, it’s the smaller things that standout. The things that make life easier on a daily basis that can make the most difference. A simple thank you goes a long way to keep employees feeling appreciated and engaged. Investments in continuing driver education help driver know you value them. Being respectful of scheduling requests makes your drivers feel respected. These are the little things that a small trucking business can do well to compete for driver loyalty. Take a look at the list below, which of these things do you use to your advantage?

Small trucking companies have the following advantages:

Know your drivers by name
Family-first culture
Flexibility
Close-knit teams
Less layers and bureaucracy
More meaningful interactions
Plenty of opportunity to grow

2. Open Lines of Communication

Communicate with drivers effectively and ask to hear their opinion on crucial topics such as compensation, equipment, and home time. Showing that you care about your drivers is important. If you give your drivers ways to supply their feedback, this can encourage further driver engagement as well.

As a small trucking business, you can really highlight the intangibles that make working for you attractive. If you’ve got a great home time policy, be sure to include and communicate that. Tell prospective employees about the things you provide that larger carriers cannot. These indirect forms of compensation are something to communicate when recruiting new drivers.

Whenever someone is asked for their opinion on something that’s important, it makes them more connected to the decision-making. And ultimately connected and invested in the way the company performs. All of these things add to the value perceived by your drivers, and should be communicated as a part of their total compensation when they join your team.

3. Prioritize What Makes Drivers Happy

Does it matter if drivers are happy? Drive My Way’s Truck Driver Happiness and Retention Survey indicates that driver job satisfaction, retention, and recruiting are strongly interconnected. Not only are happy drivers more likely to stay with your company, but they are also more likely to recommend and help recruit your next driver hire.

Asking your employees about happiness is a great indicator of turnover risk. Investing in the satisfaction of your drivers can have a big payoff in both retention and recruiting.

What makes a driver happy?

This graphic from the Truck Driver Happiness and Retention Survey shows what makes truck drivers happy, and which factors impact their retention more than others.

Are you making these things a priority in your current driver strategy? What changes should you make?

4. Advancement Opportunities

There are a few great ways to help a new driver know that if they join your carrier, they can have long and fulfilling career with you. Implementing mentorship programs and having a driver career path established will help a driver picture how they will fit in and grow with your company over the long-haul.

Mentorship programs are great tools for your small trucking business. They help engage new drivers by having a designated person to show the the rope. And it also gives your current drivers an opportunity to share what they know to help a new driver get established. These relationships can be very mutually beneficial for the drivers, and certainly valuable for company culture and employee retention.

Having a mentor, and also having an established career path to follow can help a driver become connected early and know that they’ve made a great decision to be with you for many years and many, many miles.

If you’re just getting started, or if you’re a well-established small trucking business, you most certainly have advantages to use in your favor while building your team of drivers. Lean into the strengths and advantages that are unique to a trucking company of your size and do the things that larger carriers simply cannot. Word of mouth is a great tactic to help you attract and retain drivers when you’re small or just getting started.

FREE SURVEY REPORT

Driver Lifestyle & Job Happiness Survey

We surveyed over 400 CDL truck drivers nationwide to discover what makes them happy in their career and life. Access the survey report to see the results.

5 Tips for Hiring a Regional Truck Driver

hire drivers December 8, 2020/by Alayna Klco

Hiring a regional truck driver is all about balance. These drivers are often looking to balance good pay with home time. Regional jobs attract drivers who want to be home more regularly. That said, they’re also willing to be away a few days each week to earn a higher paycheck. Every regional truck driver will have slightly different priorities and preferences, but here are a few tips to keep in mind for hiring your next regional truck driver.

What Regional Drivers Are Really Looking For

1. Home Time & Pay

truck driver family time These are often two of the most important factors for regional drivers. Many regional drivers prioritize more home time and are willing to take a slight pay cut if they were at an OTR position. Regional jobs can be the perfect balance between OTR and local.

As an employer, if you offer good home time and at or above industry average pay, you will attract quality drivers. If you have a unique home time or compensation package, clearly share the details with prospective drivers and how your package benefits them.

2. Route & Schedule

Regional positions can include a significant variety in route. In your job description or in an early conversation, clarify whether drivers are primarily on surface roads or highways. Will they be driving largely in urban or rural areas?

To optimize recruiting efforts, find out what background your prospective driver is coming from and what they liked or disliked. Then, tailor your conversation to their background and priorities.

For example, if they were driving OTR, emphasize opportunities for independence. If they were a local driver and liked it, talk about the variety of locations they get to visit. Regional drivers often enjoy the balance between getting to know routes and going new places.

3. Equipment

truck driver cab While they don’t spend weeks on the road at a time, regional drivers still spend a lot of time in their cab. That means that equipment and cab amenities are still a high priority. Be specific about what you offer for equipment. Consider sharing whether your tractors are manual or automatic, the model, if they are speed governed, and if drivers should expect slip seating.

How to Better Communicate With Regional Drivers

4. Get To the Important Details Quickly

At the end of the day, drivers are going to join your company because of good pay, home time, and culture. Even if you have incredible perks, most drivers won’t be interested if these essentials don’t meet their expectations. So, don’t waste your time or theirs on the fluff. Get to the important information quickly.

One reason a regional truck driver is likely to make a job change is for a better schedule fit and more home time. Is your job home weekends? Share that!

Drivers want to know what their day will look like. If you offer CPM pay, when do drivers finish the day? Do you have specific hour expectations? Should drivers expect day shifts or night shifts? What time will they start?

Regardless of the structure of your regional job, these are key details that help drivers make the decision to switch companies.

Talking about regional truck driver compensation also requires specificity. What is the average weekly pay for drivers in similar positions? How many miles do drivers run in a week? Are all miles paid? Even if pay is not the strongest part of your job package, be upfront with drivers. Then, share any perks or bonuses that you offer as additional incentives.

5. Focus on the Positives

When you are hiring your next regional truck driver, use language that focuses on the best aspects of the job. A key part of this is knowing your value proposition and being able to communicate it to drivers. Focusing on the positives doesn’t mean omitting the negatives. Transparency is key for driver trust and a strong company culture.

A key part of this is knowing your value proposition and being able to communicate it to drivers.

A few great ways to focus on the job highlights are to talk about days HOME instead of days OUT. Similarly, if you have a take home truck program, make sure drivers know about it. In compensation conversations, include information about benefits. Many regional drivers have families and value reliable health care, especially if benefits start immediately. A few simple language changes give recruiting conversations an honest, positive tone.

The Quick Guide to Employee Value Proposition

FREE QUICK GUIDE

Employee Value Proposition

This free guide helps you create your employee value proposition and also effectively communicate it to drivers.

How to Improve Remote Onboarding for Truck Drivers

hire drivers July 13, 2020/by Alayna Klco

Whether digital process enhancements have been underway at your company for years or are completely new in your fleet, Coronavirus changed everything. Many tried and true processes for hiring, onboarding, and training are simply not feasible right now. With the possibility of continued social distancing looking likely, establishing a protocol for remote onboarding is well worth the time. Here are a few best practices that have proven successful in the trucking industry.

Prioritize People

Driver safety has to be a high priority for all fleets during this time. Drivers have questions about everything from orientation to sanitation. It’s important to address these concerns quickly and compassionately.

As you hire new drivers, it may be tempting to increase efficiency by removing human contact in the onboarding process and relying solely on technology. In this case, removing the personal touch is a counterproductive strategy.

With reduced face to face contact, reaching out to new employees becomes even more important. Each interaction becomes more meaningful because there are fewer touchpoints. Studies have demonstrated that most driver turnover happens within one year. With such limited time, it’s critical to start out on the right foot. What you do in response to the challenges of trucking during Coronavirus will leave a lasting impression. With that in mind, even with remote onboarding, make every effort to warmly welcome new drivers into your company.

Get Organized

Transitioning to remote onboarding for the foreseeable future may require a significant shift in workflow. As you prepare to refine the rapidly implemented processes of this spring, consider what you will need to move more permanently to remote onboarding.

Gather the requisite hiring documents and establish a secure system for sharing them with drivers. That might include driver contracts, tax documentation, and any other hiring forms you typically request.

Throughout the entire process, allocate more time than you would usually consider necessary. Both management and employees are likely going through several “first-times.” A buffer allows everyone involved to work through challenges without the pressure of a tight deadline.

Digitize Your Material

Review the training files you would normally give to new drivers. If a digital copy doesn’t already exist, make one and decide how you will share that information. Fleets with greater financial flexibility may consider working with a learning management system designed for onboarding truck drivers. For companies on a tight budget, start with free tools like online repositories that let you share files and folders. Drivers should be able to access much of their training material remotely.

There are some training components that work well in person but fall flat online. Avoid trying to use materials designed for in-person orientation in exactly the same format online. Instead, use this time to consider how that information is best presented in a virtual format. Often, that means shorter “in-person” sessions, and more opportunities for drivers to learn at their own pace.

Communicate Clearly

As you move forward with changes to your remote onboarding process, don’t forget that drivers are also in uncharted territory. Many drivers may not immediately be comfortable with using technology for onboarding. For some drivers, this may be the first time they are using many of the online job training tools.

Prior to the onboarding process, communicate with drivers about exactly what they can expect.

If you are using specific technologies, share the details early. When possible, give drivers time to explore programs like video calls on their own to prepare. Any guidance you can offer on accessing information will also help smooth the process.

Infuse Your Culture

Driver orientation and onboarding is about more than information sharing from your company. It’s also when drivers meet their peers and supervisors. It’s hard to replace this kind of natural networking in remote onboarding. Video calls, social networks, and personal phone calls or emails all help bridge the gap.

During orientation, consider arranging at least one video call for all new drivers. This is also the perfect opportunity to launch a mentoring program. Then, new drivers meet other members of the fleet and have at least one personal connection to regularly connect with as they start their new job.

FREE QUICK GUIDE

Remote Onboarding

This free guide helps you transition to remote onboarding to boost your driver recruitment and retention. Use this guide to help get your remote orientation process right the first time.

Total Compensation for Drivers: Communicating Effectively

incentive programs, retain drivers June 18, 2020/by Alayna Klco

Job offers that are limited to salary and health benefits tell a partial story. If you have great perks, equipment, or company culture, don’t miss a chance to talk about it! Total Compensation statements are a great way to showcase all of the direct and indirect compensation benefits you are offering to truck drivers. They won’t make up for bad pay, but they are a good way to highlight all of the assets you have to offer. In short, a total compensation package accounts for the complete pay package awarded to employees on an annual basis.

Direct compensation is the money that is paid directly to an employee. It typically includes base salary and incentive pay. On the other hand, indirect compensation accounts for all of the compensation that is not paid directly to the employee. Healthcare, retirement benefits, fuel perks, and continuing education opportunities are just a few examples of indirect compensation.

When talking to a candidate, share both the direct and indirect compensation to effectively communicate what you have to offer.

Typically, the more detail you’re able to give, the more beneficial the statement will be. Here are several common assets to include in a total compensation package.

Direct Compensation

Direct Compensation is divided into two main categories⁠—base pay and bonuses. These are the most common forms of compensation that come to mind for most people.

Base Pay

Whether you state base pay as an hourly rate or annual salary, be clear about your offering. At a minimum, include how much can drivers expect, the anticipated hours or miles, and how frequently they will get paid. If your company offers a per diem rate, this can also be included.

Bonuses

Clarify the potential for driver bonuses from the start. A few of the most common are safety, sign-on, performance, retention, and referral bonuses. Consider sharing the average amount that drivers receive from bonuses in addition to the top amount. By sharing both, drivers have realistic expectations (boosting driver satisfaction and retention) and a goal to strive for.

Indirect Compensation

Indirect compensation includes a very broad range of offerings. Most companies offer several forms of indirect compensation, but may not discuss it in their job offer. That’s a missed opportunity! Let drivers know about all of the benefits you’re providing them. While it may not come as money in the pocket, indirect compensation can be significant financial assets. Drivers who are a good fit for your fleet will value the benefits your company provides.

Health and Wellness

Medical benefits, life insurance, retirement benefits, and disability insurance are all common forms of health and wellness benefits. Nearly all fleets offer basic healthcare, and many go above and beyond. This section should communicate when benefits start as well as the details of each package. If you offer a 401K match, that’s another great asset to include in this section. Even perks like a gym membership allowance or smoking cessation programs can be included here. Drivers love to see that you are prioritizing their health by supporting their healthy habits.

Days off

Paid time off and vacation days are another form of indirect compensation that drivers value highly. If you are offering any additional sick days or benefits for drivers who get sick with COVID-19, make sure your total compensation package includes that time. In addition, always include the anticipated schedule for home time in a job description or compensation package.

Continued Education

Learning and development offerings are a wealth of opportunities for drivers. Many potential employees will be particularly excited to find a company that supports their professional growth. Whether you offer compensation for educational assistance programs or regularly facilitate career advancement opportunities, these are a form of indirect compensation. Not all drivers will take advantage of continued education opportunities, but those who do will be highly appreciative.

Perks

Once you have covered the big benefits like health insurance and PTO, it might be easy to overlook smaller perks, but they add up! Perks can help drivers with big expenses such as relocation benefits or maintenance benefits. They might also defray the cost of smaller, regular expenses such as highway tolls, or gas. If you offer an EZ Pass or a Fuel Card, list it in your total compensation package.

Highlight Non-Financial Incentives

When asked, drivers revealed that there are consistently two top factors that determine whether they are looking for a new job: pay and company culture. Company leadership and culture are difficult to equate to a compensation amount. That said, they are no less important to driver recruitment and retention. If you prioritize a family-like culture or are very safety-minded, it’s appropriate to include this in your total compensation package.

Foodliner, Inc. is one of the largest bulk food carriers in the country and a Transport Topic Top 100 carrier. They make a point to highlight company culture in their job descriptions. We spoke with Tim Yochum, Foodliner’s Director of Recruiting, and this is what he shared:

“The culture of a family owned business that values their people, treats them with respect, and works well together as a team is what makes us successful and provides a more positive experience for the driver. We have late model equipment, high quality shops, and a great customer base, but in the end it is people that make it all work.”

Similarly, quality equipment is a high priority for most drivers and can be included. Consider adding the year and type of truck as well as whether it is manual or automatic. Then, highlight any additions to the cab. If you provide a fridge, microwave, Sirius XM radio, or allow ride-along programs, share it in your total compensation package. To recruit drivers, there are also other attractive non-financial incentives that you can implement.

Communicating Total Compensation Effectively

After you have clarified exactly what your company is able to offer potential candidates, start drafting the total compensation statement. Ultimately, you’re looking for good hires and strong retention. Tim Yochum shares why he prioritizes transparency at Foodliner:

“We list non-monetary compensation in our job postings and if a candidate contacts us we are very open to providing the details of the compensation so they understand how this can affect their total compensation package. Honesty up front verses a surprise later is what we feel candidates value and appreciate. We feel that if the only reason you take a job is the money, then that will eventually be the reason you leave the job. We want the candidate to understand how the total package affects them and their family.”

Give as much detail as you are able to clearly share. It’s important for drivers to have all of the necessary information to make a decision. Even if drivers decline the job offer, that is a better outcome than hiring drivers with misleading information. If drivers feel like they have been intentionally deceived, they are more likely to quit and will have a poor impression of the company. There should be no hidden surprises. Clear communication that highlights everything you have to offer is the best approach to a total compensation package.

7 Reasons Drivers Decline Your Jobs

Unlock the top reasons why truck drivers decline your CDL jobs by downloading our free ebook. The book shares insight to what drivers really want.

How to Use Behavioral Interviewing to Hire Better Drivers

hire drivers June 10, 2020/by Alayna Klco

It takes more than a valid commercial driver’s license and a good safety record to be a top-performing professional truck driver. A driver may meet all the minimum technical requirements for the job. They may have previous tractor-trailer experience, a valid license type, and the required endorsements. Even so, that driver still may not fit your job or company well.

To reduce driver turnover and improve your company culture, prioritize the quality and fit of your drivers. Building a high performing team requires evaluating and rewarding drivers. That’s true for not only the work a driver does but also how they do their work. No one can predict how successful someone will be in their job. That said, behavioral interviewing will help you hire better drivers by evaluating their previous performance as a signal of their future performance.

What is Behavioral Interviewing and How is it Different?

Behavioral interviewing is based on the belief that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.

Behavioral interviewing states that how a candidate has handled a situation in the past is the best way to understand and predict how they will behave in the future.

This style of interviewing uses historic evidence from a candidate to predict future behavior using behavioral competencies, not traits or skills.

Competencies as a benchmark for hiring were introduced by psychologists in the early 1970s. Studies were conducted that demonstrated that knowledge-based and intelligence tests did not accurately predict candidate success in a new role. In time, psychologists developed competencies based on empirical data gathered by job incumbents with exceptional performance in specific functional roles. Competency models have become the core of modern behavioral interviewing. One set that is widely used is the detailed list of 67 competencies known as the Lominger competencies.

Vocabulary to Know

As you prepare to use behavioral interviewing with your staff, there are a few phrases to clarify. Get to know the differences so you can differentiate between them during an interview.

Traits

Traits are characteristics that are deeply ingrained and typically don’t change a lot over time. Gregariousness is a good example of a trait.

Attributes/Skills

Attributes are skills in the context of a behavior. They typically develop because of experiences, and people often learn attributes over time. A few examples are motivation and loyalty. Look for evidence of these attributes such as a job promotion.

Competencies

Competencies are a combination of skills and behaviors. An interviewer can easily identify and measure competencies. They are the way we practice certain behaviors. Problem-solving, priority setting, and conflict management are examples of competencies.

How It Works

To successfully use behavioral interviewing, there are a few steps. First, review a competency chart. Then, identify the competencies that are most important to successfully doing the jobs you have open. For all truck drivers, planning, problem-solving, and time management are likely to be high on your list.

For drivers who regularly work with customers, you may prioritize customer focus. On the other hand, it may be a secondary priority for OTR drivers who spend long hours solo on the road with less customer interaction. For an OTR position, problem-solving and technical skills may be key.

Once you know the required competencies, develop a list of behavioral-based interview questions. You will need one question for each competency to assess whether candidates have what you need. All behavioral interviewers should train in the STAR model before evaluating candidates. This teaches interviewers to ask questions that allow the candidate to describe his or her past experiences. Interviewers will listen closely for the Situation or Task the candidate encountered, the Actions they took, and the Result of their actions. Interviewers should assess each answer while citing behavioral indicators that verify how the candidate previously showed behaviors that led to success.

Benefits of Behavioral Interviewing

Everyone wants to sound their best during an interview, and it’s natural for humans to be selective in their storytelling. It’s all too easy for a candidate to embellish or stretch the truth when talking about themselves. Unfortunately, as an interviewer, this makes your job very difficult. Even a well-meaning enhancement of what a driver would do in a situation can create a biased interview. It’s much harder to completely make up a situation that has already happened. When in doubt, there are often other sources who can confirm what a driver has said.

Behavioral interviewing was developed to more accurately assess candidates based on behavior-based proof and to reduce unconscious bias in the hiring process. This type of hiring helps interviewers to look for competencies rather than traits. Then, you are more likely to hire based on the ability to successfully perform a job. It will also reduce hiring bias toward candidates who seem like a good fit primarily because they look, sound, or behave like you.

Quick Guide to Behavioral Interviewing

FREE QUICK GUIDE

Behavioral Interviewing

How a candidate handled a past situation is the best way to understand and predict future behavior. Use this free guide to hire high-quality drivers and reduce your turnover rate.

3 Best Ways to Reach Truck Drivers for a Big Impact

recruit drivers June 3, 2020/by Cindy Slanoc

Recruiting 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.

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.

How to Create a Better Trucking Recruitment Plan

hire drivers, recruit drivers May 29, 2020/by Alayna Klco

The most well informed recruitment plans have drivers at their core. In a finely tuned trucking recruitment plan, the needs and preferences of your drivers sit side by side with company logistics and priorities. First, listen closely to the questions, concerns, and priorities expressed by drivers. These are valuable insights that will help close leads. Similarly, marketing, budgeting, and technology are the infrastructure that supports the relationship between recruiters and drivers.

Start With Drivers

Developing trust with drivers requires a significant investment of time. Building a relationship with drivers takes multiple touchpoints, ideally on their schedule. That may mean making time during evenings or weekends to speak with drivers. In conversations with prospective drivers, be clear early on about pay, hours, home time, and other key details. Your total number of driver leads may decrease as a result, but it’s worth it. As a result, you will retain quality leads who are more likely to become hires.

Ask drivers what attracted them to your job post and, when relevant, why they are no longer interested. Then, use this data to refine your job descriptions. If there is one aspect of the job that is consistently cited as a problem, consider creative solutions. Is there an opportunity to increase driver pay? If not, what non-financial incentives can you offer that will attract drivers?

Connect Recruiting and Marketing

Once you have identified which job aspects most appeal to drivers, align marketing and recruiting efforts. Platforms targeted toward recruiting drivers like social media pages and your company website should present a cohesive story that highlights the most compelling parts of your company.

If you’re unsure how to refine your media presence, start with feedback loops. Create visible channels through which drivers can give feedback.

Thoughtfully review driver comments and reactions. Then, assess comments for actionable steps and implement any changes that make sense. Throughout this process, track driver lead attribution to identify which channels most effectively engage drivers. Identify marketing channels with a low cost per hire (CPH), and increase spend there.

One of the most powerful lead generators is word of mouth. Consider implementing a referral program for current drivers to help recruit new employees. To start, designate specific time and resources for the internal marketing of referral initiatives. Similarly, include marketing efforts for retention as a key element of recruitment. Retaining drivers is one of the most cost-effective and time-efficient ways to keep a fleet running smoothly.

Account for Large and Small Expenses

When creating a budget for a trucking recruitment plan, it’s easy to overlook variations in cost per hire. Often, these are recurring costs, and those numbers add up quickly. Increasing budget precision in your trucking recruitment plan may increase your intended spend.

When reporting up for budget approval, revenue is the bottom line.

Assess the revenue totals for an incomplete fleet. Next, compare that to the revenue that could be generated with a fleet at full capacity. A well-defined recruitment budget clearly demonstrates the increased revenue potential of a fleet operating at full capacity. Here are a few places to make sure you have accurately assessed your costs.

Turnover

Driver churn is a huge part of the recruitment process. Realistically, failing to account for the extra drivers you will need to hire to compensate for turnover will set your budget back substantially.

If Company A has a 100 driver fleet and a 50% turnover rate, they will still need to recruit more than 50 new drivers annually. You have to account for turnover within your new hires. That’s an additional 25 drivers! Company A should plan a recruitment budget for a total of 75 new hires to maintain their fleet size.

Referrals & Rehires

Not all hires have the same cost. Referrals and rehires are typically a lower cost per hire than a cold lead because they already have a warm introduction to your company. As a result, these hires should be assigned a lower cost in a trucking recruitment plan. With that in mind, if rehires are not currently a part of your recruitment budget, add them! Allocating resources to retaining drivers will save capital in the long run if you can reduce turnover.

Hiring Across Divisions

Just as referrals and rehires have a different cost per hire than other leads, large fleets may also see a significant difference in CPH across divisions. For example, local no-touch freight jobs are likely to require less time and expense than an OTR livestock position. Analyze historical CPH data and use that information to create a more precise budget.

Use Technology as Infrastructure

Successful recruiting is personal, but the technical aspects cannot be ignored. Essentially, technology is the infrastructure that supports human relationships in recruiting. Everything from your company website to specific job applications must be mobile friendly to optimize driver engagement.

Technology is the infrastructure that supports interpersonal relationships in recruiting.

Technology can remove inefficiencies in your recruitment process. First, conduct a systematic review to identify areas of lost, misallocated, or delayed information. Randall Reilly has compiled a list of common recruitment inefficiencies in the trucking industry. Then, evaluate your ATS and ensure that no leads are being lost or incorrectly attributed. Next, encourage recruiters to get qualifying information early. After, immediately eliminate any unqualified leads. Finally, carefully nurture your qualified leads.

Calendars and standardized note taking practices can safeguard against lost leads. In addition, when leads are disqualified, track the reason. If a pattern emerges, you may be able to streamline your recruitment process. It pays to eliminate disqualified leads earlier in the pipeline because it saves time in the long run.

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.

Are You Making the Most of the FMCSA Clearinghouse?

hire drivers April 6, 2020/by Alayna Klco

The FMCSA Clearinghouse went into effect in January of this year. As with many industry-wide changes, there were some technical problems early on, but now, 90 days later, the majority of these have been resolved.

The intent of the Clearinghouse was to identify drivers with positive DOT drug and alcohol tests. It is doing just that. Nearly 8,000 positive results have been identified. That may seem like a severe reduction in available drivers. However, it does increase the percentage of candidates who are eligible for employment. It also reduces the likelihood that a good carrier loses a driver to a less reputable company. The Clearinghouse ensures that companies are following the same hiring policies.

Here’s how you can make the most of the FMCSA Clearinghouse.

1. Reduce Processing Delays

As with any new system implementation, it will take some time for the Clearinghouse to become a well oiled machine. In the meantime, one of the best ways to improve your user experience is by reducing the processing delays. In order for your request to be processed, drivers must have already completed their CDL information. To confirm whether a driver has registered, ask them login to their Clearinghouse account. If the driver has not fully registered, there will be a note on the account prompting them to do so.

If you are confident that the driver has completed their CDL information but your query is still pending, it may be lacking driver consent. To authorize a query, a driver must login and give consent for employers to access their record. If the driver has logged in and cannot see the consent request, you can cancel the original request and resend an identical one to reset the process.

2. Take Advantage of Bulk Uploads

If you have a large batch of queries to process simultaneously from the Clearinghouse, consider conducting a bulk upload. Use the FMCSA’s bulk upload template. To do a bulk upload, create a tab-delimited file that can be uploaded to the Clearinghouse. The file should include the following fields:

LastName
FirstName
Date of Birth. Format is MM/DD/YYYY
CDL – Commercial Driver’s License or Commercial Learner’s Permit Number
Country Code of CDL issuance. For Canada: CN; Mexico: MX, United States: US
State of CDL issuance. For the U.S. and Canada, use two letter State/Province codes. Use MX for Mexico
Query Type – Choose one of the following:

1. Limited Query
2. Full Query
3. Pre-employment Query
4. Limited Query with Automatic Consent Request

3. Be Proactive

Employers are now required to conduct a query on potential employees before they operate a CMV. So, it is in your interest to expedite the process if possible. Many drivers have already registered on the Clearinghouse if they are job searching. Unfortunately, there are also still many who haven’t. As you approach the point of hire with a new driver, be proactive and ask them whether they are registered. Going forward, make this a standard part of your interview or hiring process. You can help drivers register if they haven’t already.

4. Manage Existing Employees

At the time of the creation of the Clearinghouse, all drivers were added to the system. That does not mean that all drivers are registered.

As an employer, you do not need to register drivers who are existing employees.

For drivers who are already with your company, you can use the Clearinghouse to conduct your annual review. It is only when drivers are at the point of changing jobs or being hired, that they must be registered.

5. Understand the Nuances

All drivers who are hired for CDL-A positions going forward will need to pass the Clearinghouse query. That said, the query does not need to have been completed by the time of hire.

Drivers can be hired by a new employer, but are prohibited from operating a commercial motorized vehicle (CMV) until they pass the Clearinghouse.

Employers can now decide whether to incorporate the Clearinghouse query prior to the point of employment, or to complete the query following employment but prior to operation of a CMV.

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