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4 Tips for Hiring Sprinter Van Owner Operators

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sprinter van owner operators
With the recent e-commerce explosion, companies have an increased need for “last mile” sprinter van drivers. While most companies prefer to hire their own drivers, a growing number are starting to hire independent Owner Operators to help with the influx of orders. Additionally, more and more drivers who owned their own truck are downsizing to sprinter vans to increase home time, cut costs, and avoid CDL regulations. 

When it comes to recruiting these drivers, it can be difficult to know what you need to do to stand out from other companies. Here are 4 of the most helpful tips successful recruiters follow when recruiting sprinter van Owner Operators. 

1. Know Your Drivers

The first tip is to know the type of drivers you are recruiting. If a driver owns their own sprinter van, he or she will likely be more experienced and entrepreneurial-minded than an average company driver. Like all Owner Operators, sprinter van owners value job flexibility. That’s most likely why they became an Owner Operator in the first place.  

Since there’s a huge demand for their services, they can be much more selective in the type of work they pick up. They’ll want to see the long-term benefit before they consider partnering with your business. 

2. Disclose Everything Related to the Job

One of the biggest issues that drivers point out with recruiters is an apparent lack of honesty. Often, this isn’t because the recruiter is doing anything dishonest or deceptive, it’s because he or she isn’t informed on everything the driver finds important. When it comes to Owner Operators, this becomes especially apparent.  

As stated earlier, these drivers view working with your company as a partnership, not simply a job. It may not be enough to simply provide Owner Operators with the pay, equipment requirements, and the hours. They may want to know the overall business goals, culture, and operations of your company before they partner with you. It’s important for recruiters to be well-versed in all these things before reaching out to Owner Operators. 

3. Go Where Owner Operators Are

Just like company drivers, Owner Operators use a variety of job boards to find employment. But, if you’re looking to hire a large number of sprinter van Owner Operators, your best bet may be to advertise with print magazines. According to the Overdrive 2016 Connectivity Study, Owner Operators read industry magazines at a much higher rate than other drivers.  

Utilizing your network of past and present drivers can be another huge resource in tracking down quality sprinter van Owner Operators who may not be on job boards. According to that same study, 43.8% of drivers find new jobs by word of mouth referrals. 

4. Respond Quickly and Professionally

Drivers are in high demand right now. The ones who are actively looking for work can afford to be picky with who they partner with. If you’re not staying in contact throughout the hiring process, they’ll quickly move on to the next opportunity. According to data captured through Drive My Way drivers, the top reason candidates declined job offers is because they just accepted an offer from someone else. 

This may mean being available outside of normal business hours. If you’re recruiting for a national company, be ready to take calls a few hours before or after the traditional 8AM-5PM workday to account for different time zones and driver shifts.  

Another tip is to make sure you’re getting back to all the drivers who have applied, even if the news isn’t good. It can be a difficult conversation, but avoiding it can lead to a negative impact on your company’s reputation. A LinkedIn survey found that 94% of respondents said they want to receive feedback on their interviews, good or bad. Not every Owner Operator will be a good match for your company, but having a quick and transparent hiring process will make them much more likely to tell other Owner Operators good things about your company.  

 

While there is a lot of competition right now for sprinter van Owner Operators, following these key tips will make the recruiting process for you and the driver easier and more productive.  

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4 Tips for Hiring Straight Truck Drivers

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straight truck drivers
Hiring high-quality straight truck drivers is no easy feat right now. The demand for drivers is high, and the supply of drivers doesn’t match the current demand. That means that it’s a driver’s market, and companies must offer quality jobs that stand out to drivers to attract top talent. If you’re hiring straight truck drivers, these four tips will help you get the most out of every online or personal recruiting message.

1. Create Driver Personas

The first step to effectively hiring straight truck drivers is to know exactly who you are looking for. Driver personas are an opportunity to paint a picture of your ideal employees. What skills and endorsements do they have? Are there specific personality traits that are important to your jobs? Go beyond surface characteristics. Once you have a general idea of your ideal employees, consider what motivates these types of drivers.

As you develop your driver personas, study what makes straight truck drivers unique. Typically, straight truck drivers are looking for local work and regular home time. Many may have a family that they want to spend more time with. These drivers may not have a CDL A license. Their license type may give you insight into what kind of driving career that driver is looking for. A well-developed driver persona should clarify and direct recruiting efforts for hiring straight truck drivers.

2. Speak to Driver Priorities

Straight truck drivers are highly sought after right now. It’s a driver’s market, so companies need to make jobs appealing in order to stand out from the competition. Driver personas give insight into your ideal candidates, and this information is valuable. Use the insights on driver motivation and priorities to inform recruiting and marketing decisions. Driver priorities should be front and center in online marketing and advertising. In addition, these details can be part of recruiting conversations. Not all driver candidates will fit your profile, so take the time in recruiting conversations to ask a few questions about driver goals and priorities. Then, highlight how your available jobs are a good fit for that candidate.

It’s a driver’s market, so companies need to make jobs appealing in order to stand out from the competition.

When speaking with drivers, get them the information they care about quickly and succinctly. The driver personas can help guide the tone and content of your conversation, but the basics are still essential. Drivers want to know about compensation, home time, schedule, route, equipment, and customer interaction. Be specific when you share this information and give precise details on the job requirements. In job descriptions and recruiting conversations, include all required qualifications, skills, years of experience, and other prerequisites. This will help drivers self-select whether they fit your requirements and will save time for everyone involved.

3. Embrace Digital Recruiting

straight truck

Hiring straight truck drivers is a competitive challenge, and digital recruiting is a must. Many companies start with a basic website and social media channels because they are easy to set up and are typically free to start. That said, there are other online recruiting tools such as search engine optimized content marketing and job boards if you want to branch out. For any channels you choose, establish trackable metrics so you can determine which channels perform well.

Regardless of the channels that you utilize, a clear brand must help communicate your story. Be consistent in imagery and content tone across all platforms. Give drivers something they can recognize as distinct to your company. Photo and video content are powerful recruiting tools because they help drivers see themselves in the job. Many drivers are not job searching on a computer, so make sure all content is optimized for mobile. 

4. Support Driver Referral Programs

Driver referrals and word of mouth recruiting still reign as powerful recruiting methods. At the end of the day, nothing replaces a trusted source, and truck drivers trust other drivers. Referrals can be even more powerful in a local setting such as when hiring straight truck drivers because these truckers travel in the same circles. They are talking regularly and will be job searching in the same geographies. Word travels fast when companies have a distinctly positive or negative reputation, so make sure your drivers have good things to talk about!

Nothing replaces a trusted source, and truck drivers trust other drivers. Driver referrals are a powerful recruiting resource.

As a company, driver referrals, especially from top team members, help get other quality drivers in the door. A referral from a trusted source is a little extra confidence that interviewing the candidate will be worth your time.

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