Tag: how

How Much is your Truck Driver Hiring Bonus?

Posted on by Jake Peters

It is more competitive than ever to hire truck drivers. Supply is decreasing and demand is increasing. One of the outcomes of this reality is that carriers are in an arms-race to offer the largest hiring bonus.

Is your company apart of this arms-race?

If so, how much is your truck driver hiring bonus?

Bonus word written on wood block. Bonus word is made of wooden building blocks lying on the yellow table. Bonus, business concept, yellow background

$10,000 sign-on bonus is now normal

In June 2021, the driver candidate pool of available CDL drivers is small and the competition for these drivers is fierce. The need for qualified drivers has never been higher. Freight rates are high and demand is high.

Carriers however, are having to pass on freight loads because they do not have the drivers to meet the demand. The old way of attracting drivers does not work. A new approach is definitely needed. Still, the number one way to attract drivers to your company is to have a competitive “offer”.

The best way to hook drivers on your job offer is by providing a large sign-on bonus. Currently in the industry, $10,000 is what it takes for a carrier to offer a competitive bonus.

Hiring Costs are Skyrocketing  

In 2021, according to our conversations with carriers, the cost of hiring drivers has doubled and the time it takes to attract and onboard new ones has tripled in some areas.

Since the old ways are not working, carriers are realizing they must increase their budgets to be competitive.

Having a $10,000 sign on bonus is not new. According to the American Trucker, some companies have been offering high value sign on bonuses since 2017.

But now, to stay competitive, many more carriers are jumping to the high value bonus.

Both your advertising and hiring budgets must increase along with you driver compensation budget. The old way of budget-minded, low cost driver recruiting does not work right now. 

When we talk to carriers, we are finding that many carriers are spending thousands of dollars on the old methods and get nothing in return.

How Much can you Afford in 2021? 

Do you offer a sign-on bonus? Was $2500 a lot of money last year? Did $5,000 seem like a lot? Right now, the old sign-on bonuses do not work.

If you look at job ads, job boards and company websites, the current bonus is $10,000 for experienced CDL drivers. There are even ads are offering a $30,000 sign-on bonus for team drivers.

Show off Your Hiring Bonus.

Truck driver recruiting advertisement showing off its sign on bonus

One thing is certain, there is no one way to attract drivers.

But, being boring is a good way to drive them away. Money is the best way to avoid boring.

Once you have determined your hiring bonus, you need to be loud and proud with that information. It needs to be at the forefront of your driver recruiting campaign.

A large hiring bonus in the title of the job ad will immediately hook potential drivers. Once they click on your ad, you are one step closer to hiring them.

Plus, your driver sign on bonus may be the determining factor between you and the competition. Go out of your way to make sure drivers know what you are offering so there is no confusion.

2021 so far is the toughest year ever to hire truck drivers. Carriers everywhere are scrambling to keep their trucks on the road. The hiring bonus is now an essential part of your job offer and needs to be used as a key recruitment strategy.

How much is your truck driver hiring bonus?

How to Get Your Drivers to Submit Video Testimonials

Posted on by Jake Peters

 

Video testimonials from your truck drivers can be one of the most valuable assets your company has. These testimonials are excellent sources for recruitment content and company promotions. However, they are hard to obtain. Here is how to get your drivers to submit video testimonials.

What are Video Testimonials?

Video testimonials are simply the act of sitting down with your drivers and interviewing them what it is like to work for your company. These are not scripted actors, but instead the real people who drive your trucks.

Why do you Need Video Testimonials From Your Drivers? 

Video testimonials are beneficial because they provide the most realistic view of what it is like to work for your fleet.

Sharing these testimonials will show a level of authenticity to your company that is not possible with other forms of driver recruitment advertising.

Authenticity creates a layer of trust between your company and potential drivers. This trust will help your recruiters immensely when they reach out to drivers for the first time, helping your hiring efforts.

People creating and reacting to a driver video testimonial

6 Steps to Get Your Drivers to Submit Video Testimonials 

  1. Personal Your Request

  2. Emphasize the “W.I.I.F.M” for the Driver 

  3. Provide Easy to Answer Prompts 

  4. Make the Submission as Easy as Possible 

  5. Encourage Drivers to Show off Their Personality 

  6. Utilize a Creative Agency

Personalize Your Request

Do not send an impersonal survey request… nobody likes nor responds to those. Here is an example of a bad request:

A bad example of a request for drivers to submit a video testimonial.

You’ve hand-picked the drivers you’re requesting feedback from, so treat them that way and make them feel special! 

One of the easiest ways you can personalize your request is by using the driver’s first name in the subject line. Doing this will grab their attention while looking at their email inbox and let them know this email is specifically for them.

Another thing you should do is send out the emails individually to the drivers, no email blasts. Nobody likes long email chains.

Keep in mind that if it looks like an automated message – it will get treated like on. Your drivers will either ignore it or immediately delete it.

Biggest Personalization mistake to Avoid:

Using requests or subject lines that make an employee feel like a number, not a person like,
“Driver Feedback needed”, or, “We value your feedback”

Emphasize the “W.I.I.F.M” for the Driver

Human beings are naturally selfish – and it’s no different when it comes to feedback requests. When you’re asking for a testimonial, you’re essentially saying, we want more drivers like you.

It’s a huge compliment to the drivers’ character and shows that you’re trying to better the company by hiring more drivers like them – so say that!!

In addition to flattering the driver, your company may consider including a small incentive for the feedback like a $10 gift card. If you are including an incentive you need to make that abundantly clear to the drivers.

Biggest “W.I.I.F.M” Mistake to Avoid:

Requesting a testimonial without expressing how much you value the service the driver is providing

Provide Easy to Answer Prompts 

Drivers do not want to spend hours answering long-winded questions. The longer the driver thinks it will take for them to complete the testimonial, the less likely they are to complete it.

However, do not make the prompts too simple.

The biggest mistake first-time interviewers make is asking yes or no questions, it’s important to make the questions open-ended. By asking open-ended questions you are leaving room for the drivers to be themselves and provide honest feedback. 

It’s also important to ask drivers to rephrase the questions into their answers. If you ask “what’s it like to drive for XYZ Co…” ask them to include the phase “driving for XYZ Co is dot dot dot” not just – “they give good pay and benefits”

Biggest Prompts Mistake to Avoid:

Asking close-ended, yes/no questions – they don’t make for good videos

Make the Submission as Easy as Possible

Again, thinking about W.I.I.F.M. – just like with a job application, if it’s difficult to do or takes more than 15 minutes, you can kiss your opportunity goodbye. 

Make use of video survey services, like Trade Response – this lets you send personalized questions at scale to your drivers.

Biggest Submission Mistake to Avoid:

Trying to coordinate schedules with a driver endlessly

Encourage Drivers to Show off Their Personality

At the end of the day you always have to remember that drivers are human beings, if they don’t say the answer in the most articulate way, it’s okay. It may even make your video more persuasive. 

In today’s recruiting landscape, drivers are looking for authenticity and there is nothing authentic about a perfectly scripted testimonial. So let your drivers be themselves and do not stress about perfection!

Plus, if drivers are encouraged to show off their personality, they will have more fun with the project and be more likely to submit their video.

Biggest Encouragement Mistake to Avoid

Discouraging personalized stories – or just not asking the right questions to evoke those answers

Utilize a Creative Agency

Creative agencies can turn your drivers into company spokespeople, even if they record the video from their phone. Agencies are pros – they know what questions to ask, how to ask them and how to deliver the best results.

Biggest Mistake to Avoid:

Trying to DIY the project – it wastes everyone’s time, yielding results that either aren’t good or all sound the same

In today’s age, major advertisers are running commercials using “user generated content”, meaning there was no crew, no large budget, and no hassle. The same can be done with drivers. Video testimonials can add fuel to your driver recruiting fire, igniting the hiring spree your company needs. 

How to Use Email Marketing for Driver Recruitment

Posted on by Jake Peters

A truck driver’s email inbox is one of the best places to recruit drivers. However, email marketing is not a walk in the park. Here is how to use email marketing for driver recruitment.

  • Find an ESP That Best Fits Your Needs
  • Build a Strong Email List 
  • Segment the Drivers Accordingly 
  • Keep Emails Personal and Entertaining 
  • Create a Pipeline of Top Performing Drivers 
  • Semi-Frequent Job Alerts

Email Marketing Campaign concept. Digital Inbound advertising (useful newsletter, interesting promotional material) or Outbound (cold emails, spam) advertisement business strategy.

Find an ESP That Best Fits Your Needs

ESP stands for Email Service Provider. Email service providers allow companies to send email campaigns to a list of subscribers.

At the most basic level, ESPs do two things: store email addresses and send emails.

In addition to storing email addresses and sending emails, ESPs will help you build segments, create engaging email content, and report campaign performance.

Picking the best email service provider can be a difficult decision. To effectively make the decision you need to figure out what kind of features you are looking for before looking at different ESPs.

Ask yourself:

  • How much are we willing to pay?
  • How many people need to access the ESP?
  • Do we need extensive spam filters?
  • Do we need an ESP built specifically for trucking companies?
  • Or can we use any ESP?
  • How much design help do we need?

The answers to the above questions will help determine the best ESP for your company. It is good to ask these questions so you do not end up with an ESP that has too many features or not enough.

Build a Strong Email List

Your driver recruitment email campaign is only as strong as the list you are sending the emails to. If the drivers on your list are not interacting with the emails then the emails are being wasted.

One of the best strategies to get potential drivers engaging with your emails is to get them to sign up for your emails via different lead generation methods.

These lead generation methods can include:

  • Offer a joining incentive
  • Provide a free downloadable resource
  • Registration for a free webinar.

Another strategy you can use for building your email list is creating a Facebook group for drivers and asking for emails to join the group.

Drivers signing up for your emails are interested in hearing from you. A list of willing participants is more valuable than a list that you purchase from another company.

Segment Drivers Accordingly

Groups of wooden people. The concept of market segmentation. Marketing segmentation, target audience, customer care. Market group of buyers. Customer analysis and customer relationship management

Even though your email list will be composed entirely of truck drivers, that does not mean that they will all want the same content from you.

Your campaigns will see much more engagement if you send drivers relevant content based on their preferences.

For example, if there are drivers on your email list that you have hired recently, and you don’t segment the list, then they are going to become annoyed seeing emails about job openings from the company they work for.

Common segmentation criteria for driver recruiting email include:

  • Experience level
  • Certifications
  • Location
  • Employment status
  • Activity level

Segmenting lets you provide drivers with tailor-made content which reduces your unsubscribe rates and increases open rates.

Keep Emails Personal and Entertaining 

People do not want to read cookie-cutter emails containing boring content.

Personalized emails have a 29% higher unique open rate and 41% unique click rates than non-personalized emails.

Drivers want engaging content that feels like it was personally made for them. A quick and easy way to make emails feel personalized is to use automation to address readers by their first name.

In addition to using their name, you can send birthday emails, skill-building opportunities, and industry updates for drivers with the same qualifications as the reader.

Create a Pipeline of Top Performing Drivers

As you implement email marketing into your driver recruiting strategy, you are going to hire drivers from your email list.

You need to keep tabs on the drivers you hire and measure their performance. The drivers you hire and are top performers need to be added to a special segment.

Having a pipeline filled with top-performing drivers is a huge asset for your company. Once the pipeline is built out, you will have constant communication with people you know for certain fill your driver criteria.

Even after the drivers leave your company you get to keep recruiting them and hopefully rehire them in the future.

Semi-Frequent Job Alerts

We hiring now banner job offer vector background. Hiring promotion megaphone employee illustration

The purpose of the email marketing campaign is to keep drivers engaged with your company. It is not intended to bombard drivers with your open positions.

Your first goal needs to be engagement. Once that has been established you can start sprinkling in job alerts.

However,

Make sure that the alerts you are sending match the segments you send them to. If the position you are hiring for requires certain endorsements then only send that segments of drivers you know have the necessary endorsements.

Make sure you are only sending job alerts a couple of times a month. Do not overwhelm drivers on your email list. Doing so will result in drivers unsubscribing from your emails.

Email marketing continues to be one of the most effective recruiting strategies. Once your company nails the process, you have a direct line of communication with truck drivers. Follow this guide and begin email marketing for driver recruitment.

How to Attract Truck Drivers on Social Media

Posted on by Jake Peters

It is no secret that truck drivers love social media. However, just because they are on social media does not mean they are easy to reach. Here is how to attract truck drivers on social media.

  1. Create Different Content for Different Platforms
  2. Utilize Groups to Reach Your Target Audience
  3. Spotlight Your Top Performing Drivers
  4. Respond Quickly to Inquiries
  5. Invite Followers to Visit Your Website

Attract Customers And Leads With Magnet. Lead Capture Concept

Create Different Content for Different Platforms

Truck driver’s behavior varies depending on the platform they are using. For example, on Facebook drivers are switching between reading, looking at photos, and watching videos. Because of this, the videos they watch are usually silent with subtitles.

TikTok on the other hand is dedicated solely to videos so drivers always have their sound on when using the platform.

Knowing how user behavior varies across platforms, you need to make content that satisfies those behaviors.

You need to be creating the following pieces of content:

  • Extensive written content
  • Short-form written content
  • Professional quality photographs
  • Infographics
  • Professional videos
  • Videos edited to be 45 seconds or less

If you want to learn more about creating content check out the Guide to Content Creation for Driver Recruitment.

Utilize Groups to Reach Your Target Audience

If you are getting started on social media it can feel quite daunting to build a following.

It can feel like a chicken and the egg situation. To get followers you need people to see your content, but for people to see your content you need followers. Seems impossible right?

Fortunately, on platforms like Facebook and Linkedin, there are thousands of groups that are built for you. All you need to do is search for the groups that have drivers in them.

Once you find the groups best suited for your company, you need to get active in the groups. Do not simply post your content and leave. Engage the drivers in conversation.

You can engage in conversations by commenting on other people’s posts, posting questions, and sharing other useful content.

Participating in the groups will get truck drivers to notice your company, and if they like you they will follow you. Eventually, they may apply to work for you.

woman hand pressing social media icon, futuristic technology

Spotlight Your Top Performing Drivers

Taking the time to spotlight your top-performing drivers accomplishes a few goals for your social media presence.

The first thing it does for you is help attract truck drivers to your account. When you spotlight your top drivers, the driver who is being celebrated will share that post with their network. Truck drivers are friends with other drivers, so drivers not following you will be exposed to your account via the spotlight post.

As more drivers start following you and seeing these spotlight posts, more drivers will want to work for you. Your company will be perceived as one that truly values its drivers. Quality truck drivers want to work for a carrier that appreciates their hard work.

In addition to attracting new CDL drivers to your company, spotlight posts keep your current employees attracted to working for you. Your drivers will want to keep working for an employer that celebrates them.

Respond Quickly to Inquiries

As you attract people to follow your social media accounts, new followers will begin reaching out to learn more about your company.

Respond to these inquiries as quickly as possible. Doing so will capitalize on the excitement from a potential driver.

Research shows that 71% of people that experience positive social care are likely to recommend the company to others. A fast and helpful response not only boosts your relationship with the driver inquiring but can help you build relationships with other drivers.

Rapid Response Clock Quick Fast Reaction 3d Illustration

Invite Followers to Your Website

Yes, it is great to build up the number of truck drivers that follow you. But you don’t want them to only follow your account, you want to hire them!

One way to begin converting followers into drivers is to invite them to visit your trucking website. At your website, drivers will begin interacting with your extended recruiting content.

Your recruiting content should share with the driver what it is like to be an employee for the company. This includes things like company culture, driver benefits/pay, type of routes offered to drivers, etc.

Getting the driver to visit your site does not guarantee an application. However, it keeps your company in the mind of drivers. When those drivers are ready for a new position they will first think to apply to your company.

Learning how to attract truck drivers on social media will significantly improve your company’s hiring efforts. Stick to these tips and you will start building up your company’s following on social media.

How to be a Great Truck Driver Recruiter

Posted on by Jake Peters

Truck driver recruiters are some of the most important people within their organizations. If they are ineffective at their job, the company will have trucks sitting “on the fence” and not on the road earning revenue. Follow these steps and you will know how to be a great truck driver recruiter.

  1. Master Your Process 
  2. Understand Social Media Marketing for Trucking Companies 
  3. Learn the Art of Persuasion 
  4. Stay Organized and Be Prepared 
  5. Stay in Touch With Potential Drivers
  6. Remain Transparent Through the Hiring Process

Truck driver recruiter grabs red wooden figure to symbolize making a new hire.

Master Your Process

You will not be able to efficiently hire truck drivers if you do not have your process mastered.

How are you going to reach out to recent applicants if you do not know where their information is kept? How can you hire a new driver if you do not know how to send them the necessary paperwork and make sure it is all properly filled out?

If you are reading this and have been working at the same company for a long period of time, this tip may feel like a waste of time. However, each company has a different process. It can be easy to overlook this step when you start a new position.

Mastering the entire process is equivalent to mastering the fundamentals of any sport.

Just like you can’t expect to lace them up on Sundays without first mastering the basics, you can not be a great driver recruiter without first mastering your hiring process.

Understand Social Media Marketing for Trucking Companies

Nearly 100% of all truck drivers in the country are members of social media. Effective social media marketing allows for your company to reach all of these drivers, build your company brand, and connect with other people in the industry.

Because social media is so effective at generating driver applicants and promoting your company, it is likely an integral part of your carrier’s strategy.

A great truck driver recruiter understands the fundamentals of social media marketing. They do this because they want to understand where the drivers are coming from, how the driver came to apply, and what is reasonably expectable from a campaign.

Even if you are not responsible for running social media campaigns, you should learn how campaigns work.

Learn the Art of Persuasion

The red figure of a person influences a crowd of people. Expressing your own opinion, turning to your side. Mastery of persuasion, propaganda, influence on the masses. Warming up the mood of the crowd

Truck driver recruiting is a sales position. The key to being successful at sales is learning how to persuade people to act.

You rarely come across a driver applicant that has fully committed to working for your company after applying.

Drivers need to be persuaded to drive for your company.

The driver shortage has created a world where truck drivers are fielding multiple offers at once. Where the driver decides to work comes down to which company is the most persuasive.

If you want to learn how to become more persuasive as a driver recruiter check out this article:

5 TIPS FOR DRIVER RECRUITERS TO BE MORE PERSUASIVE

Stay Organized and be Prepared 

Truck driver recruiting is a constant juggling act. If you are disorganized and/or unprepared you will miss out on opportunities to hire drivers for your company.

If you are organized you will be able to manage applications coming in from multiple lead sources, keep track of all the meetings you set up, and submit the necessary paperwork for each driver.

You need to be over-prepared for each interview with individual drivers. At the start of an interview, you may think a driver applied because they are interested in a pay raise, and then find out that they had a poor experience with previous management.

If you enter the interview only prepared to discuss how drivers are paid at your company, then you won’t be fully prepared to talk about company culture. Sure you could discuss it off the top of your head, but you won’t have all the content necessary to show off your company culture.

Staying organized and being prepared will make sure that you interact with as many drivers as you can and can answer all of their questions.

Stay in Touch With Potential Drivers 

The hiring process can be lengthy, especially if a driver is applying to multiple companies. You must stay in touch with drivers that are in your hiring process.

Every day, Monday through Friday, you need to contact all of your potential drivers.

When you contact drivers you should be checking in to see if you can help them in any way. The key is to stay on the driver’s mind.

Remembering to contact drivers every day can be challenging. Using a quality ATS will help you stay organized and make it easy to contact each driver.

Wooden man shows with hand text Stay In Touch concept on wooden block

Remain Transparent Through the Hiring Process

You need to be transparent with the truck driver through the entire hiring process. Do not over-promise the good aspects of your company and hide the bad aspects.

Be upfront with the drivers about possible areas of miscommunication and elements of the job the driver may not enjoy.

It may feel counterintuitive to share negative information with the driver, however, it actually builds trust between you and the driver. The transparency establishes that you are an honest person.

This does not mean that you should focus on the negatives. Share the things about the job that the driver may not like, but then show that the positives outweigh the negatives.

Truck drivers will be more likely to believe you on how great the position is if you are honest about some of the downsides.

Truck driver recruiters are essential to every trucking company in the country. Also, the better you are at driver recruiting the more money you will make. Follow this guide and you will know how to be a great truck driver recruiter.

How to Retain Truck Drivers through the Holidays

Posted on by Jake Peters

The holiday season can be a frustrating time for truck driver recruiters. Many of the drivers you hired throughout the year will leave your company to spend this time with their family. If you take the right steps you can retain your truck drivers. Follow this guide and retain your truck drivers this holiday season.

Santa Claus driving a truck. Truck driver wearing Santa Claus and smiling happy on Christmas Day. Workers in transportation and delivery business are working in celebration holidays. Merry Christmas

Offer a Significant Holiday Bonus 

Money talks, it is the oldest trick in the retention book.

It is common for truck drivers to quit their jobs right before the holiday season starts and find new work in January. The promise of a hefty holiday bonus towards the end of the holiday season would help keep drivers from leaving your company.

The holiday bonus is a motivation for drivers to stay with your company and it makes them feel valued by your company.

You must make sure the bonus you are offering is worthwhile. Drivers are more than likely not going to stick around for a $50 Amazon card. Make the bonus big enough that your truck drivers think it is worth it to keep working instead of taking time off.

Throw a Big Company Holiday Party 

A company holiday party is a fun strategy that you can use to retain truck drivers through the holiday season. Who doesn’t love to party?!

Celebrating the end of another year with a large celebration is an incentive for drivers to stay around. However, you need to make the party a great time, it cannot be a mediocre party.

You can throw an excellent party by allowing employees to bring their families, having the event catered, and specifically having a special moment for the children. If the kids of your drivers are looking towards your holiday party every year then the kids will convince your drivers to stay with your company.

Every year at your company party, make sure to designate some time to specifically celebrate the truck drivers in front of the entire company. You have no company without your drivers and the whole company should celebrate them.

Company throws holiday party to retain truck drivers

Provide Paid Time Off for Longest Tenured Drivers

Clearly, you do not need to worry about your longest-tenured truck drivers job-hopping. If they have stuck with your company for multiple years, it is safe to assume they have no plans for job-hopping.

Not only do these truck drivers deserve to be rewarded for their loyalty, but they are also an example for recently hired drivers. This policy will establish a company culture that says it rewards loyalty.

Giving tenured drivers paid time off is a walking example of what can happen for the new drivers if they stick with the company. The new truck drivers will be determined to stay with your company so they earn paid time off.

Extend an Abundance of Gratitude and Appreciation

At the end of the day, truck driver retention boils down to gratitude and appreciation. Truck drivers are like everyone else and want to work for a company that values them.

If you work for a carrier that is unable to afford bonuses, holiday parties, and paid time off you can still retain your drivers. Gratitude and appreciation are free to give away.

Take time out of every day this holiday season to express how much you value your drivers. Also, encourage all of your non-driving employees to do the same.

The Holiday season is a tricky season to navigate for trucking companies. An increased number of drivers begin to job hop this time of year. This adds extra stress to the truck driver recruiter. Avoid this stress by following these tips and retaining your truck drivers through the holiday season.

How Aging Truck Drivers Impact the Industry

Posted on by Jake Peters

New technology is allowing drivers to go longer without retiring by making the job less physically demanding. This means the average retirement age is increasing. Despite drivers staying on the road longer, driver retirement is the largest contributor to the truck driver shortage.

Aging truck driver crossing the road to retirement.

The Average Retirement Age for Truck Drivers

The truck driver population in America is steadily increasing year after year. Currently, the average retirement age for truck drivers is 62 years old. However, according to the OOIDA, most independent drivers plan on retiring at 67 years of age.

While the average retirement age for drivers is a good estimate, it does not accurately reflect how individual drivers feel about retirement.

There are two trains of thought amongst drivers. Some have the mentality that they will drive until they can no longer physically pull themselves into the cab. Others want to retire as soon as possible.

How Old is the Average Truck Driver

According to surveys conducted by the American Trucking Associations, the average driver age in the for-hire over-the-road truckload industry is 46. Other trucking sectors have an even higher average age.

Roughly 54% of truck drivers on the road today are 45 years or older. The trucking demographic is one of the oldest in the country and only getting older.

Within this decade over one-half of all current truck drivers will be older than the average retirement age.

An average truck driver

How Many Truck Drivers Retire Each Year

It is estimated that between 2019 and 2028 there will be 600,000 truck drivers retiring. That means 66,667 truck drivers will retire every year.

The industry needs to find nearly 70,000 new truck drivers every year to fill the void left by drivers retiring.

Aging Population is Fueling the Driver Shortage

Truck drivers retiring will be responsible for 54% of the driver shortage over the next decade.

The trucking industry needs to find a way to replace truck drivers retiring from the career.

What You Can Do to Attract Younger Truck Drivers

Obviously, the only way to combat drivers retiring from your company is to hire younger drivers to replace them. The number one place you can find young drivers is on social media.

Hiring a professional to manage your social media marketing is the best way to get your company in front of the eyes of younger drivers.

The industry is experiencing a lack of young people signing up to be truck drivers. You are going to need to recruit people to get their CDL and then join your company.

Aging truck drivers can stay on the road for longer because of improved truck technology. However, that is only kicking the can down the road. Truck drivers are going to retire sooner or later and that is fueling the driver shortage.

How To Advertise to Truck Drivers

Posted on by Jake Peters

Advertising to truck drivers is much different today than it was ten years ago. It is even much more different today than it was ten months ago thanks to the changes forced by COVID-19. Now more than ever you need to rely on digital services to reach truckers. Follow this guide and you will know how to advertise to truck drivers.

All successful for advertising campaigns reach drivers at the minimum of five touch points. Before launching your campaign you must strategize for how to establish each touch point. Below are the five touch points that Driveteks recommends you use in your campaign.

Social Media Marketing

Person uses phone to respond to social media marketing

Truck drivers love social media. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram keep drivers connected to their loved ones during long trips on the road. Because of this, social media is the best way to reach drivers.

According to Conversionia, Facebook is a top three performing cost-per-hire strategy.

Content is king when it comes to social media. You need to be posting content that engages drivers multiple times a week on your company’s page and within groups. Doing this will build your brand and generate awareness around your company. Images and videos tend to be the most effective at spurring engagement.

In addition to posting content you need to be running a paid advertising campaign. Hiring a professional driver recruitment agency to handle your Facebook ads will make sure your company gets seen by the drivers you want. Facebook is constantly updating its algorithms and advertising standards so it is highly recommended you employ a professional to do your ads.

Job Boards 

Job boards can be one of the top sources of driver applicants. The drivers are on that site specifically to look for a new job. However, job boards are highly competitive and the costs have risen through the roof.

Despite high levels of competition and prices job boards need to be a part of your advertising strategy. In order to succeed to focus on three key areas:

  • Succinct and enticing job description
  • Well built recruitment landing page linked in the description
  • Constant monitoring of board performance

Drivers on job boards are going to be scanning tens of job descriptions at a time. You need to do a good job of keeping your description short and enticing. If your description is written well, it should encourage drivers to click on your recruitment landing page and learn more about your company.

The most important part of advertising on job boards is monitoring which job boards are performing the best each month. Doing this will enable you to allocate ad spend to the boards performing and not waste money on underperforming sites.

Email/Text Campaigns

Email and text campaigns are an amazing way to communicate with drivers that have expressed interest in working for your company. The only way you are able to collect contact information from drivers is when they submit an application on your website/recruitment landing page.

Advertising to truck drivers through email/text is an excellent way to share your company’s voice. You will be able to share informative content, invite them to visit your website, and stay in touch with drivers.

In order to set up an Email or messaging campaign you need to use a tool such as MailChimp. MailChimp makes it easy to design visually appealing emails that can be sent out to every driver email you have collected with the click of a button.

Geofencing For Driver Recruitment

Geofencing is a location based advertisement strategy. It works by setting up a “geofence”, a virtual perimeter around the outside of a geographic area. Anyone who enters the perimeter receives the targeted ads.

A truck company advertising agency will know exactly where to place geofences so that the only people seeing your ads are truck drivers. No more wasting ad spend on ads that are being seen by people who are not truck drivers.

Common places companies like to place geofences are around truck stops, driver schools, truck driver conventions, and competitor truck lots.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising

Pay-per-click advertising is the best way to stay on the mind of drivers. Your company will be in front of the eyes of drivers every time they open their internet browser.

Sometimes there is a false conception that paid media is going to directly generate more applications. That is not necessarily the case. Paid media indirectly generates applications.

Paid media is effective at keeping your company on the mind of drivers. Drivers will not click on these ads very often and apply. But, when the drivers are ready to start looking for a new job the first company they look up will be your company.

Illustration that depicts where people see pay per click advertising.

In order to successfully advertise to truck drivers you need to be able to reach them at a minimum of five times. The five touch points recommended in this article all complement each other and will spur the number driver applicants your company receives.

How Recruiters Can Solve The Driver Shortage

Posted on by Jake Peters

 

According to the American Trucking Association, the trucking industry was short 60,800 in 2018. This shortage has caused the average turnover rate to rise to nearly 90% for large carriers. Having empty trucks kills your company’s cash flow. Fortunately, recruiters can solve the driver shortage for your company.

Recruit Great Drivers

The most effective way that recruiters can solve the driver shortage for your company is by hiring great drivers. Great drivers will produce at high levels for a long period of time for your company.

Employ all great drivers and your company will not need to worry about the driver shortage. Your turnover rate will be low and your trucks will remain on the road.

However, this is not as simple as it sounds. Before your recruiters can hire great drivers your company needs to provide an offer that is one of the best out there. That means high pay, benefits, and a strong company culture.

Once your company is providing that elite offer, then your recruiters can hire great drivers. A skilled recruiter will know how to filter through bad, average, and great truck driver applications and focus on the great.

Skilled recruiters will also have the sales ability to sell great drivers that your company is the company they want to drive for.

Act as a Mediator Between Management and Drivers

Very few people within your company interact with the truck drivers as much as your truck driver recruiters do.

Obviously, the driver recruiters communicate frequently with CDL drivers they want to bring in to your company. Recruiters also maintain relationships with the drivers after they have been hired.

Recruiters also frequently interact with upper management.

Anytime the drivers grow frustrated with the company, they will approach the recruiter with their issues. Knowing the frustrations of drivers, the recruiters can then report to upper management what is going on.

This process works in reverse as well. Recruiters relay messages from upper management to the drivers.

The reason this mediation is so important is because if it is done properly it keeps everyone on the same page. Drivers will feel like they are listened to and management can smoothly implement new processes.

A company with upper management and drivers on the same page has high retention rates and is not concerned with the costs associated with empty trucks.

Spearhead Retention Efforts 

Truck driver retention efforts are mandatory for your trucking company. You need to make your drives feel valued so that they will stick around for a while.

Your truck driver recruiters are the perfect people to spearhead your company’s retention efforts.

As mentioned earlier, your recruiters already have a connection with your drivers. Retention efforts coming from your recruiters will come across as more authentic.

The key to effective retention efforts is authenticity.

Digital Recruiters Fill Your Applicant Pool

As a disclaimer, it is important to know that there needs to be a difference between traditional driver recruiters and digital driver recruiters. Traditional recruiters hire the drivers while digital recruiters get drivers to see your company online and apply.

Digital recruiters work full time to generate applications from the internet. They use a combination of paid media, social media marketing, content creation, and search engine optimization to get these applications.

Filling your applicant pool makes it much easier for your traditional recruiters to hire a driver when you need one. This significantly shortens your time to hire, saving you money.

Applicant pool filled with CDL driver applications

On a macro level, the driver shortage is not an issue that is going away any time soon. However at a micro level, your company can not have to deal with the driver shortage. Your truck driver recruiters are key pieces to solving the driver shortage for your company.

How to be a Successful Driver Recruiter

Posted on by Jake Peters

At Driveteks, we have been working hand and hand with recruiters nationwide for 5 years now. This has given us an insight into what separates the bad from the good, and the good from the great. Follow this guide to learn how to be a successful driver recruiter.

5 Tips to be a Successful Driver Recruiter 

Successful driver recruiter hires a new driver

1) Get on the Phone ASAP

The most important step in successful recruitment relies on technology that has existed since 1876, phoning. There is a direct correlation between the rate at which recruiters are able to contact driver applicants via phone and recruitment success.

A study on phoning found two major conclusions: The odds of contacting a lead are 100 times higher if called in 5 minutes versus 30 minutes. The odds of qualifying a lead are 21 times higher if called in 5 minutes versus 30 minutes.

Drivers are applying to multiple companies at a time. This means that as soon as that driver hits “submit” on your application, you are in a race with everyone else.

Recruiters that develop a routine of calling driver applicants as soon as they apply will experience more success than the recruiter that is slow to call.

2) Stay in Contact

Once a successful recruiter makes contact with a driver applicant, they maintain that contact with the driver.

Recruiters that struggle with getting drivers through orientation often have a contact issue. Drivers are less likely to back out on a job offer, even if presented with a better option, if they have a relationship with the recruiter.

Whether you are contacting the driver applicant to inform them of a position update or checking in to see how the hiring process is going, there is always a reason to be in touch with applicants.

3) Interview for Culture, not Qualifications

Interviewing truck drivers needs to be less about the driver’s qualifications and more about the driver as a person. Successful recruiters learn everything they need to know about the driver’s qualifications from their application/resume.

In the interview, the successful recruiter focuses on if the applicant is a strong team fit. Focusing on the driver as a person, and hiring strong culture fits, will lead to a stronger retention rate.

Ask questions like these to get to know the applicant as a person:

  • What type of culture do you thrive in? (Does the response reflect your organizational culture?)
  • What’s your ideal workplace?
  • Why do you want to work here?
  • Tell me about a time when you worked with/for an organization where you felt you were not a strong culture fit. Why was it a bad fit?

A team with strong culture fits

4) Build and Maintain Strong Relationships 

Recruiters that are successful are aware that their job is more than simply hiring truck drivers. Recruiters are key contributors to their company’s retention rate.

By building and maintaining a strong relationship with drivers you hire, you are encouraging the drivers you hire to continue working for your company. Drivers are more likely to stay with a company where they feel like they are a part of a community.

In addition to improving retention, maintaining relationships will help you hire more drivers. Drivers that left your company for “greener pastures” often realize the grass is not always greener. When this happens, the driver will often return to work for your company if they have a strong relationship with the recruiter.

Also, drivers that like you, the recruiter, will refer their friends to you. The truck driving community is tight-knit, drivers often tell their friends about how great it is to work for their company.

5) Influence your company to build its Employer Brand

Quality drivers are well aware of the best and worst employers. Your company’s employer brand is the way that drivers perceive what it is like to work for you.

Even skilled truck driver recruiters will struggle to recruit drivers for a company that has a weak employer brand. Drivers will not want to work for you if they hear from their friends that your company does not value their drivers.

As the recruiter, you may not be able to build an employer brand by yourself. However, you do have a strong say within the company. You need to be advocating for your company to boost their employer brand.

The quickest way to improve employer brand is by offering higher driver pay and by responding to feedback from current/former drivers.

Where Successful Recruiters Find Truck Drivers

None of the tips above are helpful if you do not know where to find drivers. Finding drivers to recruit is the core of what you do as a recruiter.

In the past, one of the best places to find potential drivers was in-person recruitment events. However, those are no longer a possibility.

The best places to find drivers to hire are through digital marketing channels, social media, and employee referral programs.

Successful driver recruiter searching for drivers

A career as a truck driver recruiter is not an easy career. However, becoming a successful recruiter is fulfilling and rewarding. Follow these tips and you can learn how to become a successful driver recruiter.