Tag: how

How ADAS Features Help Retain Truck Drivers

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Purchasing trucks for carriers is often a purely financial decision. Carriers will evaluate how much they need to spend on their trucks in order to get the maximum value. One thing that often gets overlooked is purchasing new trucks with the latest ADAS features improves driver retention.

ADAS Lead to Fewer and Cheaper Accidents

“Research shows that the vast majority of motor vehicle accidents are tied to human error, and safety systems that are available on the market today save lives and can reduce damage,” said Kary Schaefer at her safety presentation for the TCA.

Getting in an accident is one of the biggest reasons that drivers switch careers. Collisions rattle rookie drivers and vets alike. It makes sense, would you want to stay at a job where you nearly lost your life, possibly hurt another person, and caused thousands of dollars in damage?

Trucks that are equipped with the latest Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are proven to experience fewer accidents, and when they do crash there is less damage. ADAS prevent accidents with system interventions. New trucks will stop on their own, gauge its own speed, and keep the truck in the proper lane.

Fleets that were experiencing average repair costs of $7,500 per accident saw that number drop to $300 per repair when they began using new ADAS technology.

Trucks that can keep drivers safe are trucks that keep drivers working for you. With the assistance of ADAS drivers will be far less likely to leave the career because they will not be in as many accidents. This helps you retain drivers and avoid idle trucks.

ADAS features make it possible for trucks to react to hazards on its own.

Truck Cabs are Safer With ADAS Cameras

The dangers of driving across the country scare away many promising drivers. One of these dangers is thievery. While drivers are stopped, it is common for them to have items stolen out of their truck cab. This leads to the drivers feeling like they are not safe.

External environmental cameras can be used to record information while the truck is not in motion, serving as a theft deterrent. People will not want to steal from trucks that catch them on camera.

Drivers that are in trucks with the latest safety features will no longer have to worry about their items being stolen. Experiencing a safer truck cab will keep drivers from leaving in fear.

Driver Position is Less Fatiguing With ADAS

In the past driving has been a physically taxing position. Driving through hazardous conditions was especially difficult because the truck did very little to help the driver steer.

New trucks now use active steering lane keep assist to make the driver’s job less fatiguing. Active steering provides slight adjustments to the steering that are prevalent at slow speeds and backing up. Lane keep assistance ensures the truck stays in the middle of the lane with hardly any effort from the driver.

With the new advanced driver assistance systems older drivers can now stay on the road instead of retiring. Older drivers will be physically capable of driving for much longer than in the past, keeping your fleet on the road.

Reduced Insurance Premiums Open Retention Funds 

Commercial vehicle safety systems may reduce insurance premiums in the future. The reason that premiums will go down is because carriers can collect data from the truck and prove to their insurance providers that their trucks are getting in fewer accidents.

Advancing safety features on trucks saves your company money which can be used to your retention budget. As your company spends more on retention, your turnover rate will decrease.

Commercial insurance premiums are reduced with ADAS.

Driver retention is one of the biggest factors that makes a carrier successful or not. Carriers should do everything in their power to keep turnover as low as possible. Having a fleet with the latest safety features improves driver retention. Accidents will happen less, cabs are safer, the driver position becomes less fatiguing, and your company will have more money to spend on retention.

How to Throw Covidsafe Driver Celebrations

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Over the past four months COVID-19 has shined a light on how crucial truck drivers are to the well-being of America. Drivers have been working their hearts out to keep the country afloat, and this is not an anomaly. Truck drivers need to be celebrated. Here is how to throw Covidsafe driver celebrations.

Celebrating Remotely is the Safest Option

Clearly, the easiest way to celebrate safely is to celebrate remotely. This is possible with platforms such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, etc. However, it is not enough just to hop on a video call and say you appreciate the drivers. You need to do more.

One thing that your company can do in addition to the video-chat celebration is sending each driver a personal, hand written note from the CEO. These notes cannot be the same message sent to all drivers, it has to be unique for each individual.

Personal development stipends are another way to celebrate remotely. At companies like 15five employees are giving a $500 stipend to spend on a learning opportunity unrelated to their job. Giving drivers money to pursue their passions will show your care and improve the lives of your drivers and makes them want to stay with your company.

Outdoor Celebrations are Necessary for In-Person Parties

If you are wanting to have an in-person celebration, the best place to do that is at an outdoor location. Hosting the celebration outside drastically reduces the risk of the spreading of COVID.

There are multiple factors that lower the risk of spread when outside. The first is that in the open air, Coronavirus particles disperse faster than they do when inside. Also, UV light from the sun does an excellent job of reducing the spread of the virus.

A study put on by Harvard, MIT, and other institutions found that average temperatures above 77 degrees reduce transmission. Each 1.8 degree temperature increase above 77 degrees is associated with a 3.1% decrease in the number of new infections generated.

People enjoying a Covidsafe celebration eating barbecue food.

Responsible Guest Lists Give You More Control

Your company driver celebration cannot be a massive party, it needs to be an intimate event. Keep the event closed to people only within the company.

Limiting the guest list to employees only lets you have more control over the situation. You can easily vet each guest and make sure no one is exhibiting COVID symptoms and may jeopardize the event.

Serving Food Fresh From the Grill

Considering that heat does a good job of killing the virus, plan on serving items fresh from the grill. Try to avoid letting food items sit for a long time before party goers start eating. Burgers and hotdogs are an excellent decision to be the main course.

Avoid serving any type of community finger food. That means no chips and dip, sliders, bowls filled with candy, etc. Every hand that reaches for a serving of finger food is an opportunity for viral transfer.

In order to be extra safe, give each party goer a stipend to purchase their own food and drink to consume that does not come off the grill. This includes any sides, appetizers, and desserts.

Socially Distanced Party Games

What is a party without party games? Party games that encourage a lot of physical interaction between people are not recommended however.

Instead play games that require people to stand far apart. Cornhole is an excellent example of a social distance friendly party game.

If possible, you could have the celebration at a pool. Swimming in a properly maintained pool will inactivate COVID.

Cornhole is a socially distanced party game.

Truck drivers are the backbone of America and without them our economy would crumble. They stepped up to the challenge presented by Corona virus in a major way and must be celebrated. Follow these tips and your company can throw Covidsafe celebrations for your drivers.

How to Create a Trucking Recruiting Website

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A well built website is one of the most impactful tools for recruiting truck drivers. Strong sites will generate positive impressions, inform the driver, and get them to apply. Here is how to create a trucking recruiting website.

What Are The Key Elements of a Good Website? 

Team of cartoon people work to create trucking website

Clear Site Navigation

Having an easy-to-follow website design serves two purposes. Clear site navigation makes it easier for visitors to consume your content and for search engines to index your site.

Your home page is the sun that your website-galaxy revolves around. Each page should always be one click away from the home page. Also, your homepage must highlight only the most important pages on your site.

One of the first things a driver should see when visiting your site is a link to apply.

An example of a site that shows the "Apply Now" link on the home page.

Well Designed Landing Page

A landing page is the section of the website drivers visit when they click on one of your paid advertisements.

Your recruitment landing page needs to be designed to sell the driver on working for your company.

Instead of using a bunch of text to tell drivers about the position and why they should work for you, use imagery. Include multiple photos of your current drivers happy on the job and video testimonials from drivers.

Show don’t tell.

Strong Call to Action

No matter how good your images are or how convincing your site is, drivers will not apply without a call to action.

Good example of a strong call to action.

 

Think of the call to action as the catalyst that gets the driver to actually submit an application. All the other content is used to persuade the driver that they want to work for you.

The call to action gets the application.

Mobile-Friendly

In today’s trucking world drivers have the capability to be checking new job opportunities 24/7. Mobile phones are the driving force behind this shift in trucking recruitment.

Last year, 67% of drivers used their smartphones to look for new employment opportunities.

Taking the time to make sure your site is mobile friendly is a necessary. If you do not have a mobile friendly site then you will miss out on all the applications from drivers that come to your site with their smartphones.

Positive ‘About Us’ Tab (Your Why)

Well done 'About Us' tab.
People are not motivated by what you do but why you do it.

Use the ‘about us’ tab to create a positive portrait of your team for drivers to see. Drivers want to work for a company that is going to value them.

Constructing a well done ‘about us’ page will stir excitement in potential drivers. They will see that your team is passionate about the industry, respect their drivers, and it will motivate the driver to seek greener pastures.

Content Content Content

Quality content works wonders. Done properly, content will increase awareness among drivers, get them to consider working for you, and ultimately increase applications.

Your site needs to have blog posts, videos, and photos, that all paint your company in a positive light.

Different people like to consume different types of content. That is why you need blogs, photos, and videos.

Excellent Visual Design

An aesthetically pleasing design with interesting visuals will create a strong first impression with drivers.

Excellent design sends the message to drivers that your company does the due diligence to get the job done right. This will attract the types of drivers that are true professionals and take pride in their work.

Optimized for Search Engines 

Your site is useless if no one visits. Optimizing your site for search engines will make it so that drivers will find you when they search for potential jobs.

Simple optimization practices like adding alt-text to your images, writing clear meta descriptions, and using effective SEO titles do not take much time and produce results.

What Should You Not Put on Your Website?

It is just as important to know what to avoid putting on your site as it is to know what to have on your site.

Dedicated Testimonial Page 

Testimonials are essential to any website. They are one of the most influential pieces of content potential drivers consume.

However, potential drivers are far less likely to engage with the testimonials if they have to go to a separate page. Do not have one page with all the testimonials

The best practice is to sprinkle your testimonials throughout your site. Mix the testimonials in on all the pages on your site.

Dead End Thank You Page 

After the driver applies, a lot of companies will show a simple “thank you” page.

Example of a dead end thank you page after application is submitted.

Having a dead end thank you page misses out on a huge opportunity. Drivers are at the peak of their interest right after applying.

Instead of a dead end page suggest to the driver that they engage with more of your content!

Confusing Messaging (K-I-S-S)

Keep in mind that your site serves two purposes: to increase driver applicants and increase business.

Do your best to keep your messaging as simple as possible. K-I-S-S. You should not spend any time on topics that do not serve either of those two purposes.

Create a trucking website that has simple messaging and applicants and business will both increase.

Automatic Sound/Videos

Nothing is more obnoxious than landing on a site that you have never been to before and getting blasted by automatic sound/videos.

Don’t do it!

In today’s market a well built website is mandatory to effectively recruit truck drivers. Follow this guide to create a trucking website that is a great truck driver recruiting website.

How To Recruit Truck Drivers on Social Media

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72% of the public uses some form of social media. No wonder carriers are focusing their recruiting efforts to social media. However, most companies are not using social media to its fullest potential. Here is how to recruit truck drivers on social media.

There are 4 areas you need to know about in order to successfully recruit on social media. You need to focus on: company profile, relevant groups, paid advertisements, and using the right platform.

Use Company Profiles to Build Your Employment Brand

Drivers will do their research before applying for your company. You want to make sure that you have a positive brand image and strong social presence .

Think of your profiles as a platform to convey the company culture to potential drivers. It is best to post a lot of images and short videos that show off everything your company does to take care of its drivers. You need to highlight happy drivers as much as possible.

Another useful strategy is to post content that increases engagement. Posts that contain questions, polls, or contests are great at generating engagement. The more engagement you can generate the better.

Finally, make sure that you are posting frequently. Tools like Hootsuite will help you post frequently. Hootsuite will enable you to plan posts out in advance and upload the posts automatically.

Interacting in Groups to Build Relationships

Social media is filled with groups designed to connect drivers and recruiters. You need to join as many groups as possible. There are groups with drivers around the country and others that are focused on specific regions.

In order to be seen, post frequently and always respond to drivers that comment on your posts. Keep in mind that there is a lot of competition in the groups so you need to set yourself apart from the competition.

Join these groups with the company’s page AND encourage recruiters to join with their personal accounts. Recruiters that use their personal accounts to engage with drivers will come off as more personable/trustworthy.

Effective posts use eye catching photos and little words. Your goal should be to generate enough interest that the driver visits your site. The website will have the information needed to sell the driver on working for your company.

Paid Advertisements Keep You on Drivers’ Minds 

Any social media campaign is incomplete without paid media. Each social media platform has its own advertising tools (Facebook ads, Linkedin ads, Twitter ads, Google ads, etc.).

The goal of paid media is to keep your company on the mind of potential drivers. Drivers spend a lot of time on social media, by advertising on social media you are meeting the drivers where they are at.

The best part of paid media is its hyper-focus. If you take the time to set up the proper settings only your desired demographic will see your ads. Hyper-focus campaigns lead to increased ROI.

For best results, your paid ads need to be eye catching. Drivers will spend hardly any time interacting with the paid ads so every millisecond counts. Create ads that burn an image into the drivers minds.

Canva is the best platform for designing advertisements. The platform makes it easy for people who have little design experience create professional quality ads.

illustration that shows how to recruit truck drivers on social media

Platforms to Use For Maximum Results

There are many platforms to use for recruiting truck drivers. Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Youtube, and Twitter are the main platforms you should focus on.

If you are determined to expand beyond those platforms Reddit, Snapchat, and TikTok are becoming more popular with drivers.

Facebook and Twitter give your company a voice. Instagram is visual so post smiling faces and quick videos. Linkedin is professional; here you will want to post company accomplishments and management philosophy. Youtube should be used to post videos of driver interviews and more in depth visuals that tell stories about how great your company is.

Instead of focusing your energy on using as many platforms as possible, focus on thriving within one or two of the platforms.

Social media is an excellent tool to recruit new drivers.You can interact with drivers directly and social media will give your company a voice. Follow this guide and successfully recruit truck drivers on social media.

How to Hire for Long Term Retention

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Retaining truck drivers does not start once a driver is officially an employee. It starts before you hire them. Follow this guide to hire for long term retention.

Hiring any able-bodied driver is counterproductive and may cost your company money. It costs on average $8,000 to hire a new driver, hiring people who you do not envision being with your company long term is expensive.

Culture-Driven Hiring

Have your company establish what personality traits best thrive within the company’s culture. Defining an organizational culture takes many forms. Some companies choose to bring in outside consulting and others conduct staff-driven discussions.

Once you have decided the culture, you need to go out of your way to hire drivers that are cultural fits. A study from the University Iowa found that employees who fit the company culture have greater job satisfaction, are more likely to remain with the organization, and perform at a higher level.

Establish your culture, communicate that with everyone you interview, and hire the drivers that match the culture. Doing this will get your company high performing drivers that stay long term.

Asking the Right Questions 

Get past surface level questions. Ask questions that demonstrate the candidates abilities and who they are as a person.

The mistake that many companies make is rushing the interview process. They will gauge an applicant based on a brief phone call and a background check.

When you are interviewing potential drivers take the time to probe and dig deeper. The conversation should not stop at the applicant’s first answer. Ask follow up questions that get to the root of the applicant’s answer.

Here are some questions from the Harvard Business Review that assess culture fit:

  • 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?

Image depicts "retention" on a road to symbolize truck drivers

Paint Your Company in the Correct Light

The natural response for many driver recruiters is to paint their company in the best light. However, this is actually counterproductive.

Driver candidates need to have a realistic understanding of what they are signing up for. They need to know about the job, organization, culture, management, and their peers.

Recruiters also need to be proactive in disclosing the less appealing aspects of the position. The drivers need to know about the long hours and difficult routes they are signing up for.

A famous example of using the difficulties of a position to recruit is Ernest Shackleton’s ad in the paper. In the ad he said:

Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success.

Shackleton’s crew was not taken off guard by the harsh conditions because they knew what they were signing up for from the beginning.

Over-promising how great your company is to the driver will ultimately lead them to feeling misled. Drives that feel misled are more likely to leave.

Having retention in mind from the very beginning of the hiring process will pay dividends in the long run. The drivers you hire will be more satisfied, less likely to leave, and perform better. To do this implement culture driven hiring, ask the right questions, and accurately portray your company.

Remarketing: What it is, How it Works, Why You Need it

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Digital driver recruitment requires a lot of moving parts all working towards the same goal. One of those moving parts is remarketing. Done properly, remarketing is a key component to increasing the number of driver applications generated by a digital recruitment campaign.  Read to learn about remarketing: what it is, how it works, and why you need it.

What is Remarketing?

Have you ever visited a website, left without making any purchases, and then while scrolling through social media an ad for the site you just visited pops up? That is Remarketing.

Using a remarketing platform enables companies to show targeted ads to people who have visited their site previously.

For example, drivers that visit your company site will see your ads browsing other websites, watching YouTube videos, or reading the news.

Think of remarketing as a second chance for drivers to apply to work for your company.

How Does Remarketing Work?

The driver experience flow is straightforward:

  • Driver visits your website or consumes your brand’s content
  • That driver is now tagged with a cookie and added to a remarketing list
  • Ads are shown to drivers on the list while they scroll the web

Adding remarketing advertisements is also a simple process:

  • Setup an account on Google Ads (the Driveteks’ recommended tool) and get the remarketing tag. The remarketing tag is a piece of HTML code you copy and paste into the body of all landing pages on your site.
  • Collect a list of drivers that have visited your site. The HTML code will automatically start collecting the cookies of everyone who visits the site.
  • Create the content you need to advertise to potential drivers (images, videos, graphics, etc.).
  • Launch the campaign. Set your budget within Google Ads, and once you officially launch Google will send your ads out to everyone on the list. Driver flow of remarketing experience

Why You Need to Start Remarketing

As mentioned earlier, remarketing gives drivers a second chance to visit your site and apply. Remarketing is a reminder to the driver that they showed interest in your company.

According to Drive My Way, the average driver has at least 8 touch points with a company before taking actionable steps toward employment. Remarketing is an easy way to get one of those touch points. Your ad will reach them at an unexpected time and prompt them to reach out.

Without remarketing, drivers that visit your site will often forget about your company. This will happen no matter how great your site/ company is.

Remarketing is not going to be the reason a driver applies to work for you. Remarketing is the reminder that gets drivers thinking about all reasons they want to work for your company.

Any digital driver recruitment campaign that does not include remarketing is incomplete. No matter how strong your site design, call to action, or job offer is, drivers that visit your site need that reminder to go back and apply.

How to Stay Productive Recruiting From Home

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The Coronavirus is forcing millions of people to work from home who previously had never done so. This sudden transition has caught many people off guard. If you have not adapted to recruiting from home, then you are missing out on hiring the drivers that are in need of work. Here is how to stay productive when recruiting from home.

Designate Certain Times of The Day For Certain Tasks

As a recruiter you have so many different responsibilities that it can be difficult to choose where to start. The beginning of each day can be overwhelming when you look at all the outreach, orientation tasks, and retention efforts that need to be done.

Recruiters need to be focused on one of the three areas mentioned above. Before you start each day allocate specific times to focus on one area at a time.

For example, your daily schedule could look like this:

  • 9:00am – 11:00am focus on retaining drivers
  • 11:00am – Noon social media outreach
  • Noon – 1:00pm lunch
  • 1:00pm – 3:00pm focus on orientation
  • 3:00pm – 4:30pm calling/reaching out to potential hires
  • 4:30pm – 5:00pm answering emails and wrapping the day up

Each day will be different as your top priority will change. Make sure to be building your schedule so that you are allocating the most time to your most important projects.

Take Advantage of Technology 

Now is the time to experiment with new technology in your recruiting process. There will not be any in-person-job-fairs or hiring events happening any time soon.

It is up to you to get creative with the tools you have.

Maybe instead of calling all of your potential drivers, you ask them if they want to do a Zoom meeting.

Universities around the country are offering online courses for free. Try taking a digital marketing course and using those strategies.

Technology will enable you to reach drivers and build relationships as effectively as in person recruiting before the pandemic. Recruiters that do not take advantage of technology will struggle.

Find a Specific Work Area, and Close it Off 

Working from home comes with a set of challenges and distractions that are not issues in the office. Kids, pets, chores, etc. all weigh on you while working from home.

Man working at home, quarantined from the corona virus

The best way to escape those distractions is to find a specific work area and close it off from the rest of your home.

If you have a home office keep the door closed during work hours. Having the door open invites distractions into your office and invites you to get up and leave the office.

Don’t have a home office? Set up a makeshift office in a room that does not get used often. The guest bedroom is a great option.

Noise cancelling headphones are the best option if you cannot physically close yourself off from distractions.

Shut Off The Computer at The End of The Day

Teleworking from home makes it easier to convince yourself to work late. Your computer is right next to you all the time and it is tempting to work extra hours.

Now that we do not have to physically leave the office, work and home lives blend easier.

Working too much will end up being counterproductive. Long work hours lead to poor sleep and eventually burnout.

Dress For The Door

One of the biggest perks of working from home is that there is no dress code! You get to dress however you please.

Online you will see a lot of people recommending that you still get up and get ready for the day as normal. However, if you are used to dressing in business attire everyday then that advice probably makes you cringe.

It is great advice to stick to your morning routine. That will get your mind ready for the day. Instead of dressing professionally, dress in a way that you would feel comfortable answering the door for a stranger. Comfortable, yet not too unprofessional.

For the next few months, working from home is our reality. Each of us is impacted in our own way by the pandemic. Following the steps above will help you overcome these new challenges to stay productive while recruiting from home.

How to Lead Your Truck Company in a Volatile Market

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"Turmoil" runs across a stock ticker. All stocks are down.

The first quarter of 2020 has been filled with ups and downs. January started with the DJIA reaching all time highs, followed by a crash. The Coronavirus has hurt carriers that focus on transporting goods shipped in from China, but it has helped carriers that supply grocery stores. Russia and Saudi Arabia embarked on an oil war which will lower fuel prices for carriers but potentially harm the industry in the long run. Throw in an upcoming presidential election and the future will be filled with ups and downs. Here is how to successfully lead your truck company in a volatile market.

Plan for Contingencies by Playing ‘Kill the Company”

Volatile markets crush companies by following record highs with crippling lows. Companies that are not prepared for the lows crumble.

Start making a contingency plan by analyzing your company’s weak points. ‘Kill the Company’ is a great exercise that highlights your company’s weak points. Gather the leaders of your company and tell them to pretend to be the company’s number one competition for the next three minutes. Their goal is to come up with a plan to put your company out of business.

Knowing your weaknesses will shine a light on the factors that could be catastrophic. Build a plan that will get your company through the worst of times.

Build up Your Capital Reserves During the High Points

Capital reserves are like a savings account for your company. Use the upswings in a volatile market as an opportunity to build up your company’s capital reserves. Building up capital reserves will enable you to fund contingency plans or pay for essential costs, like salaries, when the company stumbles in a market crash.

Be Aggressive With Payment Collections

Volatile markets are not the time to be relaxed with payment collections. Money will be tight for everyone. Companies that owe you money will try to hold on to their cash during the downswings and wait for the upswings to pay you.

The best way to improve cash collections is to communicate with your clients frequently and to make it as easy as possible for them to pay. Starting five days before the bill is due you need to be on the phone with clients reminding them to pay you. Call them on the due date and then every day after that until they pay. An online system is the easiest way to accept payment. Enable clients to pay you from their computer by using tools such as Quickbooks

Setup Alternative Sources of Income

It is good business practice to set up as many revenue streams as possible. Doing so will mitigate risks. Having multiple sources of income will help the company survive while its main revenue source is struggling.

One common way for a trucking company to earn extra revenue is to sublease a portion of its warehouse. Subleasing to another company will generate a monthly income that helps cover your fixed costs.

Do Not Layoff Drivers to Save Money

Companies will turn to layoffs in order to save money in a struggling market. However, this leads to the quality of service you offer to suffer.

Building up your capital reserves and establishing multiple revenue streams will provide your company the money it needs to keep its staff. Ideally, it would also provide the funds to hire the top drivers that other companies laid off.

Keeping your staff intact will ensure you continue to provide great service through tough times. This will earn the loyalty of your current clients and help you gain even more business from companies that are disgruntled by their current carrier.

Take Advantage of Competition Slowdown and Continue to Market

According to the Small Business Administration,

“Savvy marketers can boost sales and market share, even if the industry in which they compete is in a slump.”

The competition that is not prepared for a volatile market will be forced to slash their marketing budget. Using your capital reserves, your company can fund marketing campaigns that capture more of the market.

Include Employees in Implementing Policy Changes 

Volatile markets will force your company to implement policy changes. You must involve your employees in these changes. Doing so will generate a sense of team and ownership in the changes.

Trying to force policy changes on employees will create a sense of rebellion. Turbulent times require your team to come together and overcome adversity. Employees turning on the company will magnify every issue the company faces.

Volatile markets separate the great companies from the not so great companies. If you do not know how to lead your truck company in a volatile market, your company will struggle mightily. However, choose your next steps wisely and you will come out of these difficult times on top.

How to Use the Driver Shortage as an Advantage

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The driver shortage is the largest issue facing the transportation industry today. According to the ATA in 2018 the trucking industry was short 60,800 drivers. If the current trends hold, the shortage may rise to over 160,000 by 2028. From a bird’s eye view, the driver shortage is a major issue that needs to be addressed. However on a local level, carriers can use the shortage as a tool to beat out competition. Implementing top notch recruiting strategies will enable your company to hire quality drivers instead of your competition.

Getting Ahead of the Competition

The best way to illustrate how a company can benefit from the driver shortage is through a hypothetical situation. In this hypothetical situation let’s say that there is a city with 3 trucking companies and 20 qualified drivers.

Each company has 10 trucks to fill, but obviously there are not enough drivers for each company to fill their trucks. Companies 1 & 3 have been around for decades and decide to use the same recruiting strategies that have always worked for them. They post help wanted ads around town, attend job fairs, and implement a referral program. These efforts produce some results and Companies 1 & 3 are able to successfully hire 5 drivers each. Company 2 on the other hand, is a relatively new company and they decide that old recruiting strategies were not effective enough. Company 2 decides to implement digital based recruiting strategies, offer a higher pay for drivers, and reorganizes the company structure to maximize efficiency. These changes in the recruiting process are highly effective and Company 2 successfully recruits the remaining 10 drivers.

Now that Company 2 has enough qualified drivers to fill all of their trucks, they are avoiding all the necessary costs that come along with idle trucks. Also, Company 2 is doubling the revenue that Companies 1 & 3 are earning. While Companies 1 & 3 are struggling, Company 2 is thriving which leads to them earning more business from local brokers. Eventually, if the trend continues, Company 2 will be able to buy out Companies 1 & 3.

Company 2 adapted to the times and used strategies that their competition were not using. The combination of effective recruiting and the driver shortage lead to Company 2 doubling in size and eliminating its hypothetical competition.

Becoming Company 2

It is safe to say that everyone wants to be Company 2 in the above hypothetical. That is a lot easier said than done. In order to be Company 2 you need to be better at recruiting and retention than your competition. Digital marketing recruitment strategies, such as geofencing, are far more effective than traditional recruiting strategies. If your company is not maximizing digital strategies then you need to bring in an agency that is highly skilled in this area. Dedicate one team to using digital strategies that fill your applicant pool and a separate team that focuses on recruiting.

The driver shortage is the number one threat facing the transportation industry as a whole. However, that is not the case on the local level. A company that recruits better than its competition will benefit from the shortage. That company will employ the majority of qualified drivers and outperform competing companies. Implementing digital strategies and reorganizing the recruiting structure will set your company up to use the Driver Shortage to your advantage.

How to Avoid Idle Trucks

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Idle trucks kill trucking companies. Opportunity costs and actual costs occur from empty trucks. An idle truck misses out on the opportunity to earn $650 in revenue every day it is not on the road. Not only that, but it costs about $170 a day in fixed cost for a truck to sit and rust. Your company loses $820 per truck for every day the truck is not on the road. Considering that on average it takes 20 days for a company to hire a new driver, a sitting truck will cost your company $16,400. Being able to keep all your trucks on the road is critical to your company’s success. Here is how to avoid idle trucks.

Keep Your Driver Pool Full

According to the ATA’s Truck Driver Shortage Analysis 2019, driver churn was 89% for large for-hire carriers and 73% for small for-hire carriers. Your drivers are going to leave your company. Some sooner than others. You must be constantly using digital marketing strategies that find qualified drivers online and encourage them to apply for your company. As your current drivers leave for other positions, the recruiters will be able to pull from this pool and hire them quicker. Drivers from the driver pool are able to be hired faster because your company will have already done the due diligence of screening the applicants to see who is qualified for your positions. Recruiters need to be either filling up the applicant pool or hiring from the applicant pool at all times.

Fleet of idle trucks

Slip Seating

This is a controversial method. If you look at any trucking forum that discusses slip seating you will see that the majority of truckers are not fans of this practice. However, Duff Swain, founder of the Trincon Group, argues that slip seating is necessary for maximizing the value of your trucks.

Duff says that today’s trucks are designed to be operated 24/7, only requiring idle time of two to four hours every 25,000 miles for an oil change.

Operating your trucks 24/7 will produce the maximum value instead of idle trucks costing your company thousands of dollars.

Drivers will say that they do not like slip seating because often times when they receive the truck from another driver, the inside will be dirty and smell gross. Issues like this can be easily avoided.

To avoid messy trucks your company must hire drivers that take pride in their work. Also, you must establish a system where before the drivers are allowed to end their shift, they must have their truck checked out by a third party. Hold the drivers accountable.

Finally, if your company implements a slip seating system properly then your drivers will have the opportunity for more home time. Schedule the drivers based on their preferences to fill the trucks you have. Share with your drivers that slip seating is going to allow them to spend more time with their loved ones and they will be more likely to cooperate.

Cut the Dead Weight

Any truck that your company is unable to fill must be sold. Keeping trucks in your fleet that have been idle for over a month are costing your company tens of thousands of dollars. Using the numbers above, a truck that is idle for one month (30 days) will cost your company $24,600. Add to that the cost of hiring a driver ($8,000 on average), a truck idle for one month costs your company $32,600 before it starts earning revenue again. If the truck earns $650 a day in revenue, then it will take 51 days before your company regains the opportunity costs, hiring costs and rust costs from the idle truck. Your company needs to sell any truck it owns that will not be filled for months. Selling the truck will increase your cash flow and cut your costs.

Avoid idle trucks as much as possible. Owning a truck that does not have someone to drive it costs your company thousands of dollars. Idle trucks kill trucking companies. In order to keep your trucks on the road and have zero idle trucks in your fleet your company must keep your applicant pool full, slip seat, and sell any idle trucks that can not be filled.