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Truck Driver Recruiting in a Post COVID World

Posted on by Jake Peters

The Coronavirus pandemic will come to an end at some point (… hopefully). However, the trucking industry will never go back to its pre-COVID state. So what will truck driver recruiting in a post COVID world look like?

Here is how driver recruiting will look like moving forward:

  • An Increased Driver Shortage 
  • Less in Person Recruiting 
  • Remote Driver Learning
  • Recruiting From Home
  • Tech Savviness Will Continue to Win

An Increased Driver Shortage

Thought the driver shortage was bad during the previous years?

Just wait until you see the numbers for the years that follow 2020/2021.

I am not sharing this message to simply scare you, but instead to warn you. I want you to have enough time to prepare for what is to come.

Before the Coronavirus Pandemic, when CDL schools were at full attendance, the industry was still short 60,000 truck drivers.

CDL school attendance dropped 50% in 2020.

For the start of the pandemic, CDL schools were not capable of admitting any new students. Once the schools figured how they could admit students again safely, they could not find any people that wanted to become drivers. People were not willing to drive across the country during a pandemic.

If we were short 60,000 pre-pandemic, think about how short we are going to be post-pandemic.

You need to be gearing up your efforts.

Less in Person Recruiting

Online job hunting Hands with computer reading employment ads

COVID-19 forced the entire country to recruit truck drivers online for some time. During this time many trucking companies realized how impactful digital recruiting can be.

The companies that realized how impactful recruiting truck drivers online is are going to keep investing heavily into this strategy. That means less money will be spent on recruiting drivers at in-person events.

In addition to companies spending less on in-person recruiting, drivers are now accustomed to being recruited online.

They are not going to want to travel long distances to attend recruiting events. Job hunting online is easier for truck drivers, and now that there are a lot of companies online, truckers have zero incentive to go to in-person events.

Remote Driver Learning 

If you hired drivers at any point in 2020 you probably were not able to bring the driver into your facility to conduct orientation. You had to find a way to get your drivers through orientation virtually.

This was a huge benefit for drivers. If a driver was in Nashville, they could accept a job and go through orientation in St. Louis. Orientation has become much less of a burden for truck drivers.

Moving forward post-pandemic you need to keep driver learning remote. Not only will it help with orientation, but you can also train drivers new skills while they are out on the road. You do not need to keep your drivers at your headquarters to train them.

Companies like Tenstreet and TruckRight offer trucking companies excellent remote learning management software.

Recruiting From Home

Do you love recruiting from home or do you hate it?

Either way, you can expect to continue to work from home going forward.

According to a survey conducted by Gartner, over 80% of company leaders plan to permit remote work after the pandemic.

Businesses have realized that employees are just as or more effective working at home compared to going into the office every day. Employees spend less time commuting to work, are more comfortable in their homes, and employees work more when they are at home.

If you are recruiting from home you need to make sure that you are getting the most out of your video interviews and effectively recruiting drivers on social media.

Back view of business woman talking to her colleagues about plan in video conference. Multiethnic business team using laptop for a online meeting in video call. Group of truck driver recruiters working from home

Tech Savviness Will Continue to Win

Before 2020 trucking companies could be successful despite not utilizing technology to its full capability.

Once COVID became a reality that was no longer the case. The trucking companies that best utilized their technology last year thrived. Trucking companies that were not able to adapt struggled.

This trend is going to continue in the post COVID world.

Prioritizing technology will allow your company to be more efficient, keep your trucks on the road, make everyone’s lives easier, and boost all-around performance.

It is rare that an event comes along and completely changes everything. COVID-19 is one of those events. Truck driver recruiting pre-pandemic will look entirely different than driver recruiting post-pandemic. Follow this guide and get prepared for success at truck driver recruiting in a post COVID world.

Guide to Best Places to Recruit Truck Drivers in 2020

Posted on by Jake Peters

In March of 2020, the way that carriers recruited CDL drivers was completely upended. No longer can you rely on in-person recruiting strategies. If you are unfamiliar with digital truck driver recruiting it can be daunting to begin; however, it is now necessary. Here is the guide to the best places to recruit truck drivers in 2020.

  1. Search Engine Optimization
  2. Social Media
  3. Paid Media
  4. Geofencing
  5. Job Boards/Aggregator Sites

The internet is the best place to recruit truck drivers in 2020

Search Engine Optimization To Rank High

The absolute best place to recruit truck drivers is in the exact moment they search for a job. If your company’s website is properly optimized, your recruitment landing page will rank for high volume keyphrases.

An example of a high volume keyphrase is, “best trucking companies to work for.” That keyphrase is searched on Google 1,900 times each month according to Ubersuggest.

Optimizing your site to rank for high volume keyphrases will drive visitors to your company’s website that have the intention of applying to work for you.

SEO strategy to recruit truck drivers

Social Media Marketing for Trucking Companies

Truck drivers love social media. They are particularly fond of Facebook, and specifically Facebook’s group feature.

As the recruiter, you need to be super active within these trucking Facebook groups. Post your job openings, but also take the time to interact with the drivers. Answer their questions, comment on their posts, post trucking memes, etc. Doing this will establish yourself as someone that is more than a truck driver recruiter in the group.

In addition to being active within the group, you must be advertising on social media. Paying to promote your company on social media will keep you on the mind of drivers in your target demographic.

As the drivers in your target demographic begin to think about switching companies, they will think about switching to YOUR company.

Paid Media Keeps You on Drivers’ Minds

Digital driver recruitment is a complicated process that requires multiple moving parts. It is common for CDL driver recruiters to grow frustrated with paid advertising.

The reason recruiters get frustrated with paid media is because paid media does not generate large numbers of applications… directly.

Pay-per-click advertising is crucial to truck driver recruiting in 2020. While it is not directly generating applications, paid media keeps your company on the mind of truck drivers.

Paid media tools like remarketing keep your company in front of the eyes of drivers in your target demographic. When these drivers begin to research new companies to work for, they will immediately research your company.

Paid media that keeps your company on the mind of drivers

Geofencing For Effective Recruitment

Utilizing geofencing for truck driver recruitment is one of the most cost efficient recruitment strategies out there. There are very few driver recruitment strategies that guarantee your ad-spend is not wasted on uninterested eyes.

The most important thing that geofencing does is allow you to avoid wasting ad dollars on people outside the trucking industry or drivers outside your hiring radius.

Place geofences around events and locations you know for truckers will be at and your company will be exposed to all the drivers there.

For example, companies often place geofences around CDL training schools, driver recruitment events, rival company lots, and truck stops.

Job Boards/Aggregator Sites 

Job boards and aggregator sites are still one of the best places to recruit truck drivers. Drivers are going to these websites specifically to search for a new job.

You have to get your job position in front of drivers actively seeking a new position.

However, job boards and aggregator websites are more complicated than they appear. First time digital recruiters often make the mistake of blindly purchasing ad space on these sites and not thinking twice about it.

When you use these websites you have to be constantly monitoring which sites are performing the best. After analyzing the data, allocate your recruiting spend to the sites performing the best and take away money from the poor performing site. How sites perform varies from month to month so it is important to constantly monitor them.

Job board dart board

The internet is clearly the best place to recruit truck drivers in 2020. In person recruiting tactics are now severely limited and truck drivers are online now more than ever. For recruiters that are just starting digital driver recruitment, it is important to remember that each recruitment channel coincides with the others. No channel is going to be effective without the help from other channels.

How to Lead Your Truck Company in a Volatile Market

Posted on by admin

"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.

Truck Driver Recruiting in Social Media Groups

Posted on by admin

Effective and efficient recruiting is at the core of any successful trucking company. Carriers rely heavily on constant inflows of new drivers to keep the business running smooth. Truck driver recruiting in social media groups will help keep the inflows constant.

Driver churn rate peaked at 98% in 2018. Considering that the average cost of driver turnover is $8,200 per driver, it is easy to see how companies are spending more on new drivers than any other expense. No wonder fleets ranging in size from C.R. England to smaller family owned fleets are looking to deploy recruitment strategies that bring in qualified drivers for as cheap as possible.

Truck driver recruiting in social media groups will generate a plethora of driver candidates and keep carriers up-to-date on current recruiting strategies.

Person speaking within a social media group.

The Basics of Social Media Groups

Facebook and LinkedIn offer users the ability to create and / or join groups. Groups are communities of people that all have something in common.

For example everyone in a group may have all graduated from the same high school, work in the same industry, share similar interests, etc. The possibilities are limitless.

Every group has a specific set of rules that members must follow. Some groups require admin approval for new members, other groups ban self promotion, there are groups built specifically for people to promote.

Getting Started with Social Media Groups

Navigating social media groups is pretty simple. The first step is going to be finding the right groups to join. In Facebook and LinkedIn type in a keyword, “trucking” is a basic example of a keyword, and make sure to select the “Groups” tab. Selecting the “Groups” tab will ensure that all the results are groups with the keyword in the name.

There are groups on both Facebook and LinkedIn designed specifically to connect drivers and recruiters. Request to join the groups that are active, have no spam posts, and match your geographical requirements.

The second step is to learn the rules of the group. Obviously, groups designed to connect drivers with recruiters are going to be okay with people promoting job postings. However, there are rules like “no piggybacking off of other job posts”.

Breaking a group’s rules will lead to the poster being kicked out of the group.

The third step is to post, and the final step is to reach out to everyone who shows interest.

Having Success With Social Media Groups

It is important to remember that in each of these groups there are other recruiters and all the recruiters are competing to attract the same qualified drivers.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease!

The recruiter that posts, interacts, and contacts drivers the most will likely have the most success. Similar to other avenues of recruitment, recruiting in social media groups is a numbers game.

I have spoken with recruiters who are succeeding with groups about their strategies. One recruiter told me that at the beginning of each week they post ads to about ten different groups. These posts generate “hundreds and hundreds” of responses every week.

This recruiter makes note of every person who responded in his lead book. Every Monday the recruiter generates hundreds of names to pursue for his available positions.

Another recruiter told me that she is shifting from using paid services to focusing mainly on social media groups. According to her, there is no other strategy that is as effective at letting her reach large number of drivers AND show the drivers that she is a real person just like them.

Social media groups are one of the most effective tools that recruiters have access to. Recruiters using social media groups have an outlet that connects them to thousands of drivers. All truck driver recruiters should be in these groups and treating the groups as one of the most important outlets in their recruitment campaigns.

Social Media Groups to Join

Here is a list of Facebook and LinkedIn groups to get you started:

Facebook:

Linkedin: