Tag: recruiting

The Most Important Factor of CDL Recruiting

Posted on by Jake Peters

“If your pipeline is dryer than the Sahara at one point will you look inward at yourself?”

There is an infinite number of influencing factors that go into CDL recruiting. Factors like the weather or traffic can have a big impact on a driver’s mood and determine whether or not that driver applies to work for you.

However,

There is one factor that is by far the most important to any driver recruiting campaign.

The offer.

It does not matter if you have planned out the perfect driver recruiting campaign. A bad job offer will tarnish that campaign’s results. On the other hand, a great job offer can save a poorly planned recruitment campaign.

What is a Good Job Offer for Truck Drivers? 

A large portion of the industry thinks that the quality of a job offer comes down entirely to the pay of the position.

This is not entirely true.

Like in any profession, different drivers look for different qualities in a position. Drivers who have families may be willing to sacrifice a little pay if that means more home time. Younger drivers who are just starting may want to be on the road as much as possible.

Before launching your CDL recruiting campaign, it is important to have an idea of the type of driver you want to apply for your position. Knowing your ideal ‘Driver Persona’ will help you cater your offer to that driver.

In addition to catering your job offer to your determined ‘Driver Persona’, there are also many unique ways to bolster your job offer. Many of these unique strategies don’t cost you any extra money.

One example of a unique way to improve your offer is making it clear in the job description that driving with pets is encouraged. Not every driver wants or needs this in an offer; however, the drivers who are attached to their pet will be far more inclined to apply for your position.

Motivational words: JOB OFFER. piece of paper with the text: JOB OFFER. Business and finance concept

How to Assess Your CDL Job Offer 

A great job offer provides drivers with benefits that they value the most. These benefits will help you hire quality drivers and retain them.

Then when one of your drivers comes across a better offer, they will go to that company.

It is because of this, that you need to be constantly assessing your job offer and updating it. But how do you know if you have a competitive offer?

This is a fairly easy process. Because so many recruiters post their positions in trucking groups on Facebook, you can find hundreds of job ads from competitors in minutes.

Review these job ads and compare what they are offering to your offer.

Be honest and ask yourself which position provides the better benefits. If you find yourself routinely choosing the ads online then your job offer is a bad one. On the other hand, if you are offering more than the posts you found on Facebook, your offer is quality.

Finally, if no one is applying for your position that is a clear indicator that you are not offering enough.

assessment sticker. assessment square sign. assessment. peeler

CDL recruiting is the culmination of many variables. Carriers will often do everything “right” in their recruitment campaign and not see any results. This is because they neglect to address the most important variable, their job offer.

The first step to any successful truck driver recruiting campaign is to make sure you are offering drivers something better than their current situation. Combining a great offer along with comprehensive digital advertising is the best way to generate the number of applications your company needs to keep your trucks on the road.

It is Time to be Intentional With Your Driver Recruiting

Posted on by Jake Peters

Are you intentional with your truck driver recruiting? Or are you reactive?

Intentional driver recruiting campaigns seek out drivers and interact with them at every channel possible. Reactive recruiting waits for drivers to find the job posting and respond. If you are reactive recruiting it is time that you become intentional.

Intentional recruiting is going to get drivers interacting with you more often and increase the amount of applicants you receive. Here is why you need to be intentional:

  • Reach 100% of Professional Truck Drivers
  • Market Your Company to Passive Job Seekers
  • Build Your Employer Brand
  • Focus on a Specific Demographic or Advertise to Everyone

be intentional phrase combined on vintage varnished wooden surface

Reach 100% of Professional Truck Drivers

What is the biggest problem with job posting websites? It’s that only a small percentage of drivers are on each of the websites.

In order for you to be seen on job boards, you have to pay to be at the top. But you are paying to only be seen by a very small portion of the truck drivers.

Imagine if there was a platform where you could pay to be seen by 96% of truck drivers.

That platform exists. It is called Facebook.

Not only are 96% of truck drivers on Facebook, but on average truck drivers spend 2 hours a day on the platform.

Taking an intentional approach to Facebook alone will enable you to speak directly to 96% of drivers for 2 hours every day.

Advertising on Facebook is just one platform. If you are intentional at advertising across the entire internet you will be able to reach 100% of truck drivers.

Being intentional includes social media marketing, geofencing, retargeting, content creation, and much more.

Market Your Company to Passive Job Seekers

Passive job seekers are truckers who are currently employed and not pursuing a new position, however they are open to changing companies if a good opportunity comes along.

These job seekers are far more valuable than active job seekers. Active job seekers are going to be applying to multiple companies and speaking with many recruiters at one time. They know that they want to work for a new company and are playing the field.

Passive job seekers will only apply to work for your company.

Because passive seekers were not looking for a new job, the psychology behind the application completely changes. The driver goes from thinking “I need to find the best offer I can” to “I like, what this company has to say, it would be great to work for them.”

If you are focusing all of your efforts on job boards, then you are focusing entirely on active job seekers. This means that you are missing out entirely on the passive market.

Be intentional and get passive drivers to want to work for you.

Passive and Active. Text from letters of the wooden alphabet

Build Your Employer Brand

Another great thing about intentional driver recruiting is that your employer brand will grow when you are intentional.

Simply put, an employer brand is your reputation as a place to work.

How do drivers outside your company view what it is like to work for you?

If you are taking a reactive recruiting approach then your employer brand is reliant on word-of-mouth. However, taking an intentional approach means you are taking an active role in shaping how drivers view you.

The content you create and send out to truck drivers is going to mold how they view your company. This lets you control the narrative around your company instead of hoping your current drivers say positive things about their experience.

Recruit a Specific Niche or Advertise to the Masses

Is your company looking to hire from a very small niche? Or are all of your trucks full and you just want to run ads to keep your company on the mind of drivers for the future?

Intentional driver recruiting allows you to easily switch between the two. You can even target specific niches and advertise to the masses at the same time when you are intentional.

During a reactive recruitment campaign you can put the position requirements in the job description and only call qualified candidates. But, this strategy is not nearly as effective as using digital tools to advertise directly to drivers who meet your needs.

There is no way to generate widespread interest in your company with a reactive campaign. Sure, many drivers may see your job posting on a board somewhere, but that post is surrounded by other job openings.

Even if you do not have any current vacancies, generating widespread interest in your company is a good idea. Doing this will help you fill your trucks faster, earning higher profits for your company.

Driver recruiting needs to focus on both niche and mass audiences. Mass or niche market symbol. Businessman flips wooden cubes and changes words 'mass market' to 'niche market'. Beautiful white background, copy space. Business and mass or niche market concept.

Intentional driver recruiting tactics like social media marketing, geofencing, retargeting, and content creation all take time and money. It may seem like a reactive approach is the smart move. However, intentional campaigns far outperform reactive campaigns and help your company earn higher profits.

Interested in learning how your company can become intentional? Call us at (801)419-0164 or you can fill out the form on our homepage.

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.

Top 5 Driver Recruiting Techniques for 2021

Posted on by Jake Peters

The trucking industry saw its typical driver recruiting techniques flipped on its head in 2020. Last year the industry had to rapidly adapt and implement web-based recruiting strategies.

These web-based driver recruiting strategies are not going anywhere, even as in-person events become normal again. Because of this, here are the top 5 driver recruiting techniques for 2021:

  1. Facebook Advertising
  2. Content Creation for Driver Recruiting
  3. Job Board Management 
  4. Streamline the Hiring Process
  5. Hiring Dedicated Specialists 

Turning the page from 2020 to 2021.

Facebook Advertising for Truck Driver Recruiting

Over 96% of today’s truck drivers are Facebook users. There is no other platform on the planet that can make such a claim.

Where else are you going to be able to reach this many drivers? This question is rhetorical of course.

Before 2020 Facebook was one of the top driver sources. However, thanks to restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 Facebook engagement skyrocketed last year. People had nowhere to go and nothing to do. So they hopped on Facebook.

Last year the overwhelming majority of truck drivers all increased their Facebook habit. These habits are not going away.

What does all of this mean?

Facebook has become the best place to recruit truck drivers.

Expert Facebook advertisers can promote your job positions to your desired demographic. No longer do you need to take a ‘spray and pray’ approach, hoping that some driver in your demographic will stumble upon your booth at a recruitment fair.

For a reasonable rate, your company can advertise to nearly the entirety of your driver demographic. Facebook advertising allows your company to reach the maximum amount of drivers without wasting a cent of ad spend.

Content Creation for Driver Recruiting

vector illustration of content creatin

Creating content for truck drivers to consume online is essential for recruiting in 2021. Content creation enables you to tell your story to truck drivers.

Quality truck drivers are going to research your company online before they ever apply. If you are not creating your own content truck drivers are going to read what other people are saying about you.

Control your own narrative. Create content.

There are three different types of content. Content that generates awareness, content that gets the driver to consider working for you, and content that gets the truck driver to apply.

If you want to learn how to create effective content check out this article:

Guide to Content Creation for Driver Recruitment

Job Board Management

Many truck driver recruiters will cringe at the idea of using job boards. Which is fair. We have all wasted money on boards that promise us results.

However, this does not change the fact that job boards are one of the best sources for driver applications.

Like the rest of us, one of the first places that truck drivers go to look for a new job is job board websites. Plus, the drivers on job boards are actively seeking a new position. It will take less time to get these drivers hired as opposed to passive job seekers.

The key to using job boards is to not rely entirely on one board.

You need to be posting on all of the job boards and closely monitoring the performance of each board. Each month, a different board will outperform the others.

You need to quickly identify which board is performing the best and then allocate the majority of your ad-spend to that job board.

Closely monitoring the job boards and allocating ad-spend frequently will flood your ATS with truck driver applicants.

Streamline the Hiring Process

The entire hiring process, from application through orientation, can be streamlined with the usage of technology.

Companies like Tenstreet and TruckRight offer software that enables truck drivers to only enter their information on one form and auto-populate all of the required documentation. Also, you can quickly verify previous employment and see any past safety violations of applicants.

Those same companies offer digital learning management software (LMS). Learning management software makes it possible for a truck driver to go through your company’s orientation anywhere in the country.

Streamlining the hiring process not only will improve your company’s efficiency but will also help you hire more drivers.

Truck drivers are more likely to be persuaded to come work for you if it takes little work for them to become employed.

Streamlining Word Road Improve Efficiency

Hiring Dedicated Specialists

Recruiting truck drivers is a full-time job. Driver recruiters need to spend their time calling applicants, interviewing them, convincing the drivers to accept the job, completing the necessary paperwork, conducting orientation, running retention programs, etc.

Digital driver lead generation is also a full-time job. Driver lead generation online takes constant job board management, staying up to date on the algorithms of different social media platforms, content creation, A/B testing, brand management, etc.

Your recruiters do not have enough time in a day to generate leads online. People who focus on lead generation do not have enough time to hire truck drivers.

Hire dedicated specialists.

Lead generation specialists will flood your ATS with driver applicants wanting to work for you now. Driver recruiting specialists will constantly be hiring new drivers, keeping your trucks on the road.

Just because 2020 is in the rearview mirror does not mean that the industry changes last year brought are also a thing of the past. 2021 will only further cement these online trends. Follow the top 5 driver recruiting techniques for 2021 to stay ahead of the curve and hire the drivers you need.

4 Tips for Recruiting Owner-Operators

Posted on by Jake Peters

Recruiting owner-operators is an enticing strategy for many fleets. This is because the responsibility of the trucks falls on the drivers. Becoming an owner-operator is enticing to drivers that have an entrepreneurial spirit, but the career is riskier than being a company driver.

The risk deters many people from becoming O/Os making it difficult for carriers to recruit them. Follow these 4 tips and your company can begin recruiting owner-operators:

  1. Prioritize Facebook Advertising
  2. Establish Trust in the First Conversation
  3. Embrace the Entrepreneurship of O/Os
  4. Have Patience and be Consistent

Owner-Operator Semi Truck Driver Words 3d Illustration

Prioritize Facebook Advertising

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association states that the most common age for owner-operators is 36. Also, the OOIDA has found that on average owner-operators have been driving for 20 years.

This information tells you that you are recruiting seasoned truck drivers who are older in age.

69% of U.S. adults use Facebook. Knowing that owner-operators are typically older and Facebook is popular among U.S. adults, it is safe to say you can reach roughly 70% of all owner-operators through Facebook alone.

Facebook advertising has to be your top recruiting priority.

In addition to the majority of owner-operators being on the platform, Facebook’s targeting tools allows you to pinpoint the drivers you want.

Professional Facebook advertisers will be able to use your ad-spend to show your recruiting content to targeted audiences. Only the people you want to apply for your positions will see your ads.

Using Facebook enables your company to not waste a single cent on owner-operators that do not match your company’s demographic requirements.

Establish Trust in the First Conversation

Becoming an owner-operator is a risky endeavor that has great rewards. Due to the risk, owner-operators are extra cautious when taking on work from a new carrier.

Owner-operators do not want to lose money because they trusted the wrong company.

To overcome this, you need to establish your trustworthiness immediately.

Here is how to do it:

Testimonials.

Above all else, owner-operators believe one another. You need to film your current O/Os talking about how much they enjoy working with your company.

If your company is just starting to recruit owner-operators and you do not have any working for you, film testimonials from current employees and company drivers. These testimonials are not as influential as O/O testimonials but they are still effective at establishing trust.

Owner-operators you recruit will trust you if your testimonials are strong.

Building Trust words on a speedometer to illustrate a brand company working to establish a reputation and earning customer loyalty and repeat business

Embrace the Entrepreneurship of Owner-Operators

Truck drivers that transition from being a company driver to an owner-operator are driven by an entrepreneurial spirit.

Owner-operators are motivated to take on higher levels of risk by the idea of being their own boss and potentially earning more money.

This means that treating owner-operators like you treat company drivers is a recipe for failure.

A company culture that lets owner-operators continue to be their own boss and offers growth opportunities is a necessary recruitment tool.

Have Patience and be Consistent

Recruiting owner-operators is a long term action. Rarely are O/Os ready to work for a new company at the drop of a hat.

Throughout the process of recruiting an owner-operator you need to be consistent in your messaging and patient. Give the driver the space they need to decide for themselves after consuming your recruitment content.

Getting impatient and changing your messaging to sound more “attractive” is only going to upset the driver.

Patience and consistency are the best route for recruiting owner-operators. Unfortunately, not all the drivers you speak to are going to be interested in your offer. However, remaining patient and consistent will ensure respect from all prospective owner-operators.

Many carriers find that working with owner-operators is more beneficial than hiring company drivers in certain situations. Working with owner-operators means the carrier has less risk to manage. However, to successfully recruit owner-operators you need to know it is a longer and more expensive process.

The Best Truck Driver Recruiting Strategy

Posted on by Jake Peters

As a small to midsize carrier you more than likely have grown accustomed to the fact that large carriers have their pick of the litter. Small to midsize carriers are forced to fight over the remaining drivers. What if I told you it did not have to be that way? In order to compete with the large carriers you need to implement the best truck driver recruiting strategies:

Guerilla Driver Recruitment

What is Guerilla Driver Recruitment?

No, guerilla driver recruitment is not the act of training great apes to get their CDL A license.

Guerilla recruiting stems from the term ‘guerilla marketing’ coined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his 1984 book Guerilla Marketing. Guerilla marketing is a marketing strategy that relies on surprise/unconventional interactions with potential customers to promote a company.

Traditionally, guerilla marketing campaigns have a smaller budget and focus on a smaller set of people than widespread media campaigns.

Building off this, guerilla recruiting is the truck driver recruiting strategy that involves your company surprising potential drivers with unconventional interactions that leave a positive impression.

Guerilla driver recruiting requires a smaller budget than traditional widespread recruitment efforts common amongst large carriers.

Guerilla Recruiting

Why is it Such an Effective Driver Recruitment Strategy?

Executed properly, guerilla driver recruiting efforts will spread via word of mouth which reaches a broader audience for free. Ideally, the truck drivers you interact with will be so pleasantly surprised that when they see their driver friends the first thing they will say is,

“You are never going to guess what happened to me today…”

Drivers are naturally hesitant to truck company advertising; however, they are far more receptive when learning about a company for the first time from one of their peers. Word of mouth will encourage drivers to search for your company and interact with your driver recruiting website.

In addition to word of mouth, guerilla driver recruiting campaigns have the possibility to go viral. A viral campaign will boost your company brand and have drivers talking about your company all over social media. Social media, particularly Facebook, is one of the best places to recruit truck drivers.

How to Execute a Guerilla Driver Recruiting Campaign

Guerilla driver recruitment campaigns require an immense amount of insight and creativity. Before you can catch truck drivers off guard with a surprise interaction, you need to understand how recruiters typically reach truck drivers. Ask yourself:

Where are drivers expecting to see recruiting campaigns?

The answer to that question will tell exactly where to NOT promote your company. For example, drivers are expecting to see your job ad in trucking Facebook groups, so posting within groups cannot be a part of your guerilla recruiting strategy.

However, are drivers expecting you to direct message them with a $20 Amazon gift card? Probably not.

If you google ‘guerilla marketing’ or ‘guerilla recruiting’ you will come across extravagant examples from companies going over the top. You do not need to do this. Extravagance makes execution much more difficult.

K-I-S-S. Keep It Simple Stupid.

Hand drawing a business concept about the process from vision through strategy and execution to success.

In order to execute a guerilla driver recruiting campaign you need to figure out a simple way to reach drivers in an unexpected way. Examples can include sending gift cards, providing food at truck stops, and much more. The possibilities are limitless.

Large carriers have recruiting budgets that allow them to reach any driver they want whenever they want. In order to compete with them small to midsize carriers need to be creative and use their smaller budgets to pleasantly surprise drivers. Guerilla driver recruitment is the best truck driver recruiting strategy because it enables smaller companies to compete with the big ones.

5 Steps to Recruiting Truck Drivers on Facebook

Posted on by Jake Peters

Over 96% of professional drivers have a Facebook account. Truck drivers love using Facebook because it enables them to stay connected with fellow drivers and loved ones while they are on the road. Because of the large number of drivers using Facebook, the platform is one of the greatest sources of driver recruits. Here are the 5 steps to recruiting truck drivers on Facebook.

 

Build Your Company Page 

The first thing you need to do before you start recruiting truck drivers is to build your company’s Facebook page. Drivers that are interested in working for you are going to search for your company on Facebook. Building a Facebook page ensures that you will be found by drivers.

Your company page needs to share the most relevant information about your company and tell the story of what it is like to work for your company.

Relevant information includes: company name, location, website, and a succinct description. Provide enough information for drivers to know who you are and become interested enough that they visit your website.

Tell the story of working for your company through your posts. Any driver celebration you conduct, company wins, driver testimonials, etc. need to be documented and posted to your page. Photos and videos are typically more effective than posts containing solely text.

Once you have your company page built you need to encourage all of your employees to follow the page. The more that people interact with your content, the more that the Facebook algorithms will blast your content out to people. This is free exposure, but you need to earn it with quality content.

Magnifying glass used to symbolize a driver recruiter looking to recruit truck drivers on Facebook.

Join the Right Groups

The Groups feature on Facebook is one of the best tools for connecting with truck drivers. There are groups dedicated to connecting drivers with recruiters across the country. Also, there are more geo focused groups to help drivers find jobs in your area. Take the time to do your research and join all groups relevant to your company.

Posting in groups enables you to reach a large amount of truck drivers for free. Because this strategy is so cost effective it is hyper competitive. Competing companies are going to be flooding the groups with their job postings.

In order to combat the competitiveness of groups you simply need to be more active than everyone else. This means doing more than posting your job ads. You need to like other people’s posts, comment, share informative content, and do your best to build relationships. Doing this will make it so that drivers look specifically for your posts.

The Science Behind Posting 

There is a common misconception with Facebook that all you need to do is post your content and all of your followers will see it. Facebook’s algorithms are far more complex than that. The algorithms build individual feeds for every user and only show them the content users will interact with.

It does not matter how many followers you have if you are posting poor quality content. Everything from font color, time of day, device optimization, and much more effect whether your posts are seen by followers. Posting is a science.

In order to perfect the science behind your posts, you need to be running A/B tests. Create different posts that are designed to test one specific variable. For example, one post may have red font and the other has blue. Publish those posts so that different drivers see them and see which perform the best.

After conducting multiple tests you will begin to figure out what post characteristics work the best. It is important to keep running tests because the algorithms are updated constantly. Also, the tests build on one another making each post better than the last.

Young boy conducting science experiments similar to the science experiments driver recruiters conduct on facebook

Facebook Paid Advertising

There is no getting around having to pay for advertising when recruiting truck drivers online. Facebook is no different. You are going to need to pay to get your recruiting advertisements in front of the eyes of drivers.

Paid advertising on Facebook is the only way to guarantee that drivers will see your job openings. The Facebook algorithms make it so that non-paid posts have a limited reach. Facebook wants your money so they have built a platform that requires you to pay them.

Paid advertising is going to ensure that professional drivers see your company every time they open Facebook. This will keep your company on their mind and when drivers go to look for a new job they will search for your company.

Consistency Is Key

The most important thing to recruiting truck drivers on Facebook is to be consistent. You will not see results if you are super active on the platform one month and then absent the next month. The longer you are consistent on the platform the stronger your brand image will be.

Tools like Hootsuite make it easier to post consistently. With Hootsuite you are able to write out multiple posts at one time and then schedule when those posts will be published. Some companies will schedule posts months out in advance and others like to take it week by week.

Considering that over 96% of company drivers have a Facebook account, of course you need to be recruiting truck drivers on the platform. Facebook is the place for you to reach potential drivers and share your company’s story in real time. Follow this guide and your company will know how to recruit truck drivers on Facebook.

How to Create a Trucking Recruiting Website

Posted on by admin

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 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.

7 Strategies to Improve Driver Recruiting

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Driver recruiting to fill your trucks

A carrier’s most valuable assets are their drivers. Companies that successfully recruit quality drivers in high quantities outperform the competition. Utilize these 7 strategies and your company will improve its driver recruiting.

1) Remove Tasks That Keep Recruiters From Recruiting

Driver recruitment is a demanding job. Assigning recruiters tasks outside of recruiting will keep them from devoting the necessary time needed to recruit.

Time spent planning orientation, running digital marketing campaigns, qualifying applicants, etc. is time away from recruiting. In order to maximize efficiency, recruiters need to focus all of their energy in three areas:

  • Calling fresh, pre-qualified, leads
  • Referral programs
  • Rehire programs

Recruiters wearing too many hats will produce sub-par results. Remove distractions so recruiters will focus solely on recruiting

2) Hire a Trucking Digital Agency

Digital recruitment generates a constant stream of fresh leads for your recruiters to contact. However, it has to be done properly. Your recruiters do not know how to run effective digital campaigns.

Also, a digital ad agency unfamiliar with the trucking industry will not succeed. Hire a digital ad agency that specializes in truck company marketing and driver recruitment. Specialty agencies will speak your language, have your interests at heart, and will know how to navigate recruitment road bumps.

Digital campaigns are more effective than outdated methods. The first place drivers go to find a new job is the internet. Run a digital campaign and drivers will see your posting when they look for a new job.

Another benefit to digital campaigns is everything is tracked. Agencies will use tools like Google Analytics and Search Console to see how each marketing platform (social media, ppc, remarketing,etc.) is performing. Tracking data also allows them to use A/B testing. They experiment with different images/messaging and see what variations produce the best results. Data driven decisions will generate campaigns focused on the most effective platforms using the most effective messaging.

Skilled agencies will be able to promote your job postings specifically to people who you want to see it. You will not waste a single cent on ads being placed in front of uninterested people. Digital campaigns are hyper focused.

3) Assign Primary Recruiting Responsibilities 

Assign your recruiters to recruit specific kinds of drivers. One recruiter needs to focus on drivers, one on owner operators, one on CDL students, etc.

Recruiters will take pride/ownership in the type of driver they are assigned.  Also, assigning drivers will assure your company has different drivers with diverse skill sets.

Instead of having a team of drivers with the same qualifications, your company will have a collection of different endorsements, O/Os, and rookie drivers.

In addition to assigning recruiters specific drivers to recruit, make sure recruiters are assigned specific channels. Driver applicants that slip through the cracks because a recruiter forgot to reach out to them is frustrating and costs the company money.

4) Train Recruiters to be Salespeople

Truck driver recruiting is a sales job. Recruiters are selling the idea of working for your company to driver applicants. If your recruiters are not properly trained in sales then they will struggle to recruit.

Recruiters need to be trained to utilize conversation techniques that discover why a driver would want to change jobs. After figuring out the “why” the recruiter can use that to sell the driver that working for your company will fix that why.

5) Shorten the Recruiting Cycle

The longer it takes from “hello” to contingent offer, the least qualified drivers you hire. Enable your recruiters to offer drivers a contingent offer on the first call. It is unnecessary for and inefficient to have a recruiter get clearance from a manager before making contingent offers.

Another way to shorten the recruiting cycle is to use a landing page that drivers can apply on. Drivers should click on your ads and be able to apply for the position without having to search through any tabs.

6) Inspire Drivers to Refer Your Company 

Getting drivers to refer your company to other drivers is a great way to bring on new talent. However, it can be difficult to get drivers to actually refer your company to their peers.

Oftentimes recruiters will implement an impersonal referral program. Recruiters will send out an email blast, or in a large meeting, ask all of the drivers at once to refer the company to their friends.

Ask drivers personally and privately for help. Doing so will lead the driver feeling like you are asking them for help, not asking the whole company at once. People are committed to people, not the company.

One strategy that produces results is pulling your top drivers into your office, asking them for help, and then giving the driver their own business cards. The driver will hand out their cards to people they meet on the road.

Do not forget to compensate drivers that refer qualified drivers.

7) Actively Recruit Potential Rehires

When a driver leaves your company for another, that does not mean they should never work for you again.

At the time the driver resigns have a company vote if they should be welcomed back. 30 days after the driver resignation, start sending them recruitment content. It is common for a driver to start a new position only to realize their former employer was a better situation.

Make sure to send out messaging to former drivers on December 1st. December 1st is the end of the busy season and drivers are starting to think about where they are going to work the following year.

Finally, announce company changes to former employees. Former drivers may have left because your company was not paying them enough, but they enjoyed everything else about your company. Letting former drivers know about the pay increase may motivate them to return to your company.

Improving the quality and quantity of drivers recruited will improve your company’s bottom line. Despite the driver shortage, your company should not settle for a lack of quality drivers. Follow these 7 strategies and bring in more qualified drivers.

This article based on Kelly Anderson’s webinar 10 Things to Improve Quality and Quantity of Drivers Recruited