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Picking the Right Trucking Company Advertising Agency

Posted on by Jake Peters

In today’s market it is necessary for all trucking companies to utilize digital advertising. Digital advertising will boost your overall business. The large carriers have the resources to employ an in-house ad team. Small to midsize carriers can save money and hire a third party agency. Here is how to pick the right trucking company advertising agency.

First Decide Why You Are Hiring an Agency

Are you looking for an agency to help your company acquire more business? Or are you needing to hire an agency that specializes in truck driver recruitment advertising?

The reason you need to know this is because it will guide your search for the right advertising agency. Also, you will be able to negotiate more effectively and the agency will respect you as a company that knows exactly what they are looking for.

If you are looking for a trucking company advertising agency to help you generate more business you have far more options. There are countless advertising agencies that specialize in growing business for their clients. They will have clients in multiple industries and bring you more clients.

However, if you are looking for an agency that will boost your truck driver recruiting, you are going to need to find a specialized agency. Truck driver recruiting agencies know how and where to advertise so specifically truck drivers will apply for company.

Also, traditional advertising agencies will not be familiar with advertising on job boards. Truck driver recruiting agencies will use your ad-spend to place your job openings on the job boards that produce applications.

Man confused about which trucking company ad agency to choose

Research Different Agencies and Contact Them

Once you have decided the type of agency your company needs (traditional or driver recruiting), start your due diligence.

You can begin by googling to find agencies near you. Then begin finding agencies in other parts of the country. The internet makes it possible to work with an agency on the other side of the country.

Read through multiple company’s websites and put together a list of your 5 favorite companies. Then call them.

Make sure you are contacting companies that offer all of the services that you are looking for. Some agencies focus solely on social media marketing, some specialize in job boards, and others offer the complete package with everything.

After calling all of the companies, pick the agency that you felt you would get along best with. They need to have great customer service and prioritize your success.

If Possible, Visit the Agency’s Office

You may be thinking that after researching online and calling the agencies you are interested in, you are ready to hire an agency. However, keep in mind that when you call a company, you are going to speak to one of their sales representatives. They are experts at selling you on their company.

The best way for you to truly judge an agency’s culture, and whether you will work well with them, is by going into the office.

Take note on how all of the employees are treated while you are there. Do not focus solely on upper management’s attitude. Does everyone seem happy to be there? Or do the employees look distressed?

Agencies that have positive company cultures will be better to work with and their employees are more likely to go the extra mile for you.

Hire the Agency of Your Choice

Trucking company hires their trucking company ad agency

Now that you have gone through the steps above, it is time for you to hire the agency of your choosing. That does not mean that your work is done however.

In order to experience the best results you need to make it a priority to be in constant communication with the agency. It should not be up to you to initiate contact, but when a member of the agency reaches out, you need to make time to talk with them.

The reason it is so important to communicate with the agency is because it enables them to update your campaign in real time. If you are not seeing the results you were hoping for, tell the agency. They will update the strategy to improve results.

Digital advertising has to be used by your company. Large carriers are using in-house advertising teams that enable the carrier to continue to grow and hire drivers whenever they want. Small to midsize carriers can experience the same benefits if they follow these steps to pick the right trucking company advertising agency.

How Recruiters Can Solve The Driver Shortage

Posted on by Jake Peters

 

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

Recruit Great Drivers

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

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

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

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

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

Act as a Mediator Between Management and Drivers

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

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

Recruiters also frequently interact with upper management.

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

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

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

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

Spearhead Retention Efforts 

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

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

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

The key to effective retention efforts is authenticity.

Digital Recruiters Fill Your Applicant Pool

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

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

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

Applicant pool filled with CDL driver applications

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

5 Tips for the Best Trucking Website Design

Posted on by Jake Peters

Having a strong trucking website design is mandatory for recruiting quality truck drivers and generating business. Your company’s website is the first interaction drivers and customers have with your company. First impressions matter! Follow these 5 tips to ensure that your company has the best trucking website design.

Top 5 Tips for the Best Trucking Website Design

  1. Avoid Clutter

  2. Repeat Your Main Message

  3. CTAs Throughout Your Website

  4. Mobile First Design

  5. Easy to Digest Content

magnifying glass searching for the best trucking web design

You Must Avoid Clutter!

Keep it simple stupid. Nothing turns away site visitors like a cluttered home page. Visitors should be able to instantly know your company’s main mission. Sometimes your mission may be hiring drivers, other times it is promoting business.

You only have 50 milliseconds to nail your first impression with site visitors.

Site visitors will be able to process your message better the less they have to read, click on, or watch. Images and videos are excellent pieces of content, but not when they are overwhelming.

Each page of your site should have only a couple high end images and any videos need to serve a purpose. Do not put videos on your site for the sake of having a video.

Having a strong heading structure will make it so that visitors will be able to skim any writing on your website and understand the gist of what you are saying.

Be Redundant… Tastefully

Your main goal is displayed loud and proud on your home page. Now what?

As visitors interact with your website and scroll through different pages they will forget about that main goal.

For example, if your main goal is to recruit more drivers you would say that right on the homepage for drivers to see. Then as the drivers click through your site to learn more about your company they will forget to to apply by the time something else grabs their attention.

This can be avoided if you are strategically redundant.

Each page of your website needs to have a call back to your main goal. This will ensure that site visitors do not forget about that goal and they will be far more likely to act in favor of that goal.

Calls to Action Littered Everywhere 

Call to action symbol

The call to action is where you reach your handout and invite the site visitor to act in a way that benefits your main goal.

Most websites have a call to action at the top of each page, which is good but not best. In order to maximize on your website, you need to sprinkle your CTAs throughout your site.

Spreading CTAs throughout the pages on your site gives the site visitor more opportunities to act. Placing only one CTA at the top of a page is asking for the site visitor to act before you have convinced them to do so.

However, having CTAs littered throughout allows the site visitor to click on the CTA the moment they are convinced to do so. They do not have to scroll throughout the site to find the CTA again.

Mobile First Design

The majority of people that visit your site will be doing so on their mobile device. Studies have found that in the second quarter of 2020, mobile devices (excluding tablets) accounted for 51.53% of global website traffic.

Mobile users on the web have become so prominent that Google now crawls your site for mobile usability first before desktop usability.

Your website must be designed to be easily navigable from a smartphone. Doing so will make your site more accessible which increases the amount of traffic you receive. More traffic leads to more driver applications and more business.

Easy to Digest Content

Content is king. It is the best way for carriers to build relationships with potential drivers and customers.

The reason that people visit your website is because they have questions about your company that they want answered. Easy to digest content is the best way for your company to answer those questions.

Plus, well curated content will be shared on social media platforms and generate awareness for your company.

Your website should be filled with short videos, well written blog content, and info graphics.

Content is King

The website is oftentimes your first impression, and the first impression is the most important. Having the best trucking website design compared to your competition will lead to your company hiring more drivers and booking more business.

5 Tips to Get the Most Out of Video Interviews

Posted on by admin

In person interviews have not been possible since March. This means that if you have hired any drivers in the past three months, you had to conduct a video chat interview. Whether you are using Zoom, Google Hangouts, etc. you need to be prepared. Follow this guide to get the most out of your video interviews.

Man gets the most out of video interview

1. Set the Bar for the Meeting

As the interviewer, it is up to you to be an example of what it means to be a professional at your company. You need to set the bar for the interview.

One way that you can set the professional bar is by dressing professionally. Working from home it is tempting to remain in your comfortable clothes, but when you interview you are the face of your company.

Drivers are going to judge your company based on you. So dressing professionally will send the message that your company takes themselves seriously. Professional drivers want to work for professional companies.

The next thing you need to do is find a space that has quality lighting and is in a quiet space. Doing this will ensure that the driver will be able to see you clearly and there will not be any interruptions.

2. Understand Technical Difficulties

You need to remember that this world is new to the drivers as well. Many of them are going to struggle with interviewing remotely.

If a driver you are interviewing hops on the call late because they could not load the page, or if the call drops, you need to work with them.

Do not rule out hiring a potential driver because they could not figure out the video interview. Have patience, rushing to judgement will lead to you ruling out quality drivers.

3. Record and Review Later

There is no doubt that interviewing drivers in person is the best way to gauge a potential employee. However, video interviews have certain advantages.

The biggest advantage that video interviews have is that it is easier for you to record the interview and review it later.

You will become fatigued if you conduct multiple interviews in one day. This can lead to you overlooking a great driver.

Recording and reviewing the video interviews will help ensure you offer your positions to the most qualified driver.

4. Provide Clear Instructions

As mentioned earlier, drivers are likely to struggle technically with the video interview. The best way to avoid this is to provide clear, step-by-step, instructions prior to the interview.

The more you can do to eliminate technical barriers, the more you can focus on the driver. This way you can get a better idea of who the driver is as a person.

5. Ask Questions That Generate Articulation

Because you won’t get to have the human interaction like a typical interview, you need to ask questions that get drivers to explain themselves.

Here are some common video questions to ask drivers:

  • Why did you decide to apply with our company?
  • Why are you a truck driver?
  • Describe the best work environment you have been a part of
  • How did you manage driving your toughest routes?

Driver providing articulate answers on video interview

Video interviews will not allow you to test a driver’s capabilities so you must get drivers to describe their skills to you. You will have to make your hiring decisions based on how drivers are able to articulate their thoughts. Because of this, the questions you ask directly affect retention and overall company performance.

If you don’t know what you are doing with video interviews, it can lead to hiring the wrong person. Follow these 5 tips to get the most out of your video interviews.

How to Use the Driver Shortage as an Advantage

Posted on by admin

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.

The Three Pillars to Driver Retention

Posted on by admin

Effective driver retention is key to operating a successful transportation company. The average cost to hire a truck driver is just under $8,000. Being able to keep drivers on staff and not leaving at the first opportunity will save your company thousands of dollars. There are plenty of articles that discuss different strategies to retain drivers, but driver retention truly boils down to three areas. I refer to these areas as the Three Pillars to Driver Retention. Think of a structure built on three pillars, it will stand strong in any circumstance. Knock down one of the pillars and the structure will still stand, however it will not be as strong. The same idea applies to driver retention. To be as effective as possible your company needs to excel at all three pillars, but if you can offer two of the three then your retention efforts will suffice. Only performing one pillar will result in a complete collapse. The Three Pillars to Driver Retention are: pay/ incentive programs, respect, and proper management.

Pay Your Drivers!!!!

According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook the median pay in 2018 for truck drivers was $43,680, or $21.00 per hour. $43,680 needs to be the minimum you are offering your drivers. If you think that you are saving the company money by lowering the drivers’ CPM, think again. Drivers are not afraid to leave your company for another that is hiring with higher pay. Every driver that leaves your company is another eight grand your company needs to spend to replace them.

If your company is small then it may not be able to afford to pay truckers top dollar. One way you can work around this is by offering high performance bonuses. Offer money to drivers who average a certain MPH, or who routinely arrive on time to drop off locations. All that matters with the performance bonuses is that the action needed to receive the bonus can be easily tracked by the company and the driver. Clear incentive programs will ensure the drivers are engaged and motivated to perform. The better your drivers perform, the more cash your company will bring in. This will allow you to afford paying the drivers the bonuses offered. It is critical that you never short change a driver on a bonus they have earned. Doing so will eliminate any trust built between the driver and company. Also, that driver will go on to tell all of their driver friends that your company does not value its drivers.

Treat Drivers Like Family, Not Employees

On the road, drivers are constantly dealing with unpleasant situations. Cars get annoyed any time a truck is in front of them. Unloading the truck can be a long process that the driver does not get paid for (if they are paid based on miles driven). Drivers will spend weeks away from their loved ones at a time. The last thing the driver wants to deal with is an ungrateful company. Your company needs to go out of its way to make the driver feel wanted.

“Employees who feel valued are more likely to be engaged in their work and feel satisfied and motivated.” – Christy Matta, M.A

Show the drivers you appreciate them by hosting driver appreciation celebrations, inform them about available opportunities within the company, take the time to ask how their family is doing. Imagine your child (substitute any family member if you do not have kids) works as a driver, how would you want them to be treated? The answer to that question is how you need to treat your drivers.

Employ Excellent Fleet Managers

The trucker – fleet manager relationship is a valuable one. A fleet manager that is bad at their job will raise frustration levels among all of the drivers. Experiencing delays due to the fleet manager’s mistakes will frustrate the drivers because it is costing them money. In addition to being skilled in the logistics of running a fleet, the fleet manager needs to be able to manage people. Like most people, drivers do not enjoy being bossed around and feeling like their concerns are not being listened to. A fleet manager should avoid telling the drivers what to do, but instead take the time to explain why the rules are in place and get the driver to follow the rules on their own accord. Also, the fleet manager needs to take the time to listen to the drivers. Drivers will often bring up valid issues or ideas that they experience while out on the road. Listening to the drivers will also make them feel like they are a part of the team.

Drivers are well aware that there is a shortage. If they do not like something about the current company they drive for it is not difficult to find a new employer. Failing to utilize at least two of the three pillars will cause your drivers to leave you for a company that does. To retain your drivers you must offer competitive pay and benefits, treat your drivers with the utmost respect, and employ skilled fleet managers.

Building Trust Into the Truck Driver Recruitment Process

Posted on by admin

It is no secret that there is a growing disconnect between drivers and recruiters. The feeling that recruiters will say anything to get drivers into seats is growing amidst drivers. You need to work on building trust into the truck driver recruitment process. When asked about their skepticism of recruiters a driver said,

“Because recruiters are in sales… they’re selling their employer’s driving positions to you…”

So the question stands, how do recruiters establish trust with applicants?

 

Self Reflect, Where is the Miscommunication Coming From?

Cartoon between cat and dog depicts business miscommunication

Recruiters that we have spoken to about mistrust claim that they do not intentionally lie to drivers. They say that miscommunications occur when the carriers pass information intended for the applicants through the recruiters. Similar to the game telephone.

A recruiter I spoke with on the topic said,

“Most of the ‘lying’ is actually miscommunication. Trucking has a lot of moving parts in real time and things change constantly and instantly.”

In order to buck this trend you must analyze your current flow of information and identify points where miscommunication can occur. Identifying these points will enable you to attack them head on.

Deploy Radical Transparency Through the Entire Recruitment Process

Ray Dalio popularized the term ‘radical transparency’ in his book Principles. In layman’s terms, ‘radical transparency’ is being transparent in every step of the process. This will improve overall efficiency and effectiveness.

Throughout the recruitment process, you need to be radically transparent at each step. Inform the applicant about the possible areas of miscommunication. This may seem counterproductive; however, doing so will lay the foundation for trust that a mutually beneficial relationship can be built on.

By laying this foundation of trust, we can then begin to build the type of relationship that will make the driver want to stay with the company. While reflecting on all the times they had been recruited a driver said,

“The only recruiter that was truthful with me was the one for the company I’m with now.”

In the case of this driver, all it took for the recruiter to earn the driver’s loyalty was for the recruiter to deploy radical transparency.

Go out of Your way to Initiate Communication

As the recruiter, it is up to you to communicate with the applicant where you are at each step of the hiring process. Never assume that the applicant has no questions or concerns simply because they have not directly asked you. By repeatedly reaching out to the applicant and providing them with updates and asking if they have any questions you are establishing yourself (and vicariously your company) as a trustworthy source. Frequently initiating communication with the applicant will build a stronger relationship and ensure that all parties are on the same page.

Make the Every Element of the Process Personalized for the Driver

Even in an industry where turnover rate hovers around 100%, switching employers is a big decision for drivers. In the initial interview with the driver, it is up to the recruiter to find out what is motivating them to switch carriers. Is it money? Is it home time? Does the driver’s current company not value its drivers?

By figuring out the driving force behind the driver’s desire to switch companies you are able to accurately assess if the position you are filling is a good fit for the driver. If the position is a good fit then you are able to solve the applicant’s biggest employment pains by hiring them.

Use this to your advantage. Inform the applicant that your position will alleviate the problems they are experiencing. Solving the driver’s biggest employment pains will earn their trust for as long as you were honest with them throughout the recruitment process.

Trust is an essential element to truck driver recruiting. Unfortunately the level of trust drivers have in recruiters is deteriorating, so you must actively work to earn that trust. Building trust into the truck driver recruitment process will help you earn the loyalty of drivers hired. Analyze your hiring process to minimize miscommunications, deploy radical transparency, initiate communication, and personalize the process in order to build trust into the truck driver recruitment process.

The Importance of Mobile-First Recruitment

Posted on by admin

Truck driver recruitment is changing before our very eyes. In today’s trucking world drivers are checking job opportunities 24/7. Smartphone technology is the driving force behind this shift in trucking recruitment. This shift is causing recruiters to focus on the importance of mobile-first recruitment.

Mobile-first recruitment is the practice of combining mobile advertising and optimizing your website for mobile performance.

Mobile Devices are Taking Over Trucking

As a whole, the trucking industry is rapidly becoming more reliant on mobile devices. Both truckers and carriers believe mobile devices are a necessity in the industry.

In 2017, half of all drivers utilized their mobile device to communicate with dispatch. Gfk Public Communications conducted a study that found 61% of drivers would choose to own a smartphone if they were forced to pick between their phone and their computer. 92% of recruiters believe that a seamless mobile application process is mandatory.

It is evident that every aspect of the industry is shifting towards being reliant on mobile devices, but the question is why?

Carriers are deploying mobile devices in their trucks and having drivers download certain apps because of the real-time data they receive from these devices. In addition to drivers being easier to contact, the companies can track the drivers and measure their efficiency.

Also, training drivers to use mobile devices can save the company money. Mobile devices help drivers avoid driving through storms, traffic jams, etc.

Truck driver finds a new job on their mobile device

Mobile Devices Increase Efficiency for Carriers

Truckers are able to use mobile devices to help them professionally and personally.

OTR drivers are on the road, away from loved ones, for weeks at a time. Mobile devices make it possible for drivers to stay in touch with their friends and family when they are on the road.

In addition to being connected with the people they care about, truckers can download apps that help them with trip planning, finding truck stops, logbook functions, and much more.

Mobile devices keep truckers connected and make their jobs less stressful.

Recruiters rely on mobile devices because drivers are heavily using their mobile devices. Certain technologies (geofencing, social media, etc.) enable the recruiter to send recruitment ads to the mobile devices of specific demographics. Utilizing mobile first strategy allows recruiters to recruit the exact kind of driver they are looking for at a cost effective price.

Mobile First Strategies Improve Business

FleetOwner wrote a story on how U.S. Express improved its business simply by increasing the performance of their mobile site. Using Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), U.S. Express optimized its recruitment site’s mobile performance.

AMP increased the load speed for U.S. Express’ site by five times and increased job applications by 62%.

By increasing their mobile site’s performance, U.S. Express expects to save $1 million annually. They can use that to improve other aspects of their business.

U.S. Express simply improved their site’s mobile performance, had they paired that with a mobile based campaign they would have seen even greater results.

In 2019, 67% of drivers used their smartphones to look for new employment opportunities. By combining a mobile campaign with a site optimized for mobile performance, your company will place itself in front of drivers seeking a new position. Then enable them to seamlessly apply for your position.

As time goes on each aspect of trucking becomes more reliant on mobile technology. Carriers becoming more reliant on mobile technology will force their drivers to use their mobile devices more frequently. Drivers being on their mobile devices more frequently will cause them to look for better employment opportunities more often. It is a positive feedback loop.

Now, recruiters must capitalize on this trend by running recruitment campaigns built for mobile devices and have recruitment sites that are optimized to be used by a mobile device. Using a mobile-first recruitment strategy will increase the amount of applicants your company receives and improve your business.

Want help executing a mobile focused recruitment strategy? Call Drive Trucking today at (801) 204-5499!