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How Much is your Truck Driver Hiring Bonus?

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

Is your company apart of this arms-race?

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

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

$10,000 sign-on bonus is now normal

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

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

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

Hiring Costs are Skyrocketing  

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

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

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

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

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

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

How Much can you Afford in 2021? 

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

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

Show off Your Hiring Bonus.

Truck driver recruiting advertisement showing off its sign on bonus

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

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

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

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

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

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

How much is your truck driver hiring bonus?

How to Get Your Drivers to Submit Video Testimonials

 

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

What are Video Testimonials?

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

Why do you Need Video Testimonials From Your Drivers? 

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

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

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

People creating and reacting to a driver video testimonial

6 Steps to Get Your Drivers to Submit Video Testimonials 

  1. Personal Your Request

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

  3. Provide Easy to Answer Prompts 

  4. Make the Submission as Easy as Possible 

  5. Encourage Drivers to Show off Their Personality 

  6. Utilize a Creative Agency

Personalize Your Request

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

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

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

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

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

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

Biggest Personalization mistake to Avoid:

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

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

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

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

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

Biggest “W.I.I.F.M” Mistake to Avoid:

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

Provide Easy to Answer Prompts 

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

However, do not make the prompts too simple.

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

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

Biggest Prompts Mistake to Avoid:

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

Make the Submission as Easy as Possible

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

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

Biggest Submission Mistake to Avoid:

Trying to coordinate schedules with a driver endlessly

Encourage Drivers to Show off Their Personality

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

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

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

Biggest Encouragement Mistake to Avoid

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

Utilize a Creative Agency

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

Biggest Mistake to Avoid:

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

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

The Most Important Factor of CDL Recruiting

“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.

How to Use Email Marketing for Driver Recruitment

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

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

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

Find an ESP That Best Fits Your Needs

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

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

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

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

Ask yourself:

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

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

Build a Strong Email List

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

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

These lead generation methods can include:

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

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

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

Segment Drivers Accordingly

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

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

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

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

Common segmentation criteria for driver recruiting email include:

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

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

Keep Emails Personal and Entertaining 

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

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

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

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

Create a Pipeline of Top Performing Drivers

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

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

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

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

Semi-Frequent Job Alerts

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

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

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

However,

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

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

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

5 Unique Tips for Driver Retention

The ability to retain truck drivers is a major source of competitive advantage in the trucking industry. If you are bad at driver retention then you are stuck competing in a market with a severe shortage and high hiring costs.

Common advice for driver retention includes things like increasing pay, treating drivers with respect, and collecting driver feedback. However, there are plenty of other ways to make your company stand out as a place drivers want to be. Here are 5 unique tips for driver retention.

  1. Encourage Drivers to Drive With Pets 
  2. Provide Top-Notch Amenities 
  3. Party Party Party and Party Some More
  4. Promote from Within
  5. Social Media Spotlight Posts

Encourage Drivers to Drive With Pets

For decades truck drivers have been sneaking their pets on board with them to take on the road. Drivers had to sneak their pets onto the truck because in the past companies forbid any furry friends on the road.

Long voyages on the road can lead to drivers feeling alone and depressed. Across America, 1.5% of people suffer from depression, among truck drivers that number rises to 13.6%. Feelings of loneliness and depression lead to job dissatisfaction and ultimately leaving the industry.

Encouraging truck drivers to drive with pets is one of the best ways to help keep your drivers happy. Your drivers will never have to be alone on the road and pets are known mood enhancers.

Deploying a pet-friendly policy may be the reason why a driver sticks with your company instead of accepting a higher-paying position with someone else. Truck drivers who love driving with their pets will want to stick with carriers that support their pets.

The driver recruiting manager demonstrates the retention strategy plan.

Provide Top-Notch Amenities

While sitting in a conference room discussing retention strategies, it can be easy to overlook the amenities. However, to truck drivers, the amenities are crucial to a comfortable OTR trip.

Amenities include things such as a microwave and refrigerator, a comfortable mattress, room for storage, temperature control, and anything else that makes living in the truck more pleasant.

The truck cabin is not the trucker’s home, but amenities can make the truck feel as home-like as possible.

Keeping your drivers comfortable on the road is a great incentive for drivers to stay with your company. Even if they start looking at positions with other companies, your drivers will look at the amenities provided by your competition. If you offer nicer amenities than the competition, then that is a heavy incentive to stay with your company.

Party Party Party and Party Some More 

Who doesn’t love to party? A company culture that prioritizes celebrating accomplishments, milestones, and great performances is a culture that people want to be a part of.

If you are only celebrating the bare minimum (major holidays, driver appreciation week, etc.) then you do not prioritize celebration. Drivers may be influenced to leave for a company that “has more fun” than your company.

Also, celebrating your drivers is going to make them feel like they are appreciated. Appreciation is one of the cornerstones of driver retention.

Promote From Within

Not all truck drivers want to be drivers for their entire career. Some drivers have aspirations of accomplishing other things within the trucking industry.

You need to identify the drivers working for you that are eyeing other positions outside of “driver”. Give these drivers a chance to be promoted to the position they desire.

Promoting drivers from within your company sends a message to all of your drivers that they can grow with you. Plus, promoting drivers to managerial positions helps your management team be more empathetic towards the challenges of being a truck driver.

This dedication to letting your drivers grow and increased levels of empathy will help your company retain your drivers.

A team of workers on a gray background. The concept of personnel selection and management within the team. Dismissal and hiring people to work. Human Resource Management. Headhunting. Talented worker

Social Media Spotlight Posts

Like I mentioned earlier, drivers want to be appreciated by their employers. Company parties are one way to internally appreciate your drivers. Social media is a way to show your appreciation externally.

Spotlight posts let you share with your network outside of your company how much you appreciate your drivers. Plus, the driver that the spotlight is on gets a chance to show their network that they are a high achiever.

Check out the 7 Tricks to Social Media Marketing for Trucking Companies to learn more about social media spotlight posts.

All of these tips are to be used as supplementary strategies to boost your main retention efforts. Plenty of other trucking companies know the key components of retention. This means you need to go above and beyond to gain an advantage. Use these 5 unique tips for driver retention and differentiate yourself from the competition.

How to Attract Truck Drivers on Social Media

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

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

Attract Customers And Leads With Magnet. Lead Capture Concept

Create Different Content for Different Platforms

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

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

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

You need to be creating the following pieces of content:

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

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

Utilize Groups to Reach Your Target Audience

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

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

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

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

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

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

woman hand pressing social media icon, futuristic technology

Spotlight Your Top Performing Drivers

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

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

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

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

Respond Quickly to Inquiries

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

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

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

Rapid Response Clock Quick Fast Reaction 3d Illustration

Invite Followers to Your Website

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

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

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

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

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

5 Key Performance Indicators Driver Recruiters Must Know

Recruiting truck drivers without data is like Dave Roberts setting the Dodgers’ batting line up without looking at the players’ batting averages. But what data is the most important to measure? Here are the 5 key performance indicators driver recruiters must know:

  1. Time Taken to Contact Applicants
  2. Average Time to Hire
  3. Average Cost per Hire
  4. Percentage of Offers Accepted
  5. Quality of Applications Being Received by Sources

Time Taken to Contact Applicants

The speed at which it takes you to contact a driver applicant is of the utmost importance.

One study conducted by Dr. James Oldroyd found some eye-opening results:

  • The odds of contacting a lead are 100 times higher if called in 5 minutes versus 30 minutes.
  • The odds of qualifying a lead are 21 times higher if called in 5 minutes versus 30 minutes.

Simply put, the faster you contact drivers after they apply, the more truck drivers you will hire.

Measuring the average time it takes for you to contact driver applications will tell you a lot about why or why not you are having success.

The goal should be for you to get your average time to contact 5 minutes or below.

If you are above 5 minutes to contact an application then there is room for improvement.

One of the easiest ways to boost your contact time is by working with a recruiting agency that sends the applications directly into your ATS. Do not let an agency convince you that sending leads once a day, once a week, etc. is okay.

You need the applications delivered to you in real-time so you can beat out other driver recruiters at contacting that truck driver.

KPI symbol. Wood cubes with acronym 'KPI, key performance indicator' stacking as step stair on orange background, copy space. Male hand. Business and KPI concept.

Average Time to Hire

The sooner you can get a truck driver from applicant, to interview, through orientation, and out on the road, the sooner they can start earning money.

Also, keep in mind that while you are trying to officially hire a driver, they are receiving offers from other companies. If your time to hire takes long then the driver has more time to accept someone else’s offer.

On average, trucking companies take 20-24 days to hire a driver. If you are above the industry average then your competition is beating you. Every day your truck sits idle costs your company thousands of dollars.

It is important to keep track of the entire time from application to hire. However, it is just as important to keep track of the time in between each step of the process.

Knowing the time it takes in between each step will tell you where to focus your efforts. The longest step in the process is the first step you should begin speeding up.

Keep track of your time to hire so you can implement strategies that try to speed up your process. A faster process will make your company more money.

Average Cost Per Hire

Figuring out your average cost per hire is not a complicated process. Simply calculate the sum of money spent on recruiting efforts and divide that number by the sum of drivers hired.

The industry average cost to hire a truck driver is $8,234. Calculating your average cost and comparing it to the industry average is a good measuring stick for your company. Obviously, you should try to have a cost per hire lower than the industry average.

Once you know your average cost per hire you can begin working to lower that number. Implement different recruiting strategies, try different lead sources, etc. and measure which process changes save your company money.

New technologies constantly provide opportunities for your company to optimize hiring processes. Improvements can always be made.

Percentage of Offers Accepted

Convincing truck drivers to apply for your company and convincing them to accept an offer are two different things.

There are agencies you can hire that specialize in getting truck drivers to apply to work for your company. However, you still need to convert those applications into hires.

If a low number of your offers are being accepted by drivers, that is troublesome. It could mean that your offer is not strong enough, the drivers do not like your company culture, your recruiters are underperforming, and many other things.

Losing drivers that you offer the position hurts your company. You are losing out on a driver that you identified as qualified and a good company fit. Those types of drivers are not easy to come by.

Working to increase the percentage of offers accepted is crucial.

hand holding percentage sign over yellow background

Quality of Applications Being Received by Sources

Unless your company only hires 1-2 drivers a month you are more than likely receiving applications from different sources.

It is up to the driver recruiting department to monitor the quality of truck driver applications they receive from different sources. Using an applicant tracking system can help you sort the sources of applications.

If it is clear that one source is sending you poor quality leads stop spending money on that source.

On the other hand, if you notice one source is sending you high-quality applications then you should increase the spending.

There is some variance in the performance of each source. Some months you will see a specific job board send a bunch of quality applications, and the next month you get zero from the board. Measuring the sources over an extended period is necessary to notice trends.

If your company is not keeping track of any key performance indicators then you are below average. These are the 5 key performance indicators driver recruiters must know to optimize their performance.

What other KPIs does your team measure? Comment below!

Everything You Need to Know About Multi-Carrier Applications

Have you ever felt like a truck driver recruiting agency took advantage of you? You were promised hundreds of qualified applicants flooding your ATS, making hiring a breeze. Instead, you spent most of your time calling truck drivers who have no interest in speaking to you. Chances are that you purchased a list of multi-carrier applications.

Multi-carrier applications can serve a purpose but are very difficult to convert into hires.

Here is everything you need to know about multi-carrier driver applicants:

  • What are Multi-Carrier Applications? 
  • How can I Tell if I am Purchasing Multi-Carrier Applications?
  • Pros and Cons to Multi-Carrier Applications

driver recruited frustrated from poor results because of multi-carrier applications

What are Multi-Carrier Applications?

Truck driver applications that have been sold to multiple different trucking companies are multi-carrier applications.

Typically these occur when a driver submits an application to a job board site and has no clue which carriers receive their application. Oftentimes the driver’s application is continuously sold to companies even after they have accepted a position.

Agencies that sell these applications make their money by selling the same applications over and over again. They sell quantity, not quality.

Multi-carrier leads are cold leads. Calling a list of multi-carrier applicants is cold calling and can lead to frustrating results.

How Can I Tell if I am Purchasing Multi-Carrier Applications? 

Any company that uses language like “driver database”, “driver pool”, or “driver list” is trying to sell you multi-carrier leads.

Recruiting agencies will tell you that they have a database of driver applicants and will match your company with drivers that meet your requirements. These are multi-carrier applicants.

Every carrier who has the same requirements as you are sold the same leads you were sold.

A good way to tell if you are being sold multi-carrier applicants is asking the sales rep what their process is for finding applicants.

If they do not find fresh applicants specifically for your company then you are talking to a company that sells multi-carrier leads.

Pros and Cons to Multi-Carrier Applications

Pros and cons to multi-carrier applications

When you unknowingly purchase multi-carrier leads it can feel like they are useless. However, there are some positives to multi-carrier applications.

Pros:

  • The applications are not expensive
  • Guaranteed high level of volume
  • All applicants meet your hiring criteria

Cons:

  • The applications are cold leads
  • Drivers may not be looking for work
  • Lower conversion rate compared to direct applications
  • Take longer to hire the driver
  • Can be frustrating to contact

If you are intentional with how you plan to use multi-carrier applicants then they can be a useful tool. For example, carriers will use multi-carrier leads mixed in with direct and referral applicants. This allows their campaign to have high quality leads and high quantity.

Multi-carrier applications are very common in the industry. These leads are popular because you can buy a lot for cheap. However, you may feel ripped off after buying these applications because of the low conversion rate.

Having a plan and mixing in these applications with your direct applications can make for an effective hiring strategy. Make sure you know when you are purchasing multi-carrier leads and have a plan for recruiting these drivers.

It is Time to be Intentional With Your Driver Recruiting

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

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.