Finding qualified truck drivers has always been a challenge for trucking companies. But, it’s also challenging, as well as stressful, for drivers. Finding good companies to work for, and stay with, is tough. After being a truck driver for over twenty years, I can relate to what today’s drivers have to go through when changing companies.
The most important thing for trucking companies today is to find drivers that want to stay with them for the long haul. The following tips on finding drivers may be a bit surprising, but they may actually help companies achieve that goal. And maybe we’ll have less unhappy drivers with new companies, already searching for yet another job.
Tip 1: A Video or Images in the Job Post Showing Details of the Company Environment
Drivers need to visualize themselves with a potential trucking company. Including a video and/or some images would definitely help give drivers a better idea about a driving job. It could even set a given company above other trucking companies that have nothing but text in the job description. You know, a picture is worth a thousand words!
Place the video/images directly in the job description on an online truck driving job board.
Images/videos should also be posted on a company website or company Facebook page, if available.
Ideas of what to show in videos and images:
- The truck a driver’s expected to drive. Include the exterior and interior, and definitely include the sleeper berth!
- A shot of the company yard and buildings.
- The people running the company, dispatchers, mechanics, and current drivers (preferably happy ones, of course).
Tip 2: Expectations are Key. Give an Honest, Real-World Description of the Job
Bottom line, don’t sugar coat it! Statistics show that most driver turnover happens in the first 2 or 3 months after starting a new job. This means that the job didn’t meet the driver’s expectations, and probably didn’t even match the job description in the first place. Yeah, it may take a bit more time to find qualified drivers this way, but you’ll end up keeping them longer!
If you haven’t been getting drivers home very often say so up front. Is it taking two months to get your drivers back home? Two weeks? Longer? Shorter? Just say so. There are plenty of drivers out there who actually prefer to be out on the road, with new destinations in different parts of the country. Throw that in your job description: “Are you a road warrior that wants to stay out on the road and make great money? Call us, we’ve got the miles!”
Or, if a driver has a family, try to secure the insurance necessary to allow drivers to bring their spouse or family on the road. Just knowing they have the option of bringing a child or spouse along for a trip here or there can really influence their decision, even if they have no intention of having someone with them full time. It just gives them that much more control over their lives, and the time they spend with their families. Many young couples consider driving for a few years to save up money for a down payment on a home or to pay down student loans, and want the opportunity to see the country. Having flexible insurance that allows family members to join your drivers opens up another market of opportunity for your company.
If you offer local jobs and/or run regional routes with predictable, consistent schedules and customers, stress the “Be home daily” in the job description. Just as some drivers prefer the lifestyle of the road, others prefer to have a solid routine, and know for sure when they’ll get home.
Meeting a driver’s expectations is hard, especially in an industry of over 100% turnover. That means the average driver changes companies once per year. If a driver has experience and a decent driving record, AND is in an area with high truck traffic or he’s near a handful of company terminals, he can pick and choose the company that offers him the best job.
Give as much information as possible. Some other details to include are:
- Routes / areas / lanes commonly run
- How often drivers are expected to be out on the road, and how much time do they usually get at home before going back out?
- Is dispatch forced, or do drivers occasionally have a choice of loads?
- Who are company’s regular contracts with distributors and customers?
- Expected miles driven per week. Or fleet average.
- Benefits, insurance, etc.
- Safety, fuel, and/or sign-on bonuses.
- And, of course, pay. Give an actual average of how much your drivers are earning.
Tip 3: Combining Old-School and New-School Methods in Your Recruiting
Companies in every area can utilize this advice. But, if your company is in a remote rural area, you’ll be choosing from a smaller pool of qualified drivers. It’s true that those drivers can’t afford to be as picky, but you still have to find them in the first place. You must use every available option to reach out and connect to those drivers in your area.
One old-school idea involves placing ads (index cards or flyers) in local post offices, laundromats, and grocery stores. If you have a small local truck stop, even if it’s just a gas station, and all they offer drivers is a diesel fuel island for trucks, put your ad up there, too. Drivers’ spouses or relatives could be out in one of these places and take down the information. Plus, this can create a word of mouth buzz and before you know it, you’ve got your new driver!
A new-school idea is to use social media. You want to make it easy for a driver to apply. These days, every driver has a smart phone. Way back when, drivers had to actually stop at a truck stop and search through those trucking job magazines. Then they’d call and talk to several possible companies on a payphone. If they were lucky and in a big truck stop, there’d be a phone on their restaurant table! Then they’d jot everything down in a notebook. Crazy, I know, but it’s true!
Now drivers can search for driving jobs from virtually anywhere. At home on their desktop computer, in the sleeper with their laptop or smart phone, and even from those same truck stops!
And after all that, they’ll come home from the road and their spouse will tell them they found the perfect driving job right in their back yard.
More companys should do this. Cant tell you how many times company said one thing and delivered another!
Btw, nice tests. Helped me get my cdl a few years back.