The need for drivers in the trucking sector is predicted to reach 175,000 by 2024. Companies need to keep improving their driver recruitment tactics to avoid being in significant danger. The problem of the shortage of truck drivers isn't getting any simpler. Trucking businesses need help finding and retaining drivers as more seasoned drivers are retiring, and fewer new individuals are entering the industry.
Hiring a sufficient number of drivers is one of the most crucial operational jobs for people who run a trucking and transportation firm. Truck drivers are in charge of maintaining rigs on the road and making deliveries on time.
However, there currently needs to be more truck drivers. Businesses are looking for strategies to attract and retain new drivers because a large number of experienced drivers are approaching retirement age.
In this article, we'll examine the best expert strategies for attracting and keeping truck drivers in the cutthroat job market of today.
Some of the difficulties hiring truck drivers can present include a lack of availability, a lengthy hiring process, a high turnover rate, and others. If automation still needs to be a part of your hiring strategy, you run the danger of getting left behind in a market that is already very competitive. With the appropriate tools, automating tedious and time-consuming operations like sourcing, scheduling, and following up is simpler than ever.
Logistics in the supply chain are under pressure due to the nationwide driver shortage. The American Trucking Association calculates that there are currently 80,000 fewer truckers needed nationwide.
There isn't a comparable shortage with your fleet. Any driver shortage, however, reduces your company's production and revenue. You want to deliver freight as quickly and effectively as possible, but you risk having a backlog if there are no drivers available to take the routes. Even worse, you could have to refuse clients.
Additionally, drivers who rush through deliveries in order to take on additional work put road safety at risk. In an effort to keep up with demand, drivers may feel pushed to drive recklessly or to participate in other risky activities.
Below, discover 5 expert justifications for automating your recruitment strategy.
1. Saves valuable time and resources.
The conventional hiring procedure can be time- and resource-intensive. It necessitates a lot of back and forth with applicants, which could be more effective. It could be difficult for you to keep track of where your candidates are in the selection process. Whether it's the first stage of the funnel in candidate acquisition or following up for an in-person interview, an automated recruitment strategy can automatically allocate tasks depending on each stage of the hiring funnel.
2. Helps you quickly identify quality candidates.
Real shortlist creation takes time. It entails reading through candidates' resumes, identifying their strong points and areas for improvement, and then compiling an email that can be distributed around your hiring team. Once prospects have entered the hiring process, automation can help you quickly filter out the top candidates.
Making an intake form or questionnaire to select qualified individuals and assess compatibility is one way to accomplish this. You have complete control over the selection criteria, ensuring that only top-notch truck drivers advance to the next stage of the selection process. After these procedures are finished, and qualified candidates have been eliminated, they can go on to the following stages of your hiring funnel until they are ready for an interview.
3. Gets rid of hiring bias.
Bias in hiring is a major issue, especially when trying to build a more inclusive and diverse workplace. Although you might believe that your recruitment staff is immune from hiring bias, remember that we are all fallible, and unconscious bias occurs frequently. By concentrating on specific skill sets rather than factors like gender, region, age, and more, automating your driver acquisition can help remove that initial bias when screening potential drivers.
4. Re-engages passive candidates.
A candidate who is actively seeking employment may advance fast through the recruiting process. You can re-engage passive prospects who may have yet to progress past the interview stage with the aid of automation. Choose the frequency of your follow-up messages. You'll want to find a balance between not being too spammy and being top-of-mind in case they start looking for new possibilities because the trucking sector is known for having a high turnover rate.
5. Helps you learn what is and isn’t working.
If you have a recruiting team in charge of filling unfilled positions, but they need to know how their efforts are doing, they won't be able to determine whether or not their tactics are effective. To make any necessary adjustments, you must know precisely how many people are viewing your ad placements (whether they be digital or social), clicking on them, and applying for them.
The top expert's strategies for hiring truck drivers can help you compete with other commercial fleets for recently graduated new drivers and seasoned drivers seeking a change of scenery.
You might have glitzy marketing brochures that extol the virtues of your business. You go over the company's founding date, growth results, accolades received, and more. Everything helps your business look nice to clients and investors, but it makes more sense to develop distinctive, powerful marketing materials that are aimed at potential consumers who are drivers.
Truck drivers show little interest in the accomplishments of their business. They are more interested in learning what benefits them. After all, if they only receive half the advantages that other drivers enjoy, what good does it do them to be employed by the most prominent trucking company?
Answer the "What's in it for me?" question while producing your recruitment marketing materials. You will receive fewer applications if you provide a convincing enough response to this query.
Your most effective marketing weapon is word of mouth. Run referral programs so your drivers can inform their connections about it if you want to hire more drivers.
Drivers may be hesitant to recommend new drivers to your fleet out of concern for their jobs. Some drivers believe that if there are more drivers, they will have less work to do. Include a description of how adding more drivers will enable your fleet to carry larger cargo. This increases everyone's workload.
Nowadays, most professionals research a company online before ever contemplating working there. Drivers are acting similarly. especially newer, younger racers that are just entering the field.
A strong online presence helps truck drivers understand your organization better. This ought to contain:
Social media profiles do more than just display advertisements. Additionally, the culture of your company and what it's like to drive for your fleet should be reflected in your content.
The application must first be mobile-friendly. They are making it simpler for someone to apply while on the go, which will draw in more applicants.
Optimize your procedure as well. You risk losing out on eligible applicants if your application procedure resembles competing in a decathlon while another employer is more like a game of tic tac toe. Make an effort to streamline and make the application process easy.
Streamline the employment process as well. You don't want to pass on a candidate just because it takes you two as opposed to one week to react.
Improved working conditions will persuade drivers to stick with your business rather than seek other opportunities. By making the lives of drivers easier, you can reduce driver churn.
Electronic logging devices (ELDs) installed in your trucks are undoubtedly an excellent place to start. Poor directions to the consignee or shipper or getting caught in traffic are regular complaints from drivers. By placing ELDs in your vehicles, you can take away this obstacle for drivers.
ELDs also fully eliminate the chance of form and manner infractions. They decrease the frequency of fines and raise driver ratings.
If your organization doesn't have a fleet culture, not just the new driver will feel alienated. It will be simpler to keep track of your drivers' birthdays and other identifying information if your fleet is smaller. Even mid-sized firm fleet managers can periodically check in with drivers to learn how they feel about their jobs.
Encourage work-life balance for all of your drivers and treat them as professionals who are a part of a wider fleet community. Provide information about health and retirement benefits. Offer advice for promoting healthy habits while traveling long distances. Inform them about emerging trends and alterations to the law.
Effective communication is the first step toward high staff retention, regardless of the business. If you give your drivers the chance to voice their opinions and make them feel as though they are being taken seriously, they will become more involved with your business. Organize advisory councils. Put suggestion boxes to use. Have regular meetings between your fleet managers and the drivers. even use apps to conduct surveys. Additionally, you might use your ELD to communicate with your drivers directly.
Take a survey of your drivers to find out what matters to them before making any significant changes to your rewards scheme. Remember that not all problems can be solved with money. As an additional reason to stay away from angry drivers, find out what they don't want.
New drivers experience unusually high rates of driver turnover:
You may get quick buy-in from new hires by having a successful onboarding process for new employees. Continued provision of driving education can significantly reduce these figures. New drivers frequently lament that they feel they need to be properly prepared, understood, or connected to their organization. Individualized coaching and mentorship programs can help you with this.
It may seem contradictory to talk about this in an essay about driver retention and recruitment techniques. However, if you continue to have good communication with your drivers even after they go on theory leave, they might soon come back.
Drivers frequently explore alternative employment possibilities. When it occurs, try to put yourself in the driver's shoes rather than take their behavior personally. Have a direct conversation with them about their dissatisfaction with your fleet while considering their departure. Finding out why they left could help you make adjustments to keep your other drivers. Also, let them know that should they choose to come back, they are still welcome in your firm.
For you to recruit and keep the best drivers, you must provide competitive pay and benefits. Competitive pay, health insurance, retirement benefits, and paid time off should all be part of compensation packages.
Recruitment of new drivers is crucial, but so is driver retention. By fostering a positive work atmosphere, offering continual training and development opportunities, and maintaining open lines of communication, businesses can prioritize retaining drivers. Retaining drivers can also be aided by involving them in decision-making and addressing their concerns.
Truck driving is a dangerous job. Therefore, employers need to make sure they only recruit experienced, reliable drivers. Finding any red flags in a candidate's driving history or criminal record requires doing rigorous background checks and screening. Maintaining a safe workplace also requires regular drug and alcohol testing.
The profitability of any transportation company is largely dependent on its ability to recruit truck drivers. To attract and keep the finest drivers, businesses must implement best practices for hiring truck drivers and include pertinent SEO keywords in their job advertisements. Any transportation or logistics firm that wants to develop and succeed must invest in hiring and keeping good drivers.
Our experts advise you to contact applicants as soon as possible after receiving their potential applications. You must ascertain whether they are still interested in the position and a good fit for your trucking firm. Engage potential drivers with these tested strategies:
1. SIincerity is crucial
Make it clear that you are interested in each applicant as a person, not merely as a potential resource. Say "thank you" whenever you can and address the driver by name. Candidates have a natural ability to discern honesty, and they will put their trust in someone who demonstrates it.
2. Be helpful
Each applicant has individual needs and wants and comes to you from a certain position. Although you won't be able to accommodate all requests, try your best to be agreeable. The driver will value any sincere effort you make on his or her behalf, even if the answer to their request finally turns out to be "no."
3. Speak out clearly
Make an extra effort to make sure drivers comprehend your business. Give concise and thorough justifications. Even while you may be aware that the driver is the ideal fit for your business, if you can't successfully communicate your case, the driver may not get it and leave.
4. Listen to the driver
Be sure to listen to the driver and comprehend what he or she requires from a job while you're describing how your operation runs and why your business is fantastic to drive for. Once more, try your best to satisfy the driver's demands and desires to the greatest extent possible. However, if the position does not end up being a suitable fit, be upfront about it and don't keep the candidate waiting by giving them false hope.
Drivers may choose to leave your firm from time to time for a variety of reasons. An exit interview is an opportunity to learn the reason(s) and inquire about what you can do to influence the driver's decision.
Recruiting drivers can be difficult and time-consuming, but it is crucial for any company that employs drivers. Companies can ensure they are satisfying driver expectations while accomplishing their goals by comprehending driver wants and preferences, targeting drivers based on their unique requirements, and monitoring the performance of driver recruiting activities with key indicators.
Businesses can maximize their driver recruiting campaigns and foster driver loyalty by keeping these suggestions in mind.
We think to assess the entire success of their driver recruitment effort, businesses should look at driver performance measures, including on-time delivery rate and safety records. Feedback from current drivers can also offer insightful information about successful driver recruitment strategies and areas for development.
Companies can ensure that their driver recruitment initiatives are successful and have the desired impact on their organization by routinely measuring these important variables. They can better satisfy drivers' demands and accomplish their objectives as a result. Any organization wishing to thrive in truck driver recruiting must comprehend how to evaluate the results of its efforts.
We took this video from Conversion Interactive Agency YouTube Channel.
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