It’s no secret that the driver shortage is one of the biggest issues the trucking industry is facing right now. According to statistics from the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the trucking industry is currently short 80,000 drivers. That’s a 30% increase from pre-pandemic numbers when the industry faced a labor shortage of 61,500 drivers. Additional studies from the ATA show that America’s trucking industry will need to hire as many as 900,000 new drivers within the next ten years.
Apart from the driver shortage, many large fleet companies are also facing a driver retention problem with turnover rates as high as 94 percent. Given the current and projected shortage of drivers, as well as the industry’s high turnover rate, there’s a constant need to keep recruiting efforts strong. In the current market, effective driver recruitment needs to encompass not only hiring but training and retaining drivers long-term. Whether your recruitment team is looking for new ways to engage with drivers or planning out new driver recruiting strategies for 2022, here are seven of the best-kept secrets of driver recruiting.
Embrace Technology
These days, technology is a must-have in any solid driver recruiting strategy. If your team is still working on an antiquated or worse, hard copy (aka filing) system modern it’s time to take the step and embrace technology. Modern driver recruiting teams are using ATS, CRM, and API technology to streamline internal HR processes. These sophisticated systems are designed to help your team consolidate information and streamline the recruiting process from marketing to hire. With features that range from job posting, email marketing, summary importing/parsing, interview scheduling, and candidate tracking it’s easy to see how modern HR tech could easily become the secret to keeping your truck seats filled and on the road.
Your Current Drivers Could be Your Best Recruiters
Your current drivers could just be the secret ingredient for a successful recruiting strategy. Statistics show that employee voice is trusted 3 times more than corporate marketing when it comes to talking about what it’s like to work for a company. With high stakes and so much competition in the industry, hearing from a driver who ‘knows the road’ so to speak, can go a long way towards calming the nerves of new applicants. As we head towards a new year, remember that word-of-mouth recommendations are critical in today’s recruiting landscape. Going forward, consider using driver testimonials in your job marketing to help you stand out from the competition.
Communication is Critical
Your recruiter team invests a lot of time and resources to bring new drivers into your recruiting pipeline and drive applications, don’t throw it away by failing to follow up. One of the secrets to standing out from the crowd is having a system in place to connect with candidates as quickly as possible. If your team struggles to stay on top of driver communication, consider utilizing automation for nurture campaigns and take a look at our list of the 4 Best Practices for Following up With Truck drivers to get some additional tips.
Passive Driver Candidates – An Overlooked Resource
Active driver applicants are candidates that are engaged, looking, and ready to make an immediate job change. On the other hand, passive driver candidates are not actively seeking a new position but would be open to making a change if the right opportunity were presented. According to a recent LinkedIn report, 70 percent of the workforce is made up of passive talent. So it goes to follow that passive driver candidates make up the vast majority of the current job market. With so many candidates in this demographic, including this talent pool in your recruiting strategy could just be the secret to your company’s driver recruiting success.
Make it Personal
If your recruiting sauce is lacking flavor, consider that personalization could be your missing secret ingredient. Today’s driver candidates have a plethora of options and can afford to be picky. They aren’t likely to sign with your fleet if they feel like just another number in your call queue. Personalization during the recruiting process can make a driver feel like a valued team member before they even join. Pay attention to driver candidates’ communication preferences and preferred contact times. Focus on scheduling follow-up conversations that are convenient for drivers and remember that this may mean after-hours or weekend time slots.
Social Recruiting is Here to Stay
According to Statista, over 3.6 billion people use social media worldwide. With numbers that high, chances are your ideal driver candidate is among them. In fact, during a recent Work4 survey we found that 87 percent of hourly candidates used Facebook in their most recent job searches. Moving into 2022 social media will continue to grow as a tool drivers use to research companies, evaluate employers and search for new employment opportunities. Make sure your driver band is well represented on social media and most importantly has a Facebook presence. If you’re not sure where to begin, the pros at Work4 can help you get started today.
Pick the Right Partners
If your company uses or is planning to invest in an ATS System in the coming year, don’t lose the value of that investment by partnering with a company that doesn’t integrate with your system. Be sure to prioritize working with partners whose software can integrate with your or your client’s ATS. At Work4 our candidate lead generating system is designed to integrate seamlessly with many ATS systems including Bullhorn, Avionte, iCims, Tenstreet, and DriverReach, to name a few. This built-in seamless integration can significantly reduce your time-to-fill on any driver position.
Are You Ready for Driver Recruiting Success in 2022?
We know the last year has been challenging and that it can be hard to revamp your driver recruiting strategy. Remember that not everything needs to be done at once as long as you are taking steps to improve your recruiting strategy you’re moving in the right direction. Here at Work4, we’ve worked diligently to create the best-in-class recruitment marketing technology. If you’d like to see what our system can do for you click below to schedule a meeting with our team. And, be sure to check out the Work4 blog for other relevant driver recruiting articles.
