The pandemic left many industries with a burnt-out workforce, and the trucking industry is no exception. In the wake of these events, recruiters struggle to hire qualified drivers while dealing with a rapidly retiring workforce, quick turnover, and an increasingly competitive market. Although these are certainly challenging times, we’ve outlined five of the most common truck driver recruiter challenges below and ways you can start combatting them today.
1. Recruiters are overburdened.
Burnout is a genuine issue in the trucking industry. Between an ongoing driver shortage and high turnover rates, recruiters are facing more challenges than ever, and there’s only so much manpower within your recruitment team. The solution? An automation system to help you scale your recruitment efforts. An ATS system gathers leads into an efficiency funnel, allowing your recruiters to automatically text, email, or voice drop depending on communication preferences. It’s like having an assistant for each of your recruiters! In turn, this will help open up their schedules and shift their attention and time towards only the most qualified candidates.
2. They can’t back up their claims.
Often, a recruiter can only do so much to convince qualified leads that your company cares about their fleet. Sure, they can explain benefits packages, but every other fleet out there does that. The solution? Take a look and your website and social media efforts. Are you promoting the company authentically and strategically? If not, you’re missing a powerful opportunity to create personal connections with your drivers. Being able to quickly point a lead to your social media where they can see Driver of the Month or Driver Appreciation posts could be the tie-breaker between you and another carrier.
3. Local industry and non-industry jobs are increasing competition.
More and more drivers are taking local driving jobs, or even non-industry jobs like construction or hospitality, in exchange for more work-life balance. These jobs also come with robust recruiting teams with a range of selling points. The solution? Take a look at your total benefits package. Is it as competitive as the other industry and non-industry jobs in the area? If it’s not, make sure your recruitment team is being transparent about expectations and responsibilities. The last thing anyone wants is to be surprised down the road.
4. They can’t find qualified drivers.
Many carriers are losing more drivers than they can recruit each year. A good job description and traditional recruitment efforts are no longer cutting it. The solution? Diversify your targeting. Find a good driver is like finding a needle in a haystack. Instead of recruiting blindly, you could build out driver personas and start targeting jobs to specific audiences. This can help you tap into underrepresented markets (like women), that other carriers may have overlooked. Sometimes less is more when it comes to finding a quality lead.
5. Turnover rates are high.
Tenured drivers aren’t feeling as engaged and don’t want to go back to work. Even worse, many of them are retiring or switching industries for jobs closer to home. The solution? Implement internal reward programs like referral bonuses or mentorship investments. Having your senior drivers help nurture the next generation of drivers is a great way to engage them in your business and remind them why this is a great place to work.
KJ Media has 15+ years of driver recruitment experience. As industry insiders, we know exactly what challenges your recruitment team faces and are excited to offer innovative solutions to help solve them. Reach out today to get the conversation rolling.
