1. Narrow down your target driver
Your strategies for recruiting truck drivers are more effective when you know exactly what type of drivers you want. Consider things like the amount of experience, values and preferred type of routes. Finding drivers who are a good fit increases the chances of them sticking around to reduce your employee turnover.
2. Use social media
Your social media platforms are free, and they’re an easy way to reach and interact with potential drivers. Post regularly on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to grow your following. Share trucking industry news, feel-good trucking stories, testimonials from current drivers and behind-the-scenes looks at your company. These posts show potential new hires what your company is like. Don’t forget to engage when your followers comment. Reply to their comments and answer their questions quickly to start building relationships on social media.
3. Diversify recruiting truck drivers
When recruiting truck drivers, your best approach is a diversified one. You can’t rely on a single recruitment method, such as just posting on an online job site or only listing the openings on your company’s job page. Using multiple methods helps you reach more people, including those who wouldn’t find your job postings with traditional methods. For example, you could try to recruit drivers at college job fairs or work with local trade groups that have job boards.
4. Emphasize the driver
It’s natural to want to brag about how great your company is, but don’t forget to put the focus on the driver. A driver-centric approach to recruitment helps potential applicants imagine what working for your company is like. Workers want to know how they benefit from their employment, so highlight any special benefits you provide such as paid leave, truck lease-to-buy programs and bonuses they could qualify for on the job.
5. Reconnect with previous candidates
Another way to recruit truck drivers is to dig back into your old candidates. Your company might not have been the right fit at that time, but situations change. You may offer different options or more appealing benefits now than you did back then or the candidate has gained experience they didn’t have before. If a previous candidate accepted a job with a different trucking company, they might decide that it was the wrong choice. Reach out to those past candidates and even previous employees who left the company on good terms.
6. Ask for referrals
Your drivers will likely talk about their experience with your trucking company. They probably have friends who also drive, and drivers chat with other truckers at truck stops. Creating a formal employee referral program encourages them to talk a little more and step up their persuasion skills. Offer an incentive, such as a cash bonus or extra paid vacation time, for referrals who start with the company and stay a certain length of time. This not only turns your current drivers into advertisers for your business, but it also shows your appreciation, which might encourage them to stay with your company.
7. Conduct exit interviews
Unfortunately, more drivers are leaving the industry than joining at the moment, but you have the power to reverse this trend. Find out what the pain points are by conducting exit interviews whenever someone does decide to leave. There are some factors that might not be within your control, such as when a driver leaves simply because they’re ready to retire. If you notice that multiple people are giving the same feedback, it might indicate that a change of company policy could attract more drivers and keep others onboard.
8. Simplify the process
A quick, easy application process can increase the chances of a prospect completing the application and accepting a job offer. Having a mobile application in addition to other options can make it simple to apply and appeal to tech-savvy drivers. You don’t want to take shortcuts when it comes to vetting drivers, but handling things like reference and background checks quickly may get applicants in the driver’s seat faster, before they get another offer.
9. Study the competition
What makes your trucking company unique? If you’re not studying your competitors, you may not know the answer to this question. One of the best ways to recruit truck drivers is to emulate successful strategies, so if you notice that one of your competitors is expanding its workforce effectively, find out what they’re doing. One of the ways you can do this is to browse their job descriptions to see what benefits they’re offering, what their requirements are for new employees and if they have special training programs available.
10. Offer competitive pay
When you’re conducting research on other companies, find out what the most popular companies are paying their drivers. Do they offer benefits packages you’re not providing? If you’re not offering competitive pay and benefits, this could be why your competition is recruiting the best drivers and you’re not.
11. Try content marketing
You can pay for online ads, but you can also create inbound marketing for free by posting lots of content related to trucking. If you don’t already have a blog on your website, create one and publish posts that are interesting to drivers. Include keywords related to the article that truck drivers might search for online. If you create high-quality, engaging blog posts that are valuable and easy to read, you could catch the interest of truck drivers who come across your blog posts.
12. Let current employees help
Having your current drivers serve as the face of your recruitment efforts may help prospects relate. One easy way to do this is by sharing a day in the life series from different truckers. Self-shot videos from your drivers can be more authentic than commercially produced videos, and you can highlight the perks of driving for the company. For example, they might highlight the unique places they get to see, friendly interactions at stops or the ease of their no-touch freight jobs. Prospective drivers can relate to those perks, and they may be more meaningful coming from another truck driver.
