How to Attract and Hire Qualified Truck Drivers Effectively

Attracting and hiring truck drivers has never been more challenging than it is today. Even before recent years, the trucking industry faced a significant shortage of qualified drivers to fill the abundance of opportunities. According to the American Trucking Association, there were over 60,000 truck driver vacancies in 2019, a number that has continued to rise, reaching approximately 80,000 in 2021. This growing truck driver shortage is exacerbated by increased consumer demand for online shopping and a booming construction industry, which heightens the need for transporting lumber and home goods.

The surge in demand underscores the critical importance of addressing the truck driver shortage to keep supply chains running smoothly. Companies must implement innovative driver recruitment strategies and improve retention rates to meet market needs. By focusing on attracting new talent and enhancing job satisfaction among current drivers, the industry can work toward mitigating the shortage. Addressing these challenges is essential for maintaining efficient transportation networks and supporting the economy’s ongoing growth.

Why is it so hard to Hire Truckers?

The trucking industry has traditionally had long hours, low pay, and difficult working conditions. As a result, many drivers have left the industry and are moving to jobs that offer higher pay, better working conditions, and better benefits. So the problem is not so much a shortage of available truckers, the problem is trucker retention.

How to Hire a Trucker

Define the role. Long haul or short haul, what are the hours, what are the benefits, what experience is necessary? Design a job posting that you can leverage on social media and industry sites as well as your network. Social media is a very effective way to find and attract candidates.

Social media platforms get billions of visitors a month and will certainly help in advertising your opportunity. Focus your campaign using specific hashtags to narrow your target audience. Recruiting truck drivers via social media is a powerful way to generate interest and results.

Leverage Job Boards and Job Aggregator sites

We’ve mentioned in previous posts the benefits of leveraging job search sites for job search and have reviewed some sites as employment platforms. Job boards are very efficient tools when it comes to attracting and hiring for your specific role.  Plus, leveraging a job board saves time and resources by harnessing the power of a job search board’s technology and popularity. Using a job aggregation site, you can post jobs with specific requirements that best fit the job roles as defined by you.

ZipRecruiter.com is a very good example of an online employment marketplace that matches job seekers with companies that are looking to hire.  Companies place their jobs on ZipRecruiter and then ZipRecruiter sends these job opportunities to over one hundred of the most popular job search sites and social networks.  This is a big advantage for those looking to fill specific roles (such as truck drivers) because the platform broadcasts job opportunities to a very large audience of potential job seekers. Job seekers who have posted their resumes on ZipRecruiter are typically actively looking for new opportunities. There are a number of pricing options for employers, depending on their needs.

How to Retain Truck Drivers

Retaining truck drivers is one of the biggest issues facing trucking and logistic companies for all of the reasons stated at the start of this article. But there are a number of steps that employers can take to try and retain their drivers.

1. Higher Pay – Offer competitive starting salaries and ensure pay increase are in line with the market.  Salary is the number one reason that truck drivers leave.
2. Set the Right Expectations – Make sure that the job you “sold” is the job they got in terms of hours and benefits.
3. Good Benefits – Health benefits are an important factor in attracting and retaining truck drivers.
4. Work/Life Balance – There are many factors that can lead to longer days (or longer hauls) than originally planned.  Respect your drivers’ work/life balance as a priority.
5. Respect and Caring – Respect your drivers and ensure they know that you care about them.  Ask about job satisfaction, offer additional training where possible and performance bonuses as well.

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