7 Tips for Hiring Truck Drivers
April 20, 2016
Due to a shortage of drivers, hiring truck drivers is a growing problem trucking companies face across the United States. In 2015, there was a shortage of almost 50,000 truck drivers.
According to an article by CNN Money, trucker compensation has been going up eight percent to 12 percent in recent years. Although pay has increased, trucking companies still have difficulties hiring enough truck drivers. It takes the right person to be a trucker – the hours are long, the amount of time away from family can be difficult, and not all companies are able to pay their drivers an adequate amount for their work.
7 Tips for Hiring Truck Drivers
1. Compensation
Do some research and look to see what others offer in the industry for pay and benefits. Make sure you’re within industry standards. If you can afford some extra pay, benefits or bonuses, offer them and advertise them. It will help you to find good candidates and then retain them. (If you’re having troubles paying your truck drivers because your customers are paying too slow, freight factoring can help.)
2. Website
Is there a careers or jobs section on your website? If not, that’s your first step. Once you have some simple job postings on your website, you can share these via email and social media. Be sure to optimize them for search terms such as “trucking jobs” or “hiring truck drivers.”
3. Presentation
Many job seekers do research on a company prior to the interview and to accepting the position. Make sure you convey your company culture on your website and social media pages. Highlight the success of your company and truck drivers. Be proud of your achievements, and share these through your digital presence. Conveying your accomplishments and company culture may help attract candidates to choose your trucking company over your competitors.
4. Social Media
As mentioned above, sharing open positions on social media gets the word out that you’re hiring. With more than one billion active daily users, Facebook is a great place to start posting jobs. By putting a little money toward your post and boosting it, you can target people based on demographics such as location, job title and more. If you’re active on other networks such as Twitter, Google+ or LinkedIn, post your jobs there as well. Social recruiting is a tactic many companies use to find qualified candidates and can be helpful when hiring truck drivers as well.
5. Referrals
Your current truck drivers have a network of connections. Some of these connections might be interested in working as a truck driver for your company. Offering a referral bonus to your current drivers will give them an incentive to share your job opening with people in their network.
6. Internet Job Boards
There are many internet job boards that people search daily. Some you can post your position for free, while others you may have to pay. Here are just a few options of where to post that your company is hiring truck drivers.
7. Google AdWords
In the digital world, many people refer to Google to find what they are looking for – jobs included. Depending on your budget and knowledge, Google AdWords can be an effective way of hiring truck drivers for your company.
