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One of the most powerful, yet overlooked, secrets to successful driver recruiting is the impact of an open communication channel. Truck Driver Recruiters often underestimate the importance of being available to driver candidates while they are deliberating which driver job is the best choice.
Commercial truck drivers are courted by dozens of competing carriers daily. Not surprisingly, those drivers most often end up selecting companies where the driver recruiters are the easiest to reach, and where the driver recruitment process embraces open communication with the driver. Clearly other factors weigh heavily in the decision-making process and ultimately influence where the driver lands. However most experienced truck drivers will eventually lose interest in driving jobs where answers to their questions are not readily available as they come to mind. Despite what some driver recruiters believe, good truck drivers simply won’t commit to a driving job without first getting all their questions answered.
Recall the last job you applied for. After the initial discussion with a recruiter, additional questions likely came to mind, one after another. If you’re like most people, you probably walked away from the initial conversation with more questions than answers. Many of those questions may have even been critical in your decision-making process.
Truck drivers are no different. When considering a new driving job, drivers try to piece together the specifics of their potential new work life. They look to bring vague expectations into focus. This involves clarifying such details as home-time practices, compensation structure, what deductions they should expect, how equipment assignments work, company culture, time off, reporting requirements, etc. Collectively, these details fill-in the blanks for the driver. It’s unreasonable for a driver recruiter to think one call or meeting should address all the candidate’s questions to the extent needed to get a hire.
What can driver recruiters do about it?
If a truck driver is engaging openly with you about your driving job, you can assume that there is some inherent interest from that driver. It’s human nature to anticipate what any upcoming job will be like and to seek information to validate the thoughts in your head. Drivers ask questions to validate their perception of their new job. As the facilitator of the driver recruitment process it’s your job to fill in the blanks so that the driver remains excited about the job.
While not all the information you provide can/will be positive, you are better off sharing as much information as possible. Providing more information will not only help the driver get a better understanding of the driver job, it will also allow the driver begin to connect with the job. An added benefit of providing additional information is that it will help you to ensure that the driver is a right-fit for your driving job and company. If the driver learns something about the job during the information gathering phase that pushes the river away it is probably best to find that out before the driver is onboarded.
In summary, if you hope to hire drivers despite the current driver shortage along with the overwhelming competition you will need to use every tool at your disposal. Giving your time to answering questions from your driver candidates is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to tip the scales more in your favor. Incorporate processes where open communication with your driver candidates is proactive and measured. Remember, if you allow your competition to out-talk you, they will out hire you.
