Insights - March/April 2017 - 19

Winning Driver
Recruitment
Formula:
Communication
+ Consistency
+ Social Media
+ Personal Touch

uccessful truck driver recruiting is a complex process that is built around communicating
a consistent message to job candidates, effectively using social media strategy and
adapting to change.

"Be up front," said Tim Hindes,
CEO at recruiting consultant Stay
Metrics, in an interview with Intermodal Insights, offering an insight that
applies to the entire trucking industry.
"Ask drivers what they want. Start with
your story - what's it like to work at
ABC Trucking. It can't be a marketing
exercise. Paint an accurate picture."
Shelley Mundy, director of recruiting and retention for truckload fleet
Hindes
Cargo Transporters, agreed. "We are very
transparent in terms of what the expectations are," said Mundy,
whose driver turnover is about half the industry average. "We all
use the same language when we describe a job - that helps us.
If you talk to our recruiting, safety and operations people you will
hear the same thing."
From a drayage perspective, recruiting is indeed a complex
process.
Fred Johring, president of Golden State Logistics, said Southern California's Harbor Trucking Association created its own training school to address recruiting issues. Driver candidates received
14 weeks of training at no cost to them because grants covered
the cost of running the school. Today, Johring said, funding has
dried up and those who want to drive trucks can choose other,
lower-cost training schools.
Johring also observed that while it's helpful to add new drivers,
VJGOQVQTECTTKGTVJCVƒTUVGPICIGUVJGOQHVGPGZRGTKGPEGUCVWTPover problem. "What we have seen is that they go to work for one
carrier. Then they see that the grass is greener somewhere else,

and they leave," Johring said. Another challenge for fleets that hire
new drivers is overcoming the reluctance of insurers to provide
coverage for them. Southern California drayage carriers also pursue in-person recruiting efforts focused on terminals, he added.
Senior Vice President of Operations Chris Giltz said Evans
Network of Companies, whose operations include intermodal
trucking, addresses turnover issues by focusing more on retention
than recruiting.
"If you take down that turnover rate to 80 percent from 100
percent you have saved yourself a lot of recruiting costs," he said.
While he didn't specify Evans' savings, some industry observers
estimate the cost of recruiting one driver at about $5,000.
Giltz said Evans emphasizes accurate and timely driver payments, and management's accessibility.
"When there is a dispute, the tie goes to the driver," he said,
using the example of dispatchers and drivers who don't agree on
a load dropoff point. In those cases, he said, Evans is prepared to
absorb any extra costs unless a particular driver has a pattern of
such disputes.
Evans also works to keep drivers busy in ports such as Savannah, Georgia, because it can spread out jobs among 20 operations
there with multiple brand names.
The recruiting process poses challenges in other ways, Hindes
said. Broken promises are the most common cause of recruiting
failures, he said, offering this example.
A recruiter promises a new hire that the company has "great
equipment," but doesn't say that the driver will have to work 18
months before they get a new truck. As a result, the driver leaves.
"The industry does not help the driver to understand
and manage the expectations of what they are getting into.
March/April 2017 | Intermodal Insights

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