driver application processIf you recruit professional drivers to work for your trucking company, it is absolutely critical that you track the driver applicants who apply to your trucking jobs. I’m a firm believer that you cannot manage what you cannot measure, so as a result, we measure everything. It helps provide data behind decisions and not just “gut feelings.” Tracking driver applicants is the most basic and the easiest method for measuring the effectiveness of your recruitment advertising strategy.

Examine Your Driver Recruiting Process

If your trucking company isn’t hitting its weekly driver recruiting goals, it might be because there is something fundamentally wrong with your trucking jobs listings, and before we can fix the problem, we need to examine what is causing it. Here are the four most common reasons why you may think your truck driving classified ad posts are failing:

  1. Alternative application methods are not recorded properly

If you’re providing contact options such as a driver recruiter’s email address or telephone number, then you’re providing an alternative appllication method. Essentially, this allows candidates to circumvent the online application (or your ATS) which makes it much more difficult to track the ad source. There is nothing wrong with making it as easy as possible on the truck driver and giving them a variety of options to contact your trucking company, but you need to be prepared to track ALL of them if you do. Provide URLs to the jobs boards that you’re using that can track where your leads, applications, and traffic are coming from.

  1. Your process is broken

If the process is broken, you’re likely receiving fewer applications than you’re paying for. There are a number of reasons your application process might be broken. For one, if you haven’t properly integrated your ATS to your website, you won’t receive all the applications. Or, more likely than not, your application process actually works, but it’s just too long and tedious for drivers to finish it. When we shortened our application a couple years ago, the app count immediately increased. Almost 70 percent of drivers are applying through mobile devices now, and if your using jobs boards that aren’t mobile friendly, you’re paying for something you don’t need. Stop.

Furthermore, if you aren’t accepting “multi-carrier apps,” you need to start. 77 percent of driver applicants are choosing to apply to more than one company. Most trucking experts are saying that there is a truck driver shortage of up to 100,000 truckers, yet you’re willing to refuse to look at an Internet driver lead if that driver applies to another trucking company at the same time. That is insanity.

  1. You provide too much or too little information

The adage in advertising as it relates to trucking jobs basically says that if you don’t have the biggest per-mile-number, don’t put a number in your ad. This related more to the old trucking magazines that always had two full page ads opposite each other, but it still holds true. If your trucking company has the best home time policy in trucking but is on the low end of the pay scale, perhaps you want to emphasize home time over money….get it?

With so many ads from a variety of trucking companies competing for their attention, truck drivers don’t read every ad they see. You’re lucky if drivers scan the first paragraph to see if it’s worth their time to continue. You can combat this by:

  • Highlighting the most important information at the top
  • Using bold font, bullets, and short paragraphs to grab attention
  • SELL the driver on your trucking job…don’t tell them why they won’t qualify. That will work itself out in the vetting process.

The title of your truck driving job is also essential to convince the driver to read the rest of your ad. It is also the most important way for drivers to find your trucking job when they search. If it’s a regional trucking job, say so in the title and say it again with your trucking company name in the job summary…it makes a huge difference in the searches. Keep it simple and give just enough information to get them to apply for your jobs.

  1. Your job description is misleading or negative

Ad copy matters. Make it simple and sell the benefits of your trucking company! Drivers are making a decision on whether or not they will apply to you. They don’t want to read a list of ten things that will prohibit them from getting the job. They want to know why they should apply. Let the driver know what’s in it for them. Let them know the basic things that you would want to know when applying for a job. What is the pay? How often do I get home? What other perks come with this truck driving job?

These aren’t the only reasons your truck driving jobs aren’t being filled, but it’s a great place to start looking. If you’re interested in learning how your trucking company can get a better return on your advertising investment with CDLjobs.com, give us a call.

Driver Recruiting | CDLjobs.com

Authored By:

Darin Williams