According to the American Trucking Association’s Benchmarking Guide for Driver Recruitment and Retention, retirement is the leading cause for drivers leaving the workforce. An estimated 37% of new drivers entering the workforce are replacing those retiring, limiting potential growth in the pool of available drivers.
In response, many fleets have placed an emphasis on hiring and retaining younger drivers.
Hiring student drivers can be an important win for your driver recruiting strategy. This means that you need unique campaigns that can accomplish this recruiting win.
But how can you build campaigns to accomplish your goal of hiring more student drivers?
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The Right Channels
Considering the average age of company drivers in 50.2 years old, recruiting student drivers is necessary for lowering the average age of your drivers. But this also means you need to adapt your recruiting techniques to take advantage of the new technologies these younger drivers are using.
Demographic information and detailed research are great resources that can improve your channel selection and campaign performance. For instance, you know that younger drivers are more invested in online channels like search engines and social media.
Student drivers also tend to place less value in channels such as print, though that doesn’t mean they aren’t paying more traditional channels any attention at all. Company drivers, despite being younger than their owner-operator counterparts, consistently list print as their second most valuable source of information.
To hire younger student drivers, who consume media in different ways, you need to use the right channels to target your audience.
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Target Your Digital Advertising
Using the right channels is only part of the solution. Many digital advertising platforms have advanced targeting options that you can utilize in your recruiting campaigns. The next step you need to take is targeting your digital advertising to ensure you are getting in front of student drivers at the right time.
Your fleet can get great results by targeting specific geographic areas. You probably know the area where you need to hire drivers, especially if you are recruiting from terminals, and the schools and training facilities in the area. By targeting this specific area, you can ensure that your advertising is displaying only to drivers who are operating in or around the area you are recruiting out of.
You can also use a number of other targeting options to refine the audience viewing your digital advertising. For instance, many platforms will allow you to target your advertising based on tagged browsers, interests, and keywords. This will help you pinpoint your exact student driver audience and optimize for performance.
Always remember, your digital advertising is only as good as its targeting.
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Custom Content
Lately, we have talked a lot about using content marketing for your driver recruiting. There are a lot of benefits driver recruiters can reap from custom content, especially when used to generate student driver applications.
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There are a number of different types of content you can use to recruit student drivers.
For instance, YouTube videos are a great way to get engaging video content in front student drivers. They can be used to display your training programs, sign on bonuses, and cab amenities to drivers who are just entering the field. You can also use them to highlight different types of benefits that your fleet offers to less experienced drivers.
Many fleets have had success using custom magazines, blog posts, and whitepapers to recruit student drivers. You can provide your audience with valuable information through a variety of different channels. This gives you a great opportunity to introduce potential drivers to the industry or answer common questions posed by new drivers.
Content marketing can give your fleet a personality that will be remembered when student drivers have passed their CDL test and are looking for a job.
As driver populations continue to age, many fleets are focusing more and more on hiring younger student drivers. By correctly building comprehensive campaigns and targeting student drivers, you can ensure that you are finding the drivers your fleet needs.
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