What happens when a driver calls at 6:07 p.m. on a Friday?
If you’re like most fleets, they go to voicemail.
Recruiting teams across the country spend tens of thousands of dollars every month to generate interest, only to let many of those opportunities slip by because no one was available to pick up the phone. The real problem? Those missed moments are happening at scale and costing you more than you think.
Drivers Don’t Follow a 9-to-5 Schedule.
Neither Should Your Recruiting.
According to recent research from Tenstreet and Double Nickel, 35 to 50% of all truck driver applications are submitted after hours or on weekends.
Think about that. Nearly half of your potential drivers are reaching out when your team is already done for the day.
Our internal data shows that drivers are typically in conversations with 6 to 8 other fleets during their job search. If your team isn’t the first to respond, or doesn’t respond promptly, you’re at serious risk of losing that driver to another fleet.
The Real Cost of Missed Calls
Let’s run the numbers. Across 754 fleets, we tracked 1.01 million driver applications over the past 12 months. That breaks down to about 1,340 applications per fleet, per year.
If 40% of those come in after hours, that’s 536 leads you never even had a shot at.
With an average lead-to-hire ratio of 43:1, that translates to 12 lost hires per year.
Those missed hires don’t just hurt your recruiting metrics. They leave trucks sitting idle. If a single truck generates $7,000 per week in revenue, and you delay filling that seat by just four weeks, that’s nearly $30,000 in lost revenue per hire.
Add it up. Twelve missed hires could cost your fleet over $360,000 a year in unclaimed revenue. That’s on top of $18,000 or more in wasted lead spend.
And it all starts with a missed call.
So What Can You Do?
You don’t need to overhaul your recruiting team to improve your response after business hours. Here are five practical ways fleets are working after-hours and weekend leads right now:
1. Have recruiters stay late or work weekends
This is the most direct way to close the coverage gap. While it isn’t a long-term solution for most teams, even partial evening or weekend shifts can help you catch high-intent leads while your competitors are off the clock.
2. Rotate an “on-call” phone
Some fleets forward after-hours calls to a shared phone that rotates between team members. That way, recruiters don’t have to be at their desks, they just need to be reachable. It’s an easy way to keep coverage without full evening or weekend shifts.
3. Use part-time or offshore help
When full coverage isn’t realistic, contract or offshore support can help fill the gaps. While they won’t replicate your recruiters, they can make sure drivers hear a voice, get logged, and don’t fall through the cracks before your team can follow up.
4. Use automated texts to keep leads warm
Instant SMS replies can confirm a driver’s interest and let them take the next step, like scheduling a call or completing a short pre-screen, even when your team is offline. It’s a low-effort way to keep the momentum going instead of letting leads go cold.
5. Use an AI call agent to answer inbound calls 24/7
Every other solution we’ve discussed comes with tradeoffs. Some require added labor, others offer inconsistent coverage, and most still fail to get leads into your ATS.
Stratas Agent is different. It is Randall Reilly’s AI-powered call agent built from the ground up for driver recruiting to support your team, not replace them. The AI picks up inbound and click-to-call leads around the clock, speaks in the language drivers actually use, handles pre-screening, answers detailed questions about pay, home time, and equipment, and pushes structured lead data directly into your ATS.
Your recruiters are still the heart of your operation. Stratas Agent simply extends their reach, delivering dependable coverage without the tradeoffs of added labor, inconsistent handoffs, or the black hole of voicemail. It gives your team a reliable safety net that captures every lead, every time, without asking them to be there to answer every call.
Want to hear it for yourself? Call (844) 685-4542 and put Stratas Agent to the test.
The Leads are There, But Who’s Answering?
Drivers are applying and calling outside of traditional hours every day. Some of those leads are for your fleet. Most of them are also reaching out to other carriers. If you’re not set up to respond when they do, you’re likely missing opportunities you never knew you had.
Whether it’s rotating coverage, automation, or AI, the fleets that adapt are the ones that win the hire.
Want to learn more about how other carriers are handling after-hours leads? Fill out the form below to talk to a Randall Reilly rep today.