Search
Close this search box.

The 3 Biggest Mistakes Driver Recruiters Make

Although we often compare driver recruiters to marketers, one of the key differences is that very few marketers operate under the same pressure as the average driver recruiter. Fleets lose hundreds or thousands of dollars every day that a truck sits idle. Commitments to customers have to be kept, and upper management gets a little more tired of spending thousands just to find drivers every year.
This pressure can make being a driver recruiter a stressful job, and stress can sometimes lead to mistakes. This list will probably be controversial. If you disagree with us, be sure to jump to your nearest social media channel to let us know what you think.

The three biggest mistakes most driver recruiters make:

[hr style=”3″ margin=”40px 0px 40px 0px”]

1.  Expecting Improvement Without Changing Tactics

Yes, we have all heard:

“The definition of insanity is repeating the same action over and over while expecting a different result.”

This is often attributed to Einstein, Mark Twain, or even Ben Franklin. This quote isn’t actually from any of these guys, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t apply here.
Many of the recruiters I talk to have been attributing almost the exact same portions of their budget to SEM, banner ads, and print for years. They might be tapering off their spending on print, or even using some fancy new targeting tools on the digital side, but most of them are mostly maintaining the status quo and just hoping they can find better drivers faster.
This is a losing tactic every time. Recruiting is a zero-sum game. Driver recruiters are competing with each other on more than just the cost-per-click of search terms. Every driver another fleet hires is one more your fleet didn’t. A recruiter that wants to stay ahead of the game needs to be constantly innovating (or at least trying to).
What can you do that your competition isn’t? Take a hard look at content marketing. Don’t just ask yourself how you can drive a certain number of apps each month. Figure out how you can get drivers so excited about driving for your fleet that they come to you asking about open positions.
(click here to get in touch with us if you have any questions about using content marketing to recruit truck drivers.)
[hr style=”3″ margin=”40px 0px 40px 0px”]

2.  Not Refining Their Fleet’s Message

Every recruiter knows what their fleet’s “hook” is. It might be pay-per-mile, a massive signing bonus, home time, or even spiffy new rigs that offer luxuries to your drivers.

Just knowing what you want to tell drivers isn’t the same as knowing exactly how to present it.

Drivers know  they have options when it comes to finding a new position. This means that you need to craft a unique, dynamic message in order to stand out. Drivers are also inundated with ads for new jobs everywhere they look. This means that you have to do something spectacular to get a driver’s attention.
The only way to make sure your message is powerful, unique, and exceptional is to constantly refine and tweak every word in every ad. When you find something that works, stick with it. But don’t be afraid to try something new after a while. It is easy to assume that you have “arrived” when it comes to your fleet’s messaging once you have run a few successful banner or search ads. But since the pool of available drivers is constantly changing, your message will need to evolve as well.
How do you figure out what works and what doesn’t? I’m glad you asked…
[hr style=”3″ margin=”40px 0px 40px 0px”]

3.  Forgetting to Track Everything

Tracking recruiting analytics can be an intimidating job for those of us who aren’t math geniuses.
For most of us a report that tells us how many drivers we recruited, where they came from, and how long they stayed can be overwhelming. Even a medium-sized fleet might be hiring hundreds of drivers a year, and knowing what works and what doesn’t is a massive chore that often gets neglected.
To complicate matters most fleets are getting drivers from a plethora of sources. Various campaigns, some in-house and others outsourced often end up dumping drivers into the same “bucket.” What happens to those applications after that? As long as there is a steady stream of drivers being hired, often recruiters don’t really care.
But of course they should care. Your fleet might be wasting tens of thousands of dollars on ads that generate lots of applications, but almost no hires. You might be missing opportunities to take that wasted money and spend it in channels that are more efficient.

Relocating a marketing budget can sometimes feel like getting a larger one.

There are certainly more than 3 mistakes that driver recruiters often make, but these are 3 that I have observed. Hopefully these tips will help your fleet hire more qualified drivers from here on out.