Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/526371
50 commercial carrier journal | june 2015 R emember when driver job applicants lined up outside your office or kept your 1-800 number ringing off the hook? Recruiting really was never that easy, but it might seem so compared to the current situation. The future doesn't look any better either. The trucking industry could fill 30,000 driving positions immediately. Carriers also will need to fill 100,000 positions every year for the next decade to keep up with freight volumes and replace drivers leaving the workforce, according to American Trucking Associations estimates. To make matters worse and more frustrating, only a small fraction of job applicants actually are qualified. To compete for this small pool, more fleets are using technology to streamline the recruiting and hiring process. "We have definitely become a more analytical company," says Collin Varner, director of marketing for Denver-based Navajo Express, a 1,000-truck refrigerated carrier that specializes in gro- cery store deliveries. "The industry is very competitive, and we need to make sure we are using our money and spends to attract new drivers in the most effective way." Navajo works with an ad placement agency to generate leads, most of which apply through an online application. Company recruiters immediately complete the remaining steps to qualify and hire applicants through Tenstreet's Web-based software system. Navajo is analyzing data from its ad agency, Tenstreet and its internal human resources systems to improve its driver recruit- ing and retaining strategies. One goal is to identify a profile of drivers most likely to stay and succeed. The company then can target its future marketing efforts toward these drivers. Driver recruiting goes high-tech By aaron huff