Increase Driver Recruiting Wins with a Better Applicant Experience

It’s no surprise to anyone in the transportation industry that there is a dire need for drivers. In fact, the industry as a whole needs to fill nearly 900,000 more positions in order to keep up with demand. With such a widespread driver shortage, recruiters must be able to fill open positions fast without losing qualified candidates to other companies. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done.

When it comes to recruiting new drivers for a fleet, there is a tedious back-office process that must be followed for purposes of compliance. This includes thorough background checks, driving record authentication, and past employment verification. With so much to handle before hiring, driver applicants can disappear before an offer can be extended, leaving trucks empty and resulting in decreased revenue for your organization.

If this sounds like a familiar occurrence, don’t worry. It is possible to increase qualified recruiting wins through a faster, more streamlined candidate experience. The best candidates don’t want to be kept in the dark, and having the right processes in place on the back end can help ensure faster hires and a more productive organization.

Build a Better Applicant Experience

Thanks to the incredible demand for drivers, applicants can afford to be picky when it comes to working with new companies. This means that carriers must be able to set themselves apart from the competition—both in how they market to drivers in order to better stand out, as well as the quality of the driver applicant experience. Finding great drivers starts with moving them through the hiring funnel quickly, with as few roadblocks as possible.

Here are a few ways to ensure the best possible driver experience every time:

1. Remove any barriers when applying. Think about your company's current driver application process—is it easy to find openings and apply for specific jobs? Are drivers easily able to apply from a mobile device? Making it as simple as possible for drivers to find and apply for positions can increase driver applicants. Recruiters should create a steady cadence of tracking and communicating with these new leads.   
2. Increase engagement and conversations with applicants. If applicants are faced with ‘radio silence’ from a carrier for too long, they’ll find opportunities elsewhere. Even if you're waiting on verifications, it’s important to make sure you’re consistently reaching out and engaging with driver applicants through whatever channels they prefer—whether by email, text message, or even phone. Keeping applicants engaged while you’re managing the verification process shows that you’re serious about hiring the driver.
3. Automate tedious manual processes like employment verification. Obtaining previous employment verifications can be cumbersome and time-consuming when done manually, pushing the application process out to weeks rather than days. Automating and streamlining these processes with secure solutions means your team can hire drivers within days of an application, mitigating any risk of them accepting a position elsewhere.

Increase Recruiting Wins with the Right Tools

DriverReach makes it easy to streamline and automate the driver applicant experience, fill open positions and increase utilization. Whether you’re looking to better communicate with driver applicants, track their movement through the hiring funnel, or speed up the VOE process, DriverReach has a solution. Move more applicants through the hiring process, streamline back-end processes, and track quality metrics with DriverReach.