The Key to Getting and Keeping Drivers

We know that recruiting and retaining truck drivers is becoming increasingly difficult lately, but we are here to help! This article will teach you some techniques that you can use to help recruit good drivers as well as build trust so that they stay with your trucking company.

First, let’s address a common misconception when it comes to recruiting and retaining drivers. It’s not all about the money! Driver pay might matter when you’re trying to hire quality truck drivers, however, they typically don’t leave your company over money.

This article written by Ethan Slaughter reveals just how ‘ineffective pay changes [actually] are, especially in the long run’.

What it boils down to is trust. Drivers will stick around for a long time if they trust you, even if you’re paying less than market value. So, how do you build a trustworthy relationship with your truck drivers? Ask yourself, ‘did I make this as easy as possible for our driver?’ throughout the entirety of their time with you.

Did We Make it Easy for the Driver to Apply for the Job?

Factors like a straightforward online application can greatly contribute to building trust with the drivers you are trying to hire. Make the job application easy to complete by adding an option to stop and continue filling out later.

Bonus tip: if a driver starts the job application and doesn’t finish, but you have a way to contact them, reach out and offer to finish it for them. This is super valuable because generally, drivers don’t have the free time to fill out job applications. If you can call them and type everything in for them, you can learn more about the driver during this conversation than you would in an interview. And they’re going to get to know you as well, and learn what your company is about and if the two of you would be a good fit.

Did We Make it Easy for the Driver to Work for Us?

Consider questions like: can they get their paperwork to the office easily? Can they check call easily? Can they get detention approval easily? If there are too many hoops to jump through for the driver to simply do their job, they aren’t going to want to stay with your company.

A solution to this is DriverDoc, which is a system used to track your drivers. They can download the app on their phone which makes doing their job so much easier.

Did We Make it Easy to Pay the Driver?

Step one: show the math, and outline what you’re paying them for. Driver settlement sheets can include anything from breakdown time, to per diem, load number, pickup/drop-off date, layovers, and lumpers.

Step two: send your drivers their pay as soon as you can, this way if there is an error, you will have plenty of time to get it fixed. This will build trust with your drivers, and a driver who trusts you, won’t leave. Ascend TMS has a settlement sheet built into their software, and works seamlessly with us (Superior Trucking Payroll Service) to manage your business.

Step three: limit cash advances by paying your drivers sooner. There are two ways to limit cash advances, the first one is to pay twice per week. Now you don’t have to do full payroll twice per week, but what you can do is pay a partial amount on Monday, and send them the rest of their pay later in the week. This way your drivers will have some money to get them through the weekand won’t need cash advances anymore.

Paying twice per week is a great thing to advertise to your drivers, and it will build trust because they know that they won’t ever have to wait for their money. And once you get your drivers used to this system, of getting paid twice a week, they won’t ever want to leave!

Earned Wage Access (Paying the Money as it's Due):

This is a creative way to retain your drivers because they can get their pay in advance. We offer this with a company called ZayZoon and the proof is in the statistics.

Once signing up to use this program, employers have seen a 29% reduction in turnover and saved $95,000 annually on hiring costs. Additionally, 79% of candidates said that they would switch to an employer offering wage on demand. And the cherry on top is that it doesn’t cost you anything to use a wage-on-demand program because they eat all of the risks.

You might find yourself asking ‘why would I want to fund their poor spending habits early?’

And the answer is because 4 out of 5 Americans live paycheck to paycheck and when they have to wait for their money, people end up spending more on payday loans, NSF fees, and credit card interest which only makes their problem worse.

Additionally, earned wage access could substantially set you apart from the competition, and be a major recruiting tool.

More Advantages to Using ZayZoon:

• Instant advances through the app 24/7

• No risk to the employer to non-repayment

• Financial education tools

Bonus Tip: Did We Make it Easy for the Driver to Want to Work With Us?

Consider the drivers you are trying to hire, does your ad make people want to work for you? Does it help identify your trucking company and what sets it apart from others?

Instead of saying that you have ‘good pay, good loads, good home time, good equipment, nice people’, start your ad with a question. People answer rhetorical questions in their heads all the time.

If you’re a small company, you’re the owner and the driver, and you want to hire a second truck, ask this question in your truck driver ad: “Are you the kind of driver that wants to work for a small company where you communicate and work with the owner?”

Now, not everybody is going to want that, but you’re not trying to hire everybody, you’re really looking for one driver that fits what you want to do.

This method of hiring will help with retention too because the driver you hire will already know what you’re company is about.

The main takeaway is that you should address what makes your company unique or different in your ad. Ask questions like: “How does driving a new truck sound to you? and “Do you want more say in your routes?” Then follow up those questions with “If you responded yes to these questions, then you’re our kind of people! Let’s talk.”

Written by Gentry DeWinter

Gentry graduated from Grand Valley with a Bachelor’s Degree in multi-media journalism. She is an artist who loves videography, writing, and hopes to one day own multiple dogs.

The Key to Getting and Keeping Drivers