There are three don’ts in truck driver recruitment and retention. Don’t lie to a driver, don’t mess with their money and don’t mess with their home time.
Drivers may may give you a second chance if you lie, but if you do it again, they are out the door, TJ Graff, president of Star Behaviours said during a discussion at the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada’s conference in Niagara Falls, Ont.
Dale Howard, regional safety manager, Pilot Flying J agreed, saying the company’s drivers are its best recruiters and the biggest success is a low turnover rate.
Graff uses predictive hiring to get the best candidates into fleets. Analytics and primary behavioral assessment are the first steps in the screening process. “We are looking for drivers that are more like Tom Brady than Johnny Manziel,” he said, referring to NFL quarterbacks with different personalities and careers.
It is important to treat drivers with respect and show them you value them and their work.
“Every day is driver appreciation day,” Howard said. “We don’t pick a week and give a guy a ball hat and a hot dog and hustle him out the door because he’s late.”
The company makes sure the driver knows they are the most valued person in the room. It makes a huge difference and costs nothing, he added.
Honesty is key
There may be candidates with a great skill set, but if they are not a right fit for a carrier, it will lead to higher turnover rates.
Gerald Carroll, national director of safety and compliance, Wesbell Logistics, said everything should be honestly explained during the interview. Wesbell serves a niche market and 90% of the work includes nighttime driving. The driver must handbomb freight and be comfortable in dealing with customers at parts dealerships.
“We want to make sure the driver understands everything that is required of them before we take it to the next step in the hiring process,” he said.
Recruitment red flags
A red flag is raised if a driver has been jumping from job to job every six months. Another is how a candidate is dressed. If their clothes are dirty and stained and buttons aren’t done up properly, it is a matter of concern. Being late for an interview is also a big no-no.
His company wants drivers who will stick around for a long time. He added that customers like dealing with the same driver as well, and some want to know what the carrier’s retention rate is.
Howard said that he hires for attitude, as skills can be taught. He prefers to hire people who have never hauled fuel, because when they are done being trained, they only know the Pilot Flying J way to do it.
Attitude and work ethic
A great attitude and work ethic is key, and a good personality never hurts. Howard said there is no point hiring a skilled driver who hates the world and is going to annoy customers and fellow truckers.
He revealed that hiring a new driver costs the company $18,000 before they get into a truck with a trainer. “When I hire a driver I like to tell them this is the last job they’ll every have,” he said.
New hires need a go-to person for their questions. They may not be comfortable bugging the operations people or the safety rep.
Carroll said every terminal has a team lead who is an experienced driver available to answer all sorts of driver queries. Dispatchers make sure to call drivers by their names and not by their truck number or route. Drivers appreciate this, he added.
Frontline representatives
It also helps if recruiters or safety managers have also been drivers. This spring, Howard said there was a flu outbreak, and he was down four drivers. He jumped in a truck and delivered fuel for 10 days. When drivers see an executive doing that, there is credibility and buy-in, he noted.
Graff added that drivers are frontline company representatives. It could take a sales representative months to secure an account, and a driver can lose it in a few minutes.
Howard added a final recruitment tip: make sure to walk a candidate back to their vehicle after an interview. It does not matter if the vehicle is old or new. But if it is dirty on the outside and messy inside, what is the company truck going to look like if that candidate is hired?
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