In this era of high competition and low application rates, it’s no surprise finding the right truck drivers for your factory or business is near impossible. Once your company’s old drivers retire, looking for the younger and newer ones becomes a challenge as you have to check them from the scratch.
What makes it even more complex is that there is a large variety of different types of trucks each requiring their specific knowledge to operate. So you have to make sure the driver you hire is an expert on all the trucks or at least the trucks that you have.
But new entrepreneurs often don’t know how to find truck drivers the right way, they often opt for the wrong approach and end up regretting it. So you see, there are a few aspects to consider while hiring truck drivers, not all things work the same way so you must know what works and what doesn’t.
Now what you need in such a situation is a proper Guide to Driver Recruiting. So here we are, to guide you all the way through the hiring process so that you can confidently hire truck drivers for your factory.
So let’s begin;
Steps to Find Truck Drivers for Your Company
Mark Down Your Requirements
The very first step to consider is to know your requirements. Identify the qualities you need in your driver and then make a list to organize things in a better way. The more you’ll become specific, the easier it will become for you to find the right person. But remember, along with being specific with your requirements, you should always leave a free space for flexibility, otherwise, things can become more complicated and complex.
Write an Attractive Job Description
Once you’ve marked down all your requirements, now come up with an attractive job description to attract more and more drivers. Add some benefits with a good-paying salary and bonuses so that drivers won’t take your job for granted. You can also depict your working schedule to let the drivers know how long they would be needed in the ground.
Post your Job Description to Large Job Boards
Now to spread your message to the utmost boundaries, start posting your job description to large job boards. You can also start posting the job description to the targeted job boards for drivers to narrow down your search.
Star Ad Campaign for Your Job Advertisement
An advertisement campaign is the best way to hire anyone. Whether it be your company’s employees or your factory’s truck drivers, running a proper ad campaign would make it easier for you to search for the right person and you won’t have to search house by house.
So once you have come up with an attractive job description, approach any of the best advertisement companies to manage and carry out your truck driver ad campaign. Or you can also carry out the campaign by yourself by following the right guidance. The best way to start advertising your job is either via TV broadcasting, newspapers, or simply on social media platforms.
Send Interview Questions to Applicants via Email
The moment you start advertising for your job, you’ll begin to receive the applications in thousands of numbers. Of course, you can’t hire all the thousands of applicants, so what you need now is to narrow down the candidate’s list. How are you gonna do that?
Simple, just start interviewing each of them and you’ll come up with your decision. But of course, you’re not gonna conduct in-person interviews of each of the thousand candidates, so start by sending screen questions to each of them via email.
Write down some common questions regarding the requirements you are looking for in your driver, and mail them to all the candidates.
Once you receive all the replies from applicants, start selecting the candidates who match your requirements to proceed further.
Conduct an In-person Interview
Once you have marked down all the right people on your list, now it’s time to conduct one final interview to lock them. For this, you’ll have to carry out an in-person interview of each of them to judge the person you’re gonna hire.
Talking over the phone is one thing, and meeting someone, in reality, is another. And as it is said, the first impression is also the last one, so to judge them by their first impression, it is important to conduct an in-person interview. Once you have interviewed each of the candidates, now it’s time to follow up with the next step.
Don’t Forget to Carry Out a Road Test
Now to practically check whether the people you’re gonna hire are eligible for the job or not, you’re gonna have to conduct a road test. Schedule the road test day with each of the drivers, though it’s gonna be a time-taking process, but trust me, it will be worth the effort because by testing their driving abilities, you can be more sure about your decision and a hint of doubt and confusion would be cleared.
Do their Medical Test
While hiring a truck driver, it is vital to make sure they are not on drugs because otherwise, it can bring many problems for you and your company. So once you have decided whom you’re gonna hire, don’t forget to do a drug test for the last time and make their MVR report for emergency situations.
Now Start Hiring
Once all is set, you’ve found the ones that meet your requirements, conducted their road test, and cleared any doubts of drug use, now it’s time for the action. Start hiring the candidates you have chosen, prepare their documents, take their oath and signature, and complete all the formalities to get them started on the job.
Don’ts
Don’t Be Hasty
This is the one mistake people often make while recruiting new drivers. They rush off with their decision of either choosing or regretting someone. It’s not something appreciated and suggested because you should take complete time before making the decision and also give your driver a time too. Haste makes waste, as always said, so make sure to look over and over your decision before finalizing it.
Don’t forget to examine the Truck before Testing
Never take your driver for a test driving before examining the condition of the truck. It can either lead to severe circumstances, or you may end up losing a good driver because the problem might be in your truck but you think it’s the driver.
Don’t Test on the Outdated Trucks
Don’t ever compromise on the updated technology while testing your driver. Get rid of outdated trucks and provide your driver with the most recent models of trucks so that he can perform to his utmost.
Do’s
Do provide them with a Flexible Schedule
While handing over the drivers’ schedule, make sure to add a free space and provide enough flexibility, because after all they too are humans and have families to give time to. So you should never expect them to give you their 24 hours of service.
Do give them a Little Importance
Showing respect, and a bit of importance to the drivers you are going to hire, and making them feel they are an integral part of the company can help you with the hiring process.
Get to know them in person
Before hiring truck drivers, make sure to know and understand them in person, check their track record, and meet their families and friends so that you can be assured of whom you are hiring and your mind can be cleared of any doubts regarding the drivers.
I am Tristan who loves to ride and spend time with my jenny (horse) and my love Mark. After completing my graduation, I have been working as an accountant in a private firm in Cologne.
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