Fleets Use Novel Approaches in Efforts to Recruit Drivers
This story appears in the April 7 print edition of Transport Topics.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Far from the shiny, technologically advanced trucks that are the centerpiece for many Mid-America Trucking Show attendees was a world where miniature basketballs, candy, hats, cup holders and T-shirts held sway.
There, in the West Wing of the Kentucky Exposition Center that hosts MATS, more than 130 recruiters for an industry increasingly short of drivers were vying for attention in hopes of capitalizing on improving spring freight demand.
One was David Kuza, a driver-turned-recruiter at Greatwide Truckload Management. He told Transport Topics as he offered strings of company-colored blue beads to passersby: “Freight is up and moving now after a hard, hard winter. People are looking for better-paying freight, and hopefully we can give it to them.”
Kuza’s company is a unit of Greatwide Logistics Services, which ranks No. 58 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada.
A few feet away, Troy Howell, who heads recruiting for heavy-haul carrier TMT Inc., sounded a similar note.
“Everyone is positive in spite of the weather,” Howell said. “There seems to be some restlessness out there. Some of that, I think, is company drivers who want to move into their own ride.”
Recruiters are in pursuit at a time when turnover is at historically high levels, some fleets have hordes of unseated trucks and the scarcity of drivers is squeezing capacity.
In the West Wing, they not only had to jockey for attention with other fleets, but also dozens of technology companies, a China Pavilion filled with parts vendors, toy truck hawkers, antique car displays, Hooters girls and live animals, in booths and walking with their owners.
One carrier ran its own Wheel of Fortune, giving away merchandise. Others ran contests to drum up interest, such as U.S. Xpress Enterprises, which invited visitors to leave business cards for a chance to win six iPads.
“Booth traffic has been really great,” said Cambrie Gustafson, a representative of U.S. Xpress Enterprises, based in Chattanooga, Tenn., and ranked No. 16 on the for-hire TT 100.
“Traffic has been strong and steady,” said Leah Johnson, director of recruiting for No. 89 John Christner Trucking in Sapulpa, Okla. “Two or three years ago, it was dead.”
“Freight volumes are strong out there — we have more freight than trucks,” Kurt Erickson, director of recruiting at No. 9 Landstar System, told TT. “We are having a better year than last year in terms of sign-ups. You can just tell they are contemplating [a carrier switch].”
Recruiters also outlined strategies focused on making contacts rather than immediately snagging drivers.
“Our goal in being here is to get drivers to make applications,” Gustafson said. After prequalification at the booth, the company followed up last week with potential candidates.
Drivers are looking at U.S. Xpress mostly because they are not getting miles at their current carrier, and because they are looking for dedicated runs, she said.
“We managed to pique some interest in drivers who weren’t familiar with NFI,” said Pete DeStasio, director of contractor relations, whose booth prominently featured a candy jar.
“They’re looking for a happy medium” between work and home time, DeStasio explained, creating an opening to sell NFI’s all-dedicated market approach.
“That gave us the wedge to get in there and tell our story,” he said, stressing that dedicated run drivers are home nightly or several times per week.
Con-way Truckload’s booth featured drivers Becky Hill and Victor Martinez, who could tell candidates firsthand about their experiences.
Hill switched to trucking from factory work in Oregon, following her brother into the industry.
Martinez, who told TT he enjoys mentoring new drivers, emphasized it’s not a job for everyone, since only a small percentage keep driving more than one year.
“We are attempting to put who we are on display,” Howell said. “There has been a lot more traffic this year. We have had a few promising candidates.”
JCT’s Johnson said many booth visitors were focused on collecting information about lease purchase programs.
“Our program is very straightforward,” Johnson said. “More than anything our job is to get them comfortable about what they are getting into.”
Another recruiter said the booth creates brand awareness, comparing the approach with Super Bowl advertisements.
David Salyer, who leases eight trucks to expedited carrier Bolt Express, in Toledo, Ohio, told TT that he believes the increase in freight actually makes it easier to keep drivers happy as they run more miles.
“We are doing better than the industry as a whole because we fill a specific need for the auto companies,” Salyer said.
Staff writer Daniel P. Bearth contributed to this story.
