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Driver Recruiting 101: The Key to Timely Recruiting

In driver recruiting, timeliness is everything. It’s the difference between a driver recruiter getting the new hires they need to get trucks back on the road, and increasing their cost-per-hire exponentially.
As a driver recruiter, you need to reach the right driver with the right message at the right time. If you can do that, as difficult as that is, you’ve done your job. That will drive the application submissions you need, and help you meet your recruiting goals.

Today, let’s look at ways recruiters can display ads to drivers at the right time.

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Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing, from here on known as SEM, is the number one way to get your message in front of drivers at the right time. Here’s why:

  • 48.4% of company drivers reported they are more likely to search for a website via search engines.
  • 67.5% of company drivers report they are most likely to search for a job via search engines.

This tells you a lot about the process drivers are taking to find new jobs.They aren’t combing through job boards or company sites. Instead they are heading to Google or Bing because they know they will get the most relevant results.
Blog: Recruiting Owner-Operators: Don’t Neglect Search

With SEM ads, you are getting your ads in front of drivers who are actively searching for new positions.

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Ad Placement

Just because drivers are using search engines to find new positions doesn’t mean that they aren’t ending up on job boards or other media websites. Actually, many of these job board sites actively employ SEO consultants or experts on their team to ensure they’re ranking high for important keywords.

Often drivers land on these pages, regardless of whether they meant to or not.

Many job boards can generate a number of multicarrier applications, providing applications for many different fleets. This provides drivers with the carrier that best fits their employment needs. However, by placing targeted ads on these websites, driver recruiters can push drivers to their own job pages.

Recruiters can directly generate the leads they need for their fleet.

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Events

If you were naming timely recruiting techniques, events probably isn’t in your top 5. It may not even be in your top 10. But, if that’s true, you’re looking at events all wrong.

Let’s look at GATS for instance.

You’ll find exactly what you expect on GATS show floor, including hundreds of OEMs and aftermarket manufacturers, the coolest displays, and tons of services available for drivers and fleet managers. What you may not expect is the recruiting pavilion. With thousands of drivers walking around on the show floor, there are plenty of opportunities to get the applications you need.
Blog: The Recruiting Lifecycle: the 4 Stages of the Driver’s Journey
The same is true with truck shows and industry events across the country. Events give you the perfect chance to get in front of drivers (which is part of the problem), but also get in front of drivers who are actively looking for jobs. Most events with significant driver audiences will provide recruiting areas solely for drivers who are looking for new jobs.

This is the perfect place to get your recruiters in front of job searchers.

Reaching drivers is easy. Any one of your channels can get you in front of thousands of drivers. But that doesn’t mean they are converting. If you want to generate applications and keep your cost-per-hire low, you have to make sure you are getting in front of drivers who are currently searching for a new job.