Where Are the Drivers? A State by State Heat Map Analysis

Pop quiz time: What states produce the most truck driver applications?
Think you can guess the top 5? How about the top 10?
Using data we’ve collected over the last 12 months through our truck driver recruiting database and extensive recruiting network (including sites like careersingear.com), let’s see where the drivers are in the U.S. of A.
First up, here’s a breakdown from the last year in terms of percentage of driver applications. (Hover over the map to see each state’s percentage tally.)
Over the last 12 months, the top 10 states producing the most driver apps have been:

1. Texas

2. Florida

3. California

4. Georgia

5. North Carolina

6. Alabama

7. Pennsylvania

8. New York

9. Louisiana

10. Ohio

Any surprises there?
We also sliced the data from the last six months and three months, respectively, to uncover possible outliers or to see if any states might be punching above their population weight in terms of driver volume.
Over the last six months, the top 10 states producing driver apps were as follows:

1. Florida

2. Texas

3. Georgia

4. California

5. North Carolina

6. Alabama

7. Pennsylvania

8. New York

9. Ohio

10. Louisiana

How about Florida? Big shout-out to my home state for representing with the highest volume of truck driver apps, and showing our ability to excel in things other than embarrassing news stories and manatee harassment incidents.
Other than Florida outpacing Texas, the top 10 from the last six months is about the same.
For the last three months, the 10 states producing the most apps look pretty familiar:

1. Florida

2. Texas

3. California

4. Georgia

5. North Carolina

6. Alabama

7. Pennsylvania

8. New York

9. Ohio

10. Louisiana

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Takeaway

 
Across the board, for a whole year, we see the same states producing the most apps. It’s more than just a year-long trend, however.
These usual suspects sync with findings from Overdrive, which analyzed state-by-state driver application density from 2008-2015. According to that application density study (driver apps per capita, relative to a state’s population): “In the per-capita analysis, Deep-South states show some of the highest densities of CDL holders treading the waters for employment. Mississippi ranked the highest, but Wyoming further afield was not far behind. Vermont and Massachusetts, on the other hand, showed the lowest per-capita density of applicants. In terms of pure volume of applications, without the per-capita adjustment, densely populated states of Texas, Florida, California and Georgia, in that order, are at the top of the list.”
For a more in-depth look at how regional driver application density has changed over the past decade, watch Overdrive‘s video below. If you’d like to learn more, or to start a conversation about how to use data to revitalize your recruiting efforts, get in touch with us anytime. Knowing where drivers are applying from is a great first step toward getting them behind the wheel.
 
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