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Driver Recruiting Weekly Report – April 14, 2021

It’s Wednesday, April 14, 2021. You know what that means … it’s time for a brand-new edition of Randall-Reilly’s Weekly Report. We dive into all the latest truck driver recruiting data on searches, clicks, rates, and more, as well as covering a new story of the week.

This week’s story: using driver feedback to improve driver satisfaction and your fleet’s company culture. Check back on our blog or Randall-Reilly’s YouTube page every Wednesday for the latest episode of our Weekly Report.

Can’t Watch the Full Video Report?

We provide the Weekly Report in numerous formats every week. Which one is right for you? Watch the latest reports on our Recruiting Resources or YouTube pages, use our Numbers at a Glance section for quick visual references, download the Weekly Report PDF (available below), read the transcript, or listen to the audio version of the April 14, 2021, Weekly Report below.

Numbers At A Glance – April 14, 2021

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Truck Driver Searches

WoW: ∇ Down 1%
MoM: ∇ Down 15%
YoY: Δ Up 27%

Load Volume

WoW: Δ Up 5%

 Volume by Segment

WoW: Dry Van Δ Up 1%
WoW: Refrigerated ∇ Down 6%
WoW: Flatbed Δ Up 9%

Spot Rates

WoW: Δ Up 3¢ per mile
This is an all time record level.

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Clicks On Truck Driver Postings

WoW: ∇ Down 9%
MoM: ∇ Down 20%
YoY: ∇ Down 58%

Truck Postings

WoW: Δ Up 14%

 Truck Posting by Segment

WoW: Dry Van Δ Up 7%
WoW: Refrigerated Δ Up 18%
WoW: Flatbed Δ Up 10%

Rates by Segment

WoW: Dry Van ∇ Down 3¢ per mile
WoW: Refrigerated ∇ Down 8¢ per mile
WoW: Flatbed Δ Up 5¢ per mile
Specialized rates were up 9¢ per mile.

[/one_half_last]

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Download the PDF Version of Our Weekly Report

Would you like to have your own copy of the trucking industry data? All of the information covered in this week’s report for April 14, 2021, is available for your convenience in PDF form.

Click the image to download your PDF.

April 14, 2021 - Download
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Weekly Report – April 14, 2021 Transcript

Welcome back to the Weekly Report, for Randall-Reilly, I’m Joshua Miller. Let’s not waste any time and get right into it.

THIS WEEK IN JOB BOARD SEARCHES AND CLICKS

We start off with a little bit of good news/bad news. Good news is truck driver click activity increased for the first time six weeks. The bad news is – click traffic was still at the third-lowest point on record, only surpassing the previous two weeks’ activity.
Search traffic dipped slightly WoW, but overall search traffic has risen or dropped by less than 1% every week since mid-January. Here’s a full breakdown of the numbers.
Truck driver searches were down 1% WoW and 15% MoM, but up 27% YoY. And for clicks on truck driver postings we saw an uptick of 9% WoW, and drops of 20% MoM, and 58% YoY.

THIS WEEK IN FREIGHT

Load postings in the truckstop.com system rose by 5% last week. That comes as Dry van increased by 1% WoW – volume has been holding fairly steady here for the last four weeks – refrigerated dropped by 6% WoW – and that’s the largest decrease in five weeks there, and flatbed rose by 9% WoW. This rise sets yet another volume record and is now the sixth time in seven weeks that flatbed volume has set a record.
Truck postings jumped up by 14% WoW marking the second consecutive week of double-digit gains. It is possible these recent gains are a direct result of the ongoing surge in new entries into the trucking industry. March notched a record number of newly authorized trucking companies, and so far, April is on track to surpass that number.
As you may expect all three major segments posted gains with dry van up by 7%, refrigerated up by 18%, and flatbed rising by 10% WoW. These increases also come as the ratio of loads to trucks fell to the lowest level in nine weeks, however for a bit of context this “low” number is still the eighth highest on record and has only been surpassed by the previous seven weeks.
Spot rates rose by 3¢ per mile reaching an all-time high, besting the levels set in June of 2018 by 1¢. These gains came from the flatbed and specialized segments as both dry van and refrigerated spot rates declined.
Dry van was down 3¢ per mile, while refrigerated dropped 8¢ per mile WoW. Meanwhile flatbed was up 6¢ per mile and specialized was up by 9¢ per mile WoW – both of these rates were higher than the previous all-time high numbers for the segment by at least 5¢ per mile. And for what it’s worth according to most industry experts are predicting this “new normal” with elevated rates could last into 2022.

NOW FOR OUR STORY OF THE WEEK

With all these records being set and the market being so competitive it’s more important than ever to take driver feedback into consideration and strive to improve driver satisfaction and the overall company culture.
At the moment there is an abundance of freight to be hauled and drivers are in high demand, so make sure you take their feedback seriously. Drivers see if a customer is honoring their contract terms, if their treatment of drivers is acceptable or not, or if a customer isn’t turning freight as fast as possible.
Now could be a great time to address these problem areas as many carriers are oversold every day and have the leverage needed to approach these issues with shipping customers. Getting driver feedback can bring these problems to your attention as well as let you get to the heart of the matter with the customer, while simultaneously showing your drivers you are listening to them and are doing what you can to improve their conditions.
Another key to keeping drivers happy and improving your overall success is doing all you can to eliminate confusion. Driver pay, for instance, can be a source of frustration and dissatisfaction if your drivers aren’t totally sure of how things work with your fleet. A recent trend analysis by WorkHound found that 41% of driver comments included questions seeking clarification on issues relating to driver pay.
When drivers understand their pay – meaning they’re sure of how it works and how much they can expect to be paid – they are more satisfied with the work and the carrier they work with.
Taking steps to keep drivers happy and help them foster a better work and home-life balance is crucial with the current demand. Every driver you’re able to keep on the road and happy is one less lead and hire you need to generate.
That’s it for this week’s report. We look forward to seeing you back here next Wednesday morning for another edition with all the latest data and a new story of the week. Until then, have a great week everybody.