Driver Recruiting Weekly Report – January 12, 2022

The Weekly Report brings you updated data on recruiting metrics including click, search, and spot rates, plus a new story of the week. This week’s story – The FMCSA is asking the federal government for an emergency approval for a 3 year apprenticeship program.

New episodes of the Weekly Report premiere every Wednesday at 10 AM CT on our YouTube channel and Recruiting Resources page.

Register for the Digging Deeper “Where Are You Losing Leads?” Online Premiere!

Our latest episode premieres TOMORROW! Sign up now to be a part of the online viewing with David and his guests, McKensie Worley and Seth Becker.

They will talk through the recruiting process and talk about where fleets are losing valuable leads, and what can be done to stop it. Following the viewing there will be a LIVE Q&A session.

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 January 12, 2022, Weekly Report below.

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Numbers at a Glance

January 12, 2022 Driver Recruiting Insights

Would you like to have your own copy of the trucking industry data? All of the information covered in this week’s report for January 12, 2022, is available for your convenience in PDF form below.

Weekly Report Transcript – January 12, 2022

Hello everyone and welcome to the Weekly Report. If you like our report don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe to our YouTube channel. While you’re on YouTube you might want to check out some of our brand-new content. Our all-new podcast hosted by my good buddy Dave, Yard Jockeys, debuted last week, and a new show called Recruiting Roundup with yours truly premiered this past Monday.

Plus, we have a new episode of Digging Deeper that will premiere online tomorrow and will drop on YouTube and our website Friday morning. If you’d like to register for that online viewing, which happens to also feature a live Q&A following the episode, I’ll leave a link for you below and I have a little Digging Deeper teaser I’ll play for you at the end of today’s report, so stay tuned for that.

But now let’s get to the report.

THIS WEEK IN JOB BOARD SEARCHES AND CLICKS

Searches were up 21% WoW and 15% MoM, but down 17% YoY. Clicks were up all the way around. We saw increases of 30% WoW, 41% MoM, and 59% YoY.

The increase in activity for the first week of 2022 was to be expected based on historical data, and all tracked driver types had at least a 16% WoW increase for searches and a 21% increase for clicks.

In addition to those gains, last week had the largest number of clicks since the first week of April 2020, which if anyone is keeping count was 91 weeks ago. So, we got that going for us … which is nice.

THIS WEEK IN FREIGHT

Spot volume bounced back from the holidays with total load postings increasing by 44% WoW, and all three major segments seeing sizable gains. Dry van was up 46% WoW, refrigerated posted the lowest increase with a 14% gain WoW, and flatbed shot up by 63% WoW.

Overall truck availability increased 46% WoW, as the load-to-truck ratio eased slightly but still remained elevated. Dry van and flatbed load-to-truck ratios moved higher, but refrigerated eased off slightly from last week’s record level.

Spot rates fell 10¢ per mile WoW, with the only segment seeing an increase in rates being flatbed, which rose by 4¢ per mile; while dry van dipped by 4¢ and refrigerated fell by 14¢ per mile WoW.

STORY OF THE WEEK

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (the FMCSA) has asked the Office of Management and Budget (the OMB) for emergency approval of a three-year apprenticeship program.

If approved this program would allow carriers to employ drivers between the ages of 18 and 21 for hauling freight across state lines. The FMCSA expects to receive applications from 4,500 carriers and over 40,000 drivers.

Under the proposed apprenticeship program, apprentices who currently have a CDL need to complete two probationary periods. During that time, they would be allowed to operate in interstate commerce only under supervision with an experienced driver in the passenger seat.

To qualify as a supervisor, drivers must have at least 5 years of commercial driving experience and must have been employed for at least the past 2 years.

The two probationary periods combine to include at least 400 hours of on-duty time, of which at least 240 hours must be spent driving. Upon completing the second probationary period, apprentices can begin operating in interstate commerce unaccompanied by an experienced supervising driver.

It should be noted that critics of the proposal have noted that there are no standard tests or evaluations given by an independent party before apprentices are allowed to drive solo. The qualifications for a teen truck driver passing the probationary periods are left entirely to the discretion of the employer whom the critics say is incentivized to get the driver out on the road as soon as possible.

If the OMB approves the proposal, the data collected from participants may help settle several ongoing questions such as:

Is allowing younger drivers on the road a safety hazard?

Will younger drivers end up boosting carrier revenues by filling cab seats?

And that does it for this week’s report. Thanks for joining us today. Don’t forget to come on back and see us next week for all the latest and updated data. As promised, that teaser for Digging Deeper is coming up next, so stay tuned don’t forget to register for the online premiere! Until next week, have a great week everybody!