Search
Close this search box.

The Most Important Metric to Track When Recruiting Truck Drivers

I know I should bury the lead so that you read the entire way down the page, but I can’t help myself.

Cost Per Hire (CPH) is the most important metric for a recruiter to track.

How do you figure out your cost per hire? Of course, that is easy. Take the amount you spent that month (or year) to recruit drivers and divide that amount by the number of drivers you hired during that period. But do you know your CPH broken down by each channel you use to get applicants? You should.

I know my Cost Per Hire, now what?

When your fleet is frantically looking to hire drivers cheaply you probably find yourself throwing money a lot of different directions. You hopefully spend money on pay per click campaigns, SEO, job boards, and at least a few publications that drivers read (if you aren’t doing these things click here, we have you covered).
You might have a general idea of where most of your qualified applicants come from, but do you know how much it costs to hire a driver from a print publication vs a PPC Campaign? This number is vital for you to know if you are hoping to recruit more drivers for less money in the future.

Focus on efficiency.

Recruiting drivers isn’t just about finding a way to get enough applications to get the hires you need. Efficiency is key. Make sure you know what each channel you use to recruit drives is actually costing you per hire, not just per application. An ad in a magazine might get the phone to ring, but it is wasting your recruiters time or is it bringing you applicants with the experience and qualifications you need?
As important as tracking the number of qualified applicants you get from each source is, don’t make the mistake of thinking that only one touchpoint is responsible for each of those applications. Your print advertisement may not fill up your inbox with qualified applicants, but that driver who is looking to make a change might remember your name when he sees your PPC ad.
Be sure to touch qualified applicants as many times as possible and track what happens when you stop spending money on one channel. If nothing happens, you just made a great decision. But if another source of applications suddenly starts to fail, you need to go back to square one.
Recruiting enough truck drivers during the current shortage is a challenge but it can be done. Use each step of the sales lifecycle to guide you through your recruiting process and you will find the drivers your fleet needs.

Do you have problems finding the qualified drivers your fleet needs?

Our driver recruiting experts would like to help you figure out how to recruit the drivers you are looking for as efficiently as possible. Click below to learn more about how we can help.