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Weekly Driver Recruiting Report – September 28, 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 – Fleets must work to attract a younger generation of drivers. But how?

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

We provide the Weekly Report in numerous formats every week. Which one is right for you? Watch the latest reports on our Talent Intelligence Resource page or YouTube channel, 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 September 28, 2022, Weekly Report below.

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Numbers at a Glance

Spot Rates
WOW: Down 3¢ per Mile
Spot Rates by Segment
WoW: Dry Van Down 3¢ per Mile
WoW: Refrigerated Down 1/2¢ per Mile
WoW: Flatbed Down 1/2¢ per Mile
Load Posting Volume
WOW: Down 5%
Load Volume by Segment
WoW: Dry Van Up 1%
WoW: Refrigerated Down 7%
WoW: Flatbed Down 11%
Truck Postings
WOW: Flat
Truck Driver Searches
WOW: Down 7%
MoM: Down 23%
YoY: Down 52%
Clicks on Truck Driver Postings
WOW: Down 10%
MoM: Down 29%
YoY: Up 12%

September 28, 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 September 28, 2022, is available for your convenience in PDF form below. Click the image to view and download your copy of the Weekly Trucking Insight.

Weekly Trucking Insights - September 28, 2022
Weekly Trucking Insights – September 28, 2022

Weekly Report Transcript – September 28, 2022

Hello everyone. Welcome to the show that takes a look back to help you move forward, it’s the Weekly Report. For Randall Reilly, I’m Joshua Miller. Let’s get to this week’s report.

THIS WEEK IN JOB BOARD SEARCHES AND CLICKS

Searches were down across the board with declines of 7% WoW, 23% MoM, and 52% YoY. For clicks on truck driving jobs, the numbers declined 10% WoW and 29% MoM but increased by 12% YoY.

We’ll continue to keep an eye on it, but with the continued decreases it appears there is less driver interest in finding new trucking jobs.

THIS WEEK IN FREIGHT

Load postings fell by 5% WoW. This equates to a 50% drop YoY and is 10% below the 5-year average. Dry van load postings did manage to increase slightly – a 1% WoW gain, but refrigerated postings declined by 7% while flatbed fell by 11% WoW.

The load postings were down in all regions and those totals for flatbed were 30% below the five-year average for the week. In addition to that, it was flatbed’s largest deficit relative to the five-year average since back in April of 2020.

Overall truck availability remained unchanged and flat compared to the previous week as the overall load-to-truck ratio hit its lowest level in six weeks.

Overall spot rates declined by 3¢ per mile, as did dry van rates. Refrigerated and flatbed spot rates each declined by ½¢ per mile WoW.

These rate totals come in a full 27% lower than the same week last year.

STORY OF THE WEEK

For every three retiring Baby Boomers with jobs in skilled trades such as truck driving, there is only one worker from a younger generation to fill the void. Moving forward the trucking industry must attract Gen Z workers. But to successfully do that you must understand their motivations and desires.

Carriers should prominently illustrate the different driving opportunities available and what they have to offer. For OTR focus on the ability to see the country – many in the younger generation are attracted to the so-called nomad lifestyle so this could be very attractive to them.

For regional or local positions, hone in on the ability to be around family and friends.

Gen Z is also very tech-savvy so carriers need to use technology to help attract the younger drivers they need. Make your application prominent on the mobile version of your homepage, offer a chatbot for questions, and get involved with social media to help attract younger drivers.

Implementing videos is another key to attracting younger drivers. The average Gen Z-er watches three or more hours of video DAILY. So, having one or two videos simply won’t cut it. You could even try to have your current drivers help create content by making vlogs about their life on the road.

Finally, you have to take Gen Z priorities into account. Gen Z-ers want to know they’re making a difference and contributing to society. So focus on how much of a difference our truck drivers actually make.

It was truckers who drove throughout the pandemic to keep our shelves stocked. It’s truckers who are among the first to enter into areas hit by natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornadoes. Show them how truck drivers truly are heroes on the highway and how getting behind the wheel can make a difference.

That does it for this week’s report. As always there is a downloadable PDF version of our report available in the description on YouTube or in the main body of the page on our Randall Reilly site. The PDF version goes into even more detail on some ways to attract those younger drivers to your fleet, so if that’s something you struggle with, check it out. We’ll be back next week with more updated numbers and a new story of the week. Until then, have a great week everybody.