Struggling To Hire Professional Truck Drivers? 5 Tips To Attract & Hire The Best Candidates

The driver shortage in Canada is here…and it’s big.  Both private fleets and for-hire carriers are competing for a scarce resource – qualified and high-quality truck drivers.  If your company is struggling to find and hire good candidates, here are five tactics to improve your driver recruiting and hiring:

1.  Craft a Comprehensive Job Description

Begin with a detailed job description that accurately portrays the role's demands. This clarity is vital to avoid mismatches between job demands and the driver’s expectations

Include the level of commercial driving license required, but also physical demands (e.g., lifting, loading, unloading), and/or specialized equipment skills (e.g., securing flat deck trailers; operating a trailer-mounted crane or forklift; off-loading bulk commodities from tanker trailers; handling hazardous materials)

Balance the years of professional driving experience you are asking for against the size of the candidate pool you’ll attract. The more years of experience you demand, the smaller the pool to choose from.  In some cases, it’s better to hire an enthusiastic “green” driver rather than inheriting the bad habits of a seasoned veteran.  But if you decide to hire a new driver, you’ll need to have a professionally-run orientation, safety training, and driver finishing program in place.

2.  Be Transparent On Total Compensation

Provide clear information on the total compensation the driver can expect to earn. Base these estimates on the average incomes for similar driver roles to set realistic expectations

Communicate the monetary value of compensation items that are not part of an hourly wage, like dental care, prescription drugs, and healthcare coverage on items such as physiotherapy services

3.  Proactive Recruitment

Ensure your website is candidate-friendly, with an easily navigable careers page highlighting the benefits of working with your company. And leverage online channels, including social media platforms like Facebook, and job boards such as Indeed or Glassdoor.  You can also explore innovative approaches like virtual job fairs, or a Saturday morning job fair and BBQ at your facility.  You can promote and manage registration for these through platforms like Indeed. 

Finally, utilize internal referrals from your own staff and drivers. Incentivize employees with bonuses for referrals who are hired and stay with the company. 

4.  Community Engagement and Networking

Encourage your HR and recruiting team to participate in trucking industry events and networking opportunities to raise awareness about career opportunities within your organization, and so that they can learn more about the industry they are hiring for.

5.  Build a Candidate Database

As you implement these recruitment techniques, create and maintain a database of potential candidates; develop stay-in-touch campaigns to build a talent pipeline for future recruitment needs, rather than starting from scratch on every open position for drivers.

6.  Outsource Your Fleet and Recruiting Challenges to Canada Cartage

If the on-going management of your private fleet is distracting your company from your primary business goals, consider the fleet outsourcing model.  At Canada Cartage, we offer dedicated fleet outsourcing services, allowing you to do what you do best while we take care of all aspects of fleet management, including hiring, training, and managing drivers.

You get all the benefits of having your own private fleet, without the hassle and distraction of running it yourself.

Want to learn more? Contact us to speak to one of our fleet outsourcing consultants.  We will set up a discussion to learn more about your situation and see if the outsourced model could be right for you.