The trucking industry is one of the most important transportation industries in the United States. While there are ships and railroads to move goods, trucks comprise much of the ground transportation market. Maintaining solid, dependable employees is important to future growth and stability for many trucking companies. Therefore, the trucking industry must constantly come up with recruiting strategies and ideas.
Job Fairs
Recruit potential employees into the trucking industry via job fairs. These fairs can take place at high schools, colleges, and universities, and participating can do a lot of things for the trucking companies that set up a booth. These fairs provide an opportunity for your company to give a positive view of available in the trucking industry. It’s important that the person manning the booth is a member of management, this way he has credibility as a source and he can offer interviews on the spot, if possible. There should also be cards or fliers with company information (including company Website); so that interested parties can conduct research on their own at a later date.
Benefits
While it’s true that employees need to have good pay, what will often turn them into loyal workers are the benefits offered by the company. Easy examples include health care, eye care, and dental plans that will ensure the overall health of a driver and his or her family. Another benefit that will make employees seriously consider a long term career is the amount of paid vacation received. For many truckers with families, it’s also important to make sure that they get time at home, guaranteeing that truckers will have a certain amount of time to spend at home is also a big draw. These types of benefits should be included in employment advertisements, whether in a newspaper or on television, and they should be listed alongside salary to catch potential employees’ interest.
Apprenticeship
Another great suggestion for the trucking industry is to offer an apprenticeship program. This allows people (usually students) to begin learning the trade of trucking. Going through an apprenticeship makes the job more structured, and it will weed out people who just aren’t interested enough in the job to stick with it. It will also make the trucking industry seem more approachable. It’s also important that this type of program be advertised extensively. Make announcements at the schools with which the company is affiliated, and have representatives from the company come to talk to classes and answer questions about the program. Put ads in local newspapers, and approach outreach educational facilities about including at least a blurb in their newsletter including all of the necessary contact information for the program.