Speed-to-contact and hiring cycle length are critical factors when it comes to hiring truck drivers, according to recent analysis from truck driving technology platform Tenstreet, released this week.
Tenstreet examined information from its database of thousands of carriers and more than 1.5 million drivers to uncover effective hiring practices for today’s uncertain market. They found that carriers looking to fill driver positions need to act faster when they identify candidates and ensure that their hiring process is efficient.
The research identified the following “critical success factors:”
- Carriers that respond to driver applications within five minutes see a 6.2% hiring rate, which is nearly double the platform average of 3.7%.
- When the hiring process extends beyond the platform average of 10 to 15 days, hiring rates drop by up to 50%.
- Process delays always impact hiring rates, regardless of whether they stem from the carrier or the driver.
“Any delay in the hiring process will reduce the hiring rate—it doesn’t matter if it comes from the carrier or the driver,” Tim Crawford, chief executive officer at Tenstreet, said in a statement describing the findings. “That’s why we encourage clients to take a moment to experience their own application process, even if it involves going to a truck stop with spotty service. A faster, easier experience means more hires and less wasted spend.”
The research also showed that drivers are submitting more applications to larger fleets than smaller fleets (those with fewer than 50 trucks), and that applicants are more interested in private fleets as well.
“There may be fewer drivers in the market, but the ones who are out there are highly motivated, and they’re moving to private carriers and bigger fleets,” Crawford said in the release. “We see applicants who aren’t just browsing but taking action and moving as quickly as the hiring experience allows them to move.”
Tenstreet presented the analysis at its annual user conference, Uconnect25, held in Austin earlier this spring.
