I got an email last week from a fleet of just over 50 trucks located in South Florida.
The subject line read:
We’ve tried everything.
By which he meant:
He’s tried a few things that every fleet has done, as long as they didn’t involve doing anything different from what he usually does.
Why is there so much lousy, unproductive, unprofitable driver recruitment and advertising anyway?
Most fleet owners are clueless when it comes to driver recruitment.
Because of this, they’re often driver recruitment victims, preyed upon by vendors, recruitment agencies, and others who don’t know how to seat qualified drivers and grow your fleet.
Though 3rd party vendors, including agencies, know little about trucking, they know a lot about taking your money, posting some ads, & job posts…
& blaming the lackluster results on a driver shortage.
And here’s the thing… if you try to get a fleet owner to tell you accurately:
- Where his drivers are coming from
- What it costs to get a driver from source A or B
- What results specifically come from this campaign or that one
They can’t. They’re guessing.
This explains why so many fleet owners are stressed and unhappy about things they shouldn’t be.
The Answer To Our Question
Here’s a BIG one: Driver Recruitment Incest.
When you started your trucking business and started looking for drivers… you looked around to see what everybody else was doing and copied it.
Bit by bit, you’ve tried to do it better, but not radically different, just better.
So you have every trucking business standing in a circle looking inward at each other, ignoring anyone or anything outside the circle.
It’s incestuous, and it works just like real generational incest: Everybody slowly gets dumber and dumber and dumber.
Sobering Truth
You’ve read the headlines:
“Hundreds of Truckers Left Without Work As Trucking Companies Close Doors”
“Trucking Companies Closing at Alarming Rates”
“Trucking Bloodbath Continues…”
“Why Trucking Companies Are Filing for Bankruptcy”
As someone in trucking, I’m sure you know a handful of trucking companies close to home that have closed their doors.
You’ve seen the sobering truth.
The majority of trucking companies going under are small to medium-sized fleets.
The saying goes: The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.
Make the decision now to be on the side of the former.
– Amrit “Get Out The Circle” Dhanraaj
p.s. A few weeks ago, I was in Arkansas visiting one of the great fleets I work with. Their Chief Communications Office, Madison, was kind enough to record a video testimonial going over the impact we’ve made in their business since partnering up.
She also goes over the skeptiscim she had & what ultimately convinced her to move forward.
Amrit is the founder of GetTruckDrivers.com and a Trucking Consultant who has helped North America’s largest trucking businesses to grow exponentially. His area of expertise lies in driver recruitment and customer acquisition for ethical fleet owners.