The nation’s largest driver recruitment advertising agency, Conversion Interactive Agency, and Professional Driver Agency (PDA), which specializes in driver retention, recently released the results from their latest driver survey regarding topics important to drivers.

Conversion Interactive Agency and PDA have taken questions directly to professional drivers on a wide variety of driver concerns to gather insights about
everything from if drivers are currently looking for a job, communication preferences, online viewing habits and what would they like to see changed about the driver recruiting process.

In a market where demand is overwhelmingly outweighing supply, over half of the drivers surveyed state they are not looking for a job.

“In an extremely competitive driver market like we’re in today, the carriers who are winning are those who are investing in recruitment strategies to capture both passive and active drivers,” said Kelley Walkup, president and CEO for Conversion Interactive Agency. “The data shows us that Facebook and YouTube are leaders in where drivers are consuming content and information, so establishing a strategy on these channels is critical to success in recruiting. These strategies develop brand preference from both drivers who are looking today and from those who aren’t actively looking but will remember brands when they’re ready to make a change.”

Home time turned out to be as important as pay when drivers were asked what was most attractive to them. Further data indicates that the most important part of home time to a driver was getting them home on time and having their home time requests honored.

“In this tight market, not only do we see challenges in recruiting, but we are also seeing an uptick in turnover across the industry,” said Scott Dismuke, director of operations for PDA. “The companies that are best fit to combat a rise in turnover are going to be those that are paying attention to, and addressing the details. Drivers have made it abundantly clear in this survey that home time and honoring their home time are things carriers need to be focused on.”

Driver feedback also left no doubt on what they wish carriers would change about the overall recruiting process. Over 70% of drivers indicated that they just wanted recruiters to be honest with them.

“There is a clear gap between the experience carriers are selling to drivers and the actual experience they’re delivering,” added Walkup. “I would challenge motor carriers of all sizes to audit the driver experience at their fleet and be sure what you’re selling in your recruiting departments mirrors what you’re delivering. This will build trust with drivers, and ultimately improve retention for fleets.”

One-way carriers can take pressure off the recruiting department is by retaining their current drivers. A majority of drivers indicated in this survey that there is a window to retain a driver once they decide they want to leave, albeit a small one. Over 60% of drivers indicated they like to give at least a two-week notice before leaving a carrier.

“Once a driver decides to leave, data is showing they are typically going to give a carrier two weeks’ notice,” said Dismuke. “In reality, that gives a carrier about a week to fix or address a driver’s issue, otherwise that driver is probably going to leave. Proactive communication, having the ability to address individual issues quickly and keeping a driver from that tipping point is essential in saving a driver.”

“If a carrier’s turnover is going up, the current driver market is not the time to make data assumptions,” Dismuke continued. “Now, more than ever, carriers need facts when making decisions. Proactive communication and accurate driver data are key.”