3 Ways to Attract the Best Drivers to Your Haulage Business Prepaid Financial Services
The life of a lorry or truck driver isn’t for everyone. Long days out on the road with only the radio for company most of the time, sleeping in an uncomfortable cabin and being away from your friends and family involves a lot of sacrifice. In the USA there have been a lot of recent headlines highlighting a major truck driver shortage, leading to delayed orders and more expensive shipping and delivery costs. This makes it more important than ever for businesses to attract and retain the top talent, which can be done so in a few ways.
Understandably drivers can easily get sick and tired of having a truck that regularly breaks down or isn’t fun to drive. If your business has invested in a brand new fleet or made significant improvements to its current vehicles then this can quickly appeal to some of the best drivers out there. Including modern equipment such as sat navs, digital radio and using GPS to reduce delays is one way to do this.
Another is by making each truck individual, as has been done successfully by Eddie Stobart. Every one of their vehicles has its own name, which helps it stand out and makes drivers feel valued. Allowing them to add a bit of personality and customise their cabins can be good too, especially as drivers will be spending a lot of time in there.
As drivers spend a lot of time on the road, they can soon rack up a lot of expenses buying food and drinks (especially when their only option is usually an expensive service station). Rather than forcing them to pay for all of this, offering an efficient expenses system can be a good idea. Though asking drivers to submit claims forms with all the receipts attached and not reimbursing until the end of the month is a bit old fashioned.
Instead, providing drivers with a prepaid card that has a set amount on to cover expenses such as fuel, food and drinks can work. This could develop into a rewards system, whereby the amount is increased depending on the more deliveries that are made and arrive on time.
Once you have managed to recruit some top-quality drivers for your haulage business, it’s important that you continue to track and analyse your recruitment process. Whether your retention levels seem to be falling or rising, it needs to be tacked to work out what is and isn’t effective. This can determine your future actions.
For example, reviewing where your budget is being spent on recruitment and what works could uncover that marketing or advertising is expensive and ineffective. This money may be spent better elsewhere, on increasing retention through upgrading your fleet, especially if referrals or word of mouth are a firm driver for recruitment.
All three of these methods should help your haulage business grow its recruitment operation and keep hold of your best drivers.