How to Combat a Driver Shortage

For more than a decade, the trucking industry has worried about the growing driver shortage, but it’s not just long haul trucking that has the problem.  Smaller fleets, delivery-based companies, school and city bus fleets all need drivers too.

In fact, as the economy picks up, and as the next wave of workers entering the labor force demand a different approach to work life, all kinds of industries are looking at tight labor markets and trying to find solutions to the lack of good job candidates.  This is not a time when a Help Wanted ad is enough to attract a strong pool of applicants. So what do companies that recruit successfully do, and how can those in need of reliable drivers adapt those tactics?

Introduce your company to local students

Some hospitals facing a severe nursing shortage align with nearby nursing schools, offering financial aid to promising students in return for a promise to commit to a specific time of employment. Not only does this put the hospital at the front of the competition for candidates it is interested in, it also gets its name in front of other potential employees.

A scholarship or tuition assistance isn’t necessary for companies in need of drivers, but they can connect to a local vocational school to lay a foundation for recruiting. Connect with school officials to see if your company’s focus matches a particular course or field of study offered. See if you can be a guest speaker or participate in an ongoing program, and talk about career paths that may start with driving.

Encourage referrals from current employees

Plenty of companies have a referral bonus program already in place. It may not be enough. When Google was growing and searching for qualified job applicants it doubled the reward for each successful referral. That did not bump up the number of referrals.

So the company got far more involved in helping their employees think through their contacts to spark ideas. They asked who they had worked with before whose skill in a specific area impressed them. They invited employees to group meetings and asked them to go through all of their social media contacts, and that increased referrals by a third.

So go ahead and ask instead of waiting. The upside of a good referral practice is that your employees feel that they are part of the company’s success, which will keep them onboard and referring others.

Be realistic about pay and benefits

The restaurant industry finds itself in the midst of a huge boom. Foodies are everywhere, supporting the work of creative chefs and their restaurants. The downside of an ever-expanding demand — not nearly enough capable kitchen support staff. The best get snatched away by the competition, and if working conditions are not to their liking, kitchen staffers know they will have no problem finding another job. Sound familiar?

Sometimes, it still comes down to money and benefits. Restaurants all across the country are raising hourly wages or figuring out ways to balance the pay gap between servers and bartenders who rake in big tips and line cooks and dishwashers who make just as vital a contribution but don’t see that customer cash.

It’s easy to fall into the “in my day” trap, and remember how you had to struggle on a small paycheck when you first started working. So first, don’t think about today’s pay in yesterday’s dollars. People cannot survive on what you earned 35 years ago. Second, know what the competition is offering and match or top it, even looking at raising rates for your services to accommodate labor costs. (If one of your other business costs increased significantly, you would likely pass that along to customers, right?) If you really can’t offer a higher pay rate than the competition, think about other ways to lure drivers  — paid time off after a certain period of employment; flexibility on work hours; a 401k; gym membership; free coffee and snacks in the break room.

Make your company a place where employees want to work. That is how you get more applicants and how you keep the people you have on staff already.