How to Simplify Trucking Recruitment with ATS (2024 Guide)

July 16, 2024

Truckers are essential to the American economy, ensuring goods reach destinations across the U.S. They keep supply chains moving, delivering supplies and raw materials. Without them, the economy would halt, affecting everything from grocery stores to factories.

At Truckers Flow, we understand the challenges that trucking companies face in recruiting qualified CDL-A drivers. To address this, we leverage Facebook Ads to generate high-quality leads, using targeted advertising to connect with potential drivers and capture their interest through engaging content and compelling calls to action. To streamline the recruitment process, we use an automated system that collects lead data and transfers it to a Google Spreadsheet, ensuring all relevant information is captured accurately and efficiently. Effective communication is critical, so recruiters follow up with potential hires promptly via email and SMS, methods proven to increase response rates significantly—25% for emails and 45% for SMS.

Working closely with recruitment agencies has given us insight into the value of a ATS. This knowledge inspired us to create our own ATS, integrated with our platform, OpenOTR.

What is OpenOTR?

Before we continue to our ATS, let’s explore OpenOTR. This specialized platform is tailored for the trucking industry, where truckers can register to find job opportunities, and companies can post their job offers. Serving a dual purpose, it generates leads beyond Facebook Ads and provides a comprehensive solution for both job seekers and employers, making it a valuable resource in the recruitment process.

Benefits of Our ATS

Our ATS offers numerous advantages that make it an invaluable tool for recruiters. Here are some key benefits:

Enhanced Efficiency and Time Management

Automation: Reduces manual tasks, allowing recruiters to focus on strategic activities.
Centralized Data: All candidate information in one place for easy access and management.

Improved Candidate Experience

Streamlined Process: Timely and consistent communication makes candidates feel valued.
Positive Interaction: Enhances your company’s reputation and attracts quality candidates.

Enhanced Collaboration and Communication

Team Collaboration: Share notes and updates in real-time.
Integrated Tools: One-click email, SMS, and phone call options for seamless communication.

Scalability and Flexibility

Growth Adaptability: Handles increasing volumes of applications without performance issues.
Customization: Tailor the system to meet specific recruitment needs and workflows.

By leveraging these benefits, trucking companies can significantly enhance their recruitment processes, ensuring they attract and hire the best CDL-A drivers efficiently and effectively.

When using our ATS, recruiters are receiving comprehensive and organized information about each lead, including:

Date of Lead Generation: The exact date and time when the lead was generated.
Full Name: First and last name of the potential driver.
CDL Status: Whether the lead has a CDL-A license.
Experience Level: Detailed information on the driver’s experience.
Position Interested In: The specific type of driving job the lead is interested in.
Location: State or region where the driver is based.
Contact Information: Phone number and email address for easy communication.
Campaign Source: Indicates whether the lead was generated via Facebook Ads or OpenOTR.
Lead Status: Current status of the lead (e.g., not contacted, in process, qualified, not qualified).
Notes: Space for recruiters to add notes regarding interactions, follow-ups, and additional relevant information.

Managing Lead Statuses Effectively

How many times have your recruiters complained about calling the same old leads, dealing with duplicates, and wasting your company’s budget on unqualified drivers or those outside your hiring area? This common frustration can be a major drain on resources. We found a solution for this problem. Our ATS allows you to efficiently manage and update lead statuses to ensure your efforts are targeted effectively.

We gather your information (statuses) to create an exclude audience. This way, your job offer will be visible only to candidates that match your company culture.

By updating lead statuses accurately—such as marking leads as “not enough experience,” “out of hiring area,” or “pass SAP/MVR“—you can refine your recruitment efforts and improve the quality of your candidate pool. According to industry statistics, companies that utilize effective lead management see a 20% increase in qualified applications.

If you mistakenly mark a candidate as “hired” when in reality that driver has SAP issues, a DUI, or other disqualifying factors, your job ad could be shown to 1,000 more unqualified candidates. This not only wastes your money but also means your recruiters end up with a pool of poor leads.

At the end of the day, the accuracy of your lead statuses directly impacts your recruitment success. Efficiently managing this data helps ensure that only the best candidates see your job offers, saving time and money while enhancing the overall quality of your hiring process.

Time Savings with Truckers Flow ATS

Implementing our new ATS can save recruiters significant time. Studies show that automated systems can reduce recruitment time by up to 50%. Additionally, centralized data management and streamlined communication can increase recruiter productivity by 30%, allowing them to focus more on high-value tasks.

At Truckers Flow, we are constantly striving to innovate and meet the needs of our clients. Our ATS is designed with user-friendliness in mind, ensuring that recruiters can easily navigate and utilize its features. We listen to feedback and continuously improve our system to provide the best possible experience for our users.