Recruiter (new to trucking industry) looking for driver opinions on the recruiting process. Help!

I'm willing to forgive executives for distancing themselves from drivers, on the principle that they can't possibly have time enough to deal with every little problem... but my direct supervisor, and the support staff that I need to communicate with, directly, over issues like payroll, insurance, maintenance, time off, training, safety, compliance, recruiting, and dispatch - if these people do not have the courage to see me, face-to-face, on the rare occasions when I am able to come in to do so, then they are clearly not intending to treat me with the respect that I am due. Most especially, if my recruiter is hiding from me, after I start with the company, then he knows that he screwed me.

How people interact, in the terminal, is a clear sign of what they think of one another. If I'm a second-class citizen, then I'm moving to a better country at my first opportunity.

No one should be surprised or dismayed by that.

 

There is also information you have to pry from recruiters. What is the avererage time drivers have been with the company? What insurance options are there, and what is the cost? What are the average miles for someone with less than 1 yr, 2-3 yrs, 4 plus years? And of course the evasive, are your trucks API or inventor equipped? So far only 2 companies could answer what is the average time, no one could tell me what the insurance would cost, just the company, and the miles is usually a driver average, not a driver/experience combination.

 

How many hours between dispatch a load to expected delivery time?

Does the fleet round up the drivers who fail to maintain 45 or 50 mph average each morning prior to sunrise potentially to either protect accounts from service failures (Late) and to fire drivers who are late and don't care?

Do you have a limitation on Shell Rotella containers each month?

How do you feel about inverter installed in a truck yu leased by a dealer that leased it to you?

Do you run a APU off gas or desiel, main tanks or a third tank only?

Does APU heat and cool the sleeper and cab? Is it capable of cranking the main engine on that truck?

Do you fire drivers for refusing, lawfully; a load issued by a dispatcher intent on breaking HOS?

What percentage of your tractors are new and ready to be placed into service today to replace a beat up worn out oldest trucks in your fleet? Did you know I visited your yard and noticed a few dozen obvious easily fixed repairs that need to be done but does not seem to be ever done because shop is too full with junker trucks going to students.

 

I noticed the OP has gone crickets.

 

Sorry if some or all of these questions have been presented Here's a few of my own. Combine these with all the other questions and experienced driver nuances that have been presented here, and one can see clearly that a 3rd party application clearinghouse has no way of effectively answering these questions for EVERY company they might represent.

Reality for me would be that as soon as I found the recruiter is not an in-house recruiter, I'd end the conversation right there. I don't mean to rain on the OP's parade, however, that's me.

Can I take the truck home when passing by my house?

What is the rider policy. If there is one, what will it cost me?

Are pets allowed, if so is there a deposit, how much?

Can I install a DISH satellite on the truck at my expense?

How much is the detention pay? When does it kick in?

How much is layover pay? When does it kick in?

Does the company use steel or cable tire chains for inclement weather?

What kind of trucks are provided?

Are the transmissions manual or automatic? If manual, 9, 10 or 13 speed?

Are the motors governed, if so, at what speed?

Does the company control when I fuel, where I fuel & how much I can put it each time? If I'm off routed to get fuel, am I'm paid for those additional off route miles?

Is prepass provided, if so, is it prepass plus?

Does the company have forced per diem? If so, what is the per mile rate, and does the company charge an administrative fee for it?

Does the company use a Transflo type of system for document transfers? If so, do I have to do it in the truckstop on their devices, or can I use my own phone/tablet app for scan and sending?

How often am I going to get paid?

Does the company do direct deposit into my my bank account?

Do they deposit it on a Comdata type of card and then I have to transfer it from the card to my account?

Is there are charge for doing that by the card company?

 

Having recently switched jobs, I can give you my personal observations.

1. Companies do not give enough information in the job ads. Whether it's because they know it will reduce the interest in the job or they want to rely on the recruiter's ability to hook the fish, I don't know. What info are we looking for?
A. Pay (mileage, hourly, accessorial, etc.)
B. Health insurance (when it kicks in, types of plans offered, deductible, cost)
C. Home time
D. Vacation time offered
E. Type of equipment (truck specs-governed speed, transmission, sleeper/day cab, trailer types-reefer, flat, tank, forward/rear looking drive cam (deal breaker for me) etc.)
F. Area of operation

2. Most big companies do not offer the wages required to make a switch. If the company hires new, just out of school, drivers, they won't be fielding must interest from veteran drivers. I've been behind the wheel for 24 years with over 3 million safe, accident free miles. I would not even entertain a job offer that pays .36 a mile and keeps me out 2-3 week at a time. That's just me. There may be some that would take a job like that.

3. Honesty. There is very little honesty in this industry. Be up front and honest, from the get go, and you won't have to cover your tracks later. As a recruiter, you can only offer what the company you work for offers. Don't promise something that the company doesn't offer, just to hook the fish. That's how companies get a bad reputation.

I ended up taking an initial pay cut to do something that I've always wanted to do. I took a job with a small (9 drivers) heavy haul company here in KC. The pay is good and the health benefits are outstanding. I stay within a days drive from home, and that was very important to me. I looked for over a year at many companies. I interviewed with several, but there was always a reason not to jump.

Filling out the app is a daunting task. I made it easier by creating a MS word sheet with all the pertinent info I needed. I could then copy and paste it into the app.

Good luck getting companies to be more honest in their hiring practices. They won't get must response if they are honest. Until the pay comes up, the "driver shortage" will continue. But let's be honest, there isn't a driver shortage, there is a shortage of drivers that are willing to work for the wages that companies are offering.

 

Hey guys... I am gonna jump in here, but first let me start by saying that I have been for the last almost two years now working as a recruiter... before you judge, let me also add that I am an ex truck driver, I did OTR, pulled van refer flatbed and even tanker... did some regional, and even a local gig before needing to come off the road for a family health issue..
Let me clear up one misconception.. there are different types of recruiters... I am an independent recruiter who works out of my home.. for the most part I place experienced drivers with good companies.. my job is to find, screen, qualify and place the right driver in the right position with the right company.. I do not get paid until the driver has been to orientation, hired and been with the company for 90 days... so, it is not advantageous for me to lie to a driver.. because I rely heavily on referrals from my drivers.. also, i want t who that driver calls if they are needing or wanting to change.. maybe they want to switch to something local, or whatever.. because I already have that drivers info and they are already screened and qualified.. so I just have to update an place.. that saves me a bunch of work and time... so for me, living to a driver just to get them in the seat yields me zip but takes me a lot of work and time..

However.. that is not the case for all recruiters.. there are those who are paid a small base wage, get a bonus for putting a driver in the orientation seat and get another bonus when the driver is hired.. and they certainly can benefit from saying what they need to just to fill a seat.. getting three bodies to orientation pays more than getting one qualified driver their who gets hired.. they make their checks filling as many seats as they can and think of the bonus they get when one actually makes it through orientation as a tip... and it is those recruiters who give all recruiters a bad name...

And that is a shame.. because a good recruiter actually works for both the driver and the company.. we work for the driver, is finding what company meets what the driver wants and what the driver qualifies for.. we can even negotiate with the company on some things.. for example, I had to call a company and negotiate a different home time schedule for a driver.. was able to do it.. of course it was not a mega company.. it was a good small company...

How to tell if you are working with a good recruiter or not.. is actually simple... so good recruiter will build a rapport with you, will take time to qualify you. They will be asking you questions about what you have done, what you are looking for and what is important to you.. what will make you leave.. because if I put you in orientation only to have you walk out when you find out you will be driving a Volvo automatic and there is n way you will drive a Volvo.. then I don't get paid for all the work and time I put in... so for me, it is just about what gets you in the seat.. but finding out what with make you get out of the seat... if your recruiter isn't trying to find out what you dislike.. then chances are they get paid as soon as you take a seat in orientation or are hired...

One final thing.. please do not PM me, because I am not here to recruit.. I have other resources and channels I use for that.. I am here just to chill and chat..

 

Good companies don't need recruiters, bottom line. When I see a posting telling me to call a recruiter, it's a red flag big time.

 

New drivers have to work there way up to get with the good companies.

 

DTP... that is very not true! It may have been true years ago.. but is not true today... as a recruiter what I do for a company is weed through hundreds of applicants who do not meet the requirements of what the company wants to try and hopefully find a qualified driver....
a good company does not want to do that, so they utilize a quality recruiter who screens, qualifies, and verifies drivers for them..
just look around this site at all the advise given to new drivers looking for work.. they are advised to apply to a company who wants experienced drivers even though they have no experience.. and they do..
I placed an add for a company who requires a minimum of 3 years recent experience.. and within two hours of placing the add received 20 applicants, none of which had
3 years experience and had a few that didn't even have CDLs yet but were willing to get one... the reason why the good companies use recruiters is because there are far more unqualified or under qualified applicants to weed through.. a job posting brings in hundreds and hundreds of applicants many of who are not qualified.. it is like panning for gold.. I am looking for those few nuggets of gold in all the gravel.. the experienced qualified driver..
for me, when I find those drivers, I am not going to waste all the time I spent fining them and just send them on a bus to some mega or mini mega... because, good drivers and good companies are my resources.. if I find a good driver and send them to a company and in a year or two things change in their life or with the company and they want to move.. I want them calling me to place them with another good,company...

The recruiting part of this industry is a lot like the driving side of it.. there are good recruiting companies and there are merge recruiting companies.. there is a lot of turn over with the recruiters.. more so with the in-house recruiters and third party recruiters... the independent recruiters are like the owner operates of the recruiting world... as such we don't work for any company.. but work with a few to several companies.. we lose a good company if we send them bad drivers and we lose good drivers if we send them to bad companies...

More and more companies and businesses in every industry is moving to using recruiters to screen and only send them qualified candidates

And as recruiters we are doing more and more of the HR work..