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Post by Jul 15, 2018 2:36:22 AM · 2 min read

Social Medias Role in Trucking

Social Media’s Role in Hiring Truckers

For any industry out there hiring techniques have been constantly changing to keep up with the fast moving tech world. From college recruitment to job boards to referrals, there’s a wide array of tools and methods an organization can use to attract the best possible candidates.

Trucking is no different. Trucking companies may be slightly behind in sharpening their hiring tools, but they’re jumping in leaps when it comes to using more diverse and yes, tech-oriented techniques in recruiting. While the commercial drivers fleet is aging, with an average age of late 40’s – 50’s, trucking companies are using tools to attract the younger workforce. And what is the younger generation excelling at? Social Networking.  According to employee background check firm HireRight, in terms of driver recruiting, social networking has increased by 13 percent in 2017 (while traditional channels such as trade publications and job boards have seen a year over year drop of 6 and respectively 10 percent).

The trucking industry has been increasingly turning to social media as a recruiting tool to attract younger truckers.

 

Trucking is a pretty isolated job, and with the increased usage of smartphones amongst truckers, the popularity of social media continues to grow. Now someone who spends days or weeks on end on the road can stay connected with family and friends, keep up with news, sports, and of course, with the trucking industry. They can make their voices heard and influence federal legislation, the #meetREALtruckers Campaign is a great example of such advocacy.

With the truck driver’s audience increasing exponentially, it only makes sense for trucking companies to now focus on recruiting through social media. Whether through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn, recruiters can capture this large audience and connect with the candidates instantly. Social media also allows for greater transparency, candidates can read blogs, connect with other employees and get a better understanding of a company’s culture, see their benefit offerings, hours of work, hiring requirements, etc. However, it is a two-way street. Drivers have to be cautious of postings on Social Media, the “Likes”, “Comments”, and “Shares” can reveal personal information they’d otherwise hope remain private.

The concept has been presented within a University of Chicago start-up, a high tech hiring system called Enlistics. It has actually won awards for matching candidates with jobs through social media. For the trucking industry the spinoff is called Enlistics: Trucking. The idea is to match truck drivers with companies by basically combing through the trucker’s social media activity, their profile and employment history and determine if it is a good match. The algorithm is looking for behavior which would predict any kind of problems, also it is looking at how a person would act outside of work and predicts if a candidate would fit with the company culture. All this while personal information remains strictly confidential.

Such concepts are paving the road for Social Media to pioneer recruiting not only in trucking, but across all industry.

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