Where Are the CDL TRUCK Drivers? A State by State Analysis

Pop quiz time: What states produce the most truck driver applications?

 

Think you can guess the top 5? How about the top 10?

Using data we’ve collected over the last 12 months through our truck driver recruiting database and extensive recruiting network (including sites like hiring-drivers.com), let’s see where the drivers are in the U.S. of A.

First up, here’s a breakdown from the last year in terms of percentage of driver applications. If you are interested contact us to find out more about our driver recruiting services.

Over the last 12 months, the top 10 states producing the most driver apps have been:

1. Texas

2. Florida

3. California

4. Georgia

5. North Carolina

6. Alabama

7. Pennsylvania

8. New York

9. Louisiana

10. Ohio

Any surprises there?

We also sliced the data from the last six months and three months, respectively, to uncover possible outliers or to see if any states might be punching above their population weight in terms of driver volume.

Over the last six months, the top 10 states producing driver apps were as follows:

1. Florida 

2. Texas

3. Georgia

4. California

5. North Carolina

6. Alabama

7. Pennsylvania

8. New York

9. Ohio

10. Louisiana

How about Florida? Big shout-out to my home state for representing with the highest volume of truck driver apps, and showing our ability to excel in things other than embarrassing news stories and manatee harassment incidents.

Other than Florida outpacing Texas, the top 10 from the last six months is about the same.

For the last three months, the 10 states producing the most apps look pretty familiar:

1. Florida

2. Texas

3. California

4. Georgia

5. North Carolina

6. Alabama

7. Pennsylvania

8. New York

9. Ohio

10. Louisiana

Takeaway

Across the board, for a whole year, we see the same states producing the most apps. It’s more than just a year-long trend, however.

These usual suspects sync with findings from Overdrive, which analyzed state-by-state driver application density from 2008-2015. According to that application density study (driver apps per capita, relative to a state’s population): “In the per-capita analysis, Deep-South states show some of the highest densities of CDL holders treading the waters for employment. Mississippi ranked the highest, but Wyoming further afield was not far behind. Vermont and Massachusetts, on the other hand, showed the lowest per-capita density of applicants. In terms of pure volume of applications, without the per-capita adjustment, densely populated states of Texas, Florida, California and Georgia, in that order, are at the top of the list.”
Source: Where Are the Drivers? A State by State Heat Map Analysis

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Trump Plans to Cut Billions From Transportation

 

President Trump’s proposed budget for 2018 will cut funding to the DOT by $2.4 billion – a 13% reduction in funding from the previous year. The DOT’s TIGER grants will be among the programs eliminated entirely.

The proposed budget is titled “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again.” It covers only areas on the federal budget which are categorized as “Discretionary spending.” These are budget items which must be re-approved by Congress every year and include categories like Defense, Homeland Security, Education, Justice, Labor, Trans
portation, and more.

If the proposed budget is approved, every agency except Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense, would have their budgets cut to make room for a $52.3 billion increase in defense spending. While the Department of Education (-$9.2 billion), the State Department (-$10.9 billion), and the Department of Health and Human Services (-$12.6 billion) would receive the largest cuts, the Department of Transportation’s budget would also be cut by $2.4 billion, a reduction of 13% from the 2017 budget.

Not all DOT programs being cut have to do with roads and highways. For example, the proposed budget would eliminate a program that subsidizes commercial flights to and from rural airports – a move which may prove unpopular with rural Republicans and Democrats.

Of concern to the trucking industry however is the elimination of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. The budget estimates that eliminating it would save $499 million. The reason given for eliminating the grants is that projects which are eligible for TIGER grants are “generally eligible for funding” by other programs.

TIGER grants take federal money and give it to states to spend on infrastructure projects. Past TIGER projects include truck parking initiatives such as a $25 million grant to eight Midwestern states to support truck driver parking. According to the DOT, $1.7 billion in TIGER grant money has gone toward projects that aim to directly benefit our nation’s roadways since 2009.

Mick Mulvaney, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in his forward to the proposal that this “is not the full Federal budget.” Instead Mulvaney referred to the document as a “blueprint” which would provide people “with a view of the priorities of the President and his Administration.”

According to the White House, if it were to move forward, President Trump’s promised infrastructure spending package would be separate from the current proposed DOT budget.

 

Source: Trump’s Budget Would Cut Billions From Transportation

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Creative Driver Retention

The successful driver workforce management program works like a funnel. The large end is for the flow of applicants; the small end restricts the flow of drivers leaving your company restricting driver departures requires a solid retention program.

A May 2005 trucking industry study identified the top 10 reasons drivers leave a company. Called "influences" the 10 reasons are: compensation, communication, problem resolution, respect, actual job duties different than recruited for, equipment, home time, lack of training, fair work rules and lack of advancement.

Understanding which influences cause your drivers to leave is critical to your retention efforts, and the best way to gain that understanding is by asking. A questionnaire soliciting driver feedback gathers a lot of data quickly while indirectly informing your employees that you are looking to improve at least some aspects of their working environment.

If compensation is your worst influence, you most likely won't be able to fund higher wages, so you need other options. Your first approach should be to dissect your total compensation plan and communicate the positive aspects or offer cost neutral alternatives.

The wages you pay may be low for the area, but perhaps your company provides a relatively high company match on a 401K or low monthly medical premiums. Communicating the strengths of your total compensation package could improve your compensation rating.

Cost-neutral alternatives could include a cash bonus to drivers opting out of your medical plan due to having spousal coverage. You might be able to shift funding between compensation components, contributing more to wages and less to a 401K, for example. New hire, tenure and safety bonuses could be eliminated and transferred into the wages category to increase mileage or hourly pay without impacting your total costs.

Creative Driver Candidate Sources

Recruiting and keeping qualified drivers has become a critical challenge for fleet operators of all sizes. Today's large for-hire carriers fund their workforce management budgets with substantial capital to support large recruiting efforts and a national team of recruiting professionals. Companies that five years ago were dedicated to soliciting customers by touting on-time performance, now solicit driver applicants by touting high pay and a family-like work environment.

In terms of recruiting, carrier giant Schneider National demonstrated their creativity last year by partnering with the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). As a result of tapping into that new source of potential candidates, 15 percent of their drivers hired in 2005 were over the age of 50.

Another partnership possibility exists with the Department of Labor (DOL). Many state DOLs have programs supporting company recruitment efforts. The Georgia DOL has the Georgia Works program that allows their unemployed to receive unemployment compensation while under going company supplied training. Additionally they can also receive up to a $240 training allowance.

To be successful in a competitive hiring market, recruitment efforts need to aggressively seek out non-traditional candidate pools. Be creative in your search and explore all options.

For example, where does the tank driver that sprays your lawn with weed control work during the cold, high-volume home heat months? If you had Spanish speaking supervisors at your locations, how much larger would your candidate pool be?

Creative recruiting demands that you look at every business and every association in your community as a potential source of driver candidates.

Five Tips For A More Effective Referral Program:

1. Determine your value proposition: What attracted your current drivers to your company and why do they like working with your organization?  If you haven’t done so recently take a few minutes and ask a few of your best drivers. You may be surprised what you hear. And it will help you to better determine the value proposition that you can use in your recruitment messaging.
2. Use employees in your employment branding: If you are not using your employees in your employment messaging you are missing a golden opportunity. Adding a face to your organization through your employees will provide you with an advantage in recruiting top talent.
3. Tap their talent networks: It’s no secret that having a Referral Program at your company can be a great way to tap into your employees’ own networks to find qualified candidates. That said, be sure to focus rewards on results as opposed to just activity.  It’s possible to expand the reach of your referral program by utilizing a recruiting company that specializes in communication with a network of drivers.  I’ve had great success with Apex Recruiting Solutions.
4. Hold periodic referral contests: Set specific beginning and end dates. Two or three months is a reasonable period. Keep a running tally of the latest numbers, and post results somewhere your drivers can access them—like your website or your Facebook page. Offer small prizes (and recognition) for your weekly leaders on a weekly basis, and Grand Prizes for your overall leaders at the end of the competition.
5. Give your drivers referral cards. If you can afford to personalize cards for each driver, all the better—because they’ll be a lot likelier to hand them out. The point, though, is that you should make it as easy as possible for drivers to make (and get credit for) referrals.

5 ways to reduce your company's recruitment costs

Here are 5 ways to reduce your company's recruitment costs:

1. Make sure current employees are happy

Money is not the only reason people come to work. Statistics show that companies that offer other incentives have a happier & more productive work force. Ideas you could consider are flexitime, travel passes, casual dress days, duvet days, free drinks machine, gym memberships, on site day care, recognition of performance and incentive programs. Ultimately, if you can keep your work force happy they will not leave and they will also be more willing to refer their friends / ex colleagues for other roles within your organisation.

2. Introduce an internal refer a friend scheme

For obvious reasons internal recruitment is the most cost-effective form of recruitment. Referrals from staff can often provide good quality candidates with relevant knowledge and experience at practically no cost. Consider offering an incentive for internal referrals such as extra holidays, theatre tickets, weekend trips, or simply some vouchers - whatever the costs you can be sure it will be less than a press advertisement or agency fee! Keep current employees up to date on what opportunities there are within the organisation - perhaps with an intranet, newsletter or regular meetings.