The economy is rebounding, but capacity is tight and an already-strained driver population is struggling to keep up with demand. In a market like this, carriers need to ensure all their seats stay filled. Ongoing industry struggles have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, making it more difficult than ever to retain current drivers and recruit new talent.
The driver shortage – or driver squeeze – has been a hot-button topic across the industry for years. The issue has only been exacerbated by COVID-related driving school closures, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse and an aging workforce that continues to retire en masse. Driver turnover also remains an industry challenge. With many carriers struggling to recruit experienced drivers, keeping seats filled and trucks rolling can become a real challenge.
When quality drivers are in short supply and hiring needs to happen quickly, companies can benefit from partnering with a company like Tenstreet, a trucking industry software firm that specializes in connecting drivers and carriers, to increase their pool of qualified drivers and ensure they have a full view of each applicant’s background.
“Tenstreet really allows us to spot red flags before a driver is hired. That alone is worth the investment because hiring a driver and finding out they do not meet the criteria afterward is so much more expensive,” Outwest Express Director of Recruiting Jose Combs said. “It also saves us a lot of time.”
Common flags could include things like previous failed drug tests, driving violations or inadequate physical examination results.
Once a driver is hired, recruiters turn the wheel over to safety. Tenstreet’s safety solution ensures a smooth transition as it leverages all the efforts of recruiting and onboarding, creating a through line from recruiting all the way to retention so you have more transparency into a driver’s entire life cycle.
Current market and industry factors have made it more important than ever for carriers to ensure all their driver files and government-required paperwork are up to date. Carriers cannot afford to be hit with fees over paperwork mishaps in an already-constrained environment. While Tenstreet’s recruiting and onboarding services can make it easier to get drivers on the highway, the company’s DQF (driver qualification file) services help by ensuring all necessary paperwork and safety information are updated and secure.
Tenstreet’s Enhanced DQF service enables carriers to get ahead by ditching paper documents, managing files more proactively and connecting several different processes in one place. It integrates with existing recruiting, onboarding and safety processes, bringing all of a driver’s information together in one central location and spanning the driver’s life cycle from recruiting to retention.
“From a time perspective, Tenstreet allows you to pull lists including exactly what you need to monitor. You can set up notifications so you are alerted if a driver’s documentation is about to expire,” Fort Transfer Director of Recruiting and Retention Casey Lehman said. “These things often go through more than one department, so keeping everything in one spot is helpful.”
Ensuring DQFs are complete and accessible makes it easier for carriers to remain in compliance with Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations. This is important because DOT regularly completes audits of these files. Keeping out-of-date or inadequate files is a costly mistake, leading to avoidable fines and unnecessary hurdles.
DQF is just one part of safety management. This month, Tenstreet is rolling out a comprehensive safety management solution that will provide safety managers with a robust, integrated system marrying DQF management with CSA and telematics integrations, MVR monitoring, points management, training and testing, and more.
In today’s market, carriers cannot afford to push safety management to the back burner anymore if they want to stay competitive with their peers. Implementing an effortless solution like Tenstreet’s is one way to take the task off the carrier’s plate without letting compliance fall by the wayside or falling victim to a litigious attack — or worse, a nuclear verdict.
For more information on Tenstreet’s Safety Management solutions, contact [email protected] or call 877-219-9283.