It’s that time of year again when we have the opportunity to recap key findings and insights from the 2019 Annual Recruitment & Retention conference.
Before diving right in, we want to thank all the hosts, including Conversion Interactive Agency, Transport Topics, and American Trucking Association, for bringing together a group of motivated, passionate professionals and setting the stage for a productive dialogue on today’s most pressing challenges. This multi-day event always reinforces the community in our tight-knit industry. All attendees seemed to share the same fundamental belief that we need to work together to enact positive change and attract more individuals into our industry.
Full Application vs. Lead Form
One of the workshops, A Full Driver App is Yesterday’s Golden Nugget: Why Digital Short Forms Are Today’s Treasure in Driver Recruiting, presented compelling information about the driver application experience: when candidates are required to invest more than ten minutes on an online application, the drop-off rate is more than 50%. And that only increases as the minutes go by – to upwards of 70%.
If your application takes more than ten minutes to complete, then you haven’t just failed your driver by making it difficult to work for you; you’ve also handicapped your recruiting team from reaching their respective hiring goals, a finding Tenstreet’s historical data supports.
One of the first questions we always ask potential clients is, “Have you filled out an application from the perspective of a driver?” Many times we hear, “Yes, it took me forever and I gave up.” If there are deficiencies or gaps in the application process, you are absolutely diminishing the return on your ad dollars and efforts.
Our IntelliApp is the breakthrough and answer to this industry problem – and it’s leveraged by thousands of carriers. At present we house data on over 3.6 million active CDL drivers.
Did You Know?
Our IntelliApp is a full-DOT compliant application made possible via our signature unmatched pre-population network effect can be completed in minutes.
It is important to distinguish between pre-population and auto-fill. Whenever you browse on Chrome or Safari you may be asked if you would like to auto-fill a specific form with your saved data, which brings in your name, email and phone number. The same applies for applications with a Facebook and/or LinkedIn integration. The IntelliApp’s pre-population takes it above and beyond. It brings in license information, FMCSR questions, work history, accidents, incidents, violations, MVR information, and more.
Did you know that in 2018 the average experienced driver held 6.9 jobs in the past three years? When you factor in the preceding seven years, this can be overwhelming for anyone to provide in one session, much less provide on a mobile device. Since 76% of applications originate from a mobile device, this is key.
The Verbal Okay is Not Okay
There was some suggestion at the conference that after you get a lead app you can just get a verbal “okay” from the driver to run all the background reports you need. Because we care about our clients, we think it’s important to point out the compliance landmines of doing this. While the FCRA does have a verbal exception that allows drivers to provide consent over the phone, the recruiter must first verbally tell the driver all the information in FCRA Summary of Rights, the disclosure, the authorization, and the 1681m notice (including the list of consumer reporting agencies and their contact information). Yes, all this information, every.single.time before you get the drivers okay. Otherwise, it’s not a valid verbal consent. What’s more, this doesn’t work for PSP. The FMCSA requires that you get a written PSP authorization and keep it on file subject to audit by the FMCSA.
Also, various states prohibit the use of verbal notices. Even if you get over the hurdle of verbally providing all the required information, your company is still at risk. Why? Because you do not have any proof that you provided the driver with this information and that they provided you with their consent. In 2018, we saw 15 carriers sued by one individual claiming that the required notices weren’t given. All the carriers claimed to have provided the notices verbally. We care about compliance and we don’t want our clients to get sued, so we wanted you to know this.
Our platform was developed with compliance in mind, which is why we make it easy to get electronic signatures for all the required FCRA notices and summaries of rights. Remember, before you pull MVRs, CDLIS, background checks or other consumer reports you must provide the driver a stand alone FCRA disclosure and get the driver’s authorization along with a host of other notices like the FCRA Summary of Rights, 1681m notice, and various state notices which may be applicable. Just clicking a submit at the end of a lead app will not comply with these FCRA requirements. Be wary of these suggestions, and make sure you partner with companies that care about compliance, so you don’t end up on the wrong end of a costly lawsuit.
Congratulations!
To all the 2019 Transport Topics “Recruiting Professional of the Year” finalists and special kudos to our Tenstreet, LLC champion Rachel Lovell at Milan Supply Chain Solutions for winning the award. It’s a well-deserved recognition for all the hard work and we could not be prouder of her success!
