How to Recruit Top Trucking Talent
Recruiting and retaining top drivers is a true challenge for carriers and fleets around the world. As the shortage of qualified drivers continues to grow, heavy-duty and medium-duty fleets must compete to attract top-tier operators.
Drivers consider many factors when choosing a new fleet – compensation, incentives, healthcare, signing bonuses, work/life balance and more. Of course those things are important for recruitment, but it’s also important to show drivers what makes your fleet special.
Many times, that comes down to showing drivers that you respect them enough to offer the best total driving environment.
The Best Equipment
At the end of the day, elite drivers want to work with the best engines and technology possible – and that means Cummins. New technologies like the SmartAdvantage™ Powertrain help fleets around the world increase operator satisfaction and performance, as well as providing cost-savings across the fleet.
SmartAdvantage pairs two of the top technologies in trucking: the Cummins ISX15 and the Eaton Fuller Advantage® 10-Speed automated manual transmission (AMT). SmartAdvantage’s downspeeding and optimized shifting increases driver efficiency and fuel economy for fleets. When Central Trucking, Inc. (CTI) began a switch to SmartAdvantage, its drivers almost immediately reported higher levels of satisfaction and a less-tiring work environment.
“It wasn’t even six months, and all they talked about was how they didn’t want to go back to a stick shift,” said CTI President Mark Roberts. “They said they take off so much better, they shift so much smoother and all around have a better feel to them.”
Employee satisfaction is all about reducing daily frustrations, and through leading-edge technology Cummins can make drivers’ lives much easier.
Solve Problems for Drivers Early
Drivers face many irritations on the road – including the occasional mechanical hiccup – and fleet managers need to do everything they can to keep their drivers in motion. Luckily, all new Cummins on-highway engines come equipped with Connected Diagnostics™, a software-only application that wirelessly connects the engine to Cummins for rapid fault diagnosis on the road, helping to provide information on preventative maintenance and expert guidance to maximize uptime.
Real-time analytics through Connected Diagnostics can help keep your fleet operating smoothly, but it also can improve driver recruitment and retention. Monitoring driver performance and efficiency can help managers and fleet owners identify drivers who may be struggling – or succeeding – along their routes. Ensuring these drivers always receive the support they need not only helps to retain top drivers, but also helps to identify problem areas before drivers even think of leaving.
Cummins strives to give the best possible support to our fleet customers and their drivers. To learn more about how we can improve your daily routine, take a look at our Fleet Management Resources page to see how we help fleets improve performance.
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