6 Ways an Applicant Tracking System Makes Hiring Truck Drivers Easier

Last updated 6 July 2022. About 5 min read.

Written by Rick Acosta

This article introduces the benefits of having an applicant tracking system (ATS) for recruiters and those in charge of recruitment at trucking companies.

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is software that is created with the purpose of simplifying and optimizing your recruitment process.

ATS software usually comes with a variety of tools that allow you to be more efficient in how you find drivers, how you manage applications, and how you make an impression on your applicants.

Companies usually get an ATS because it helps them save time and bring positive and measurable results to a their recruitment efforts.

Below, I’ll explain the 6 things that make an ATS a wise investment for your company.

1. You can use it to reach more drivers

A good ATS will provide multiple ad channels and job boards to get your job postings reaching thousands of potential hires right away.

Beyond that, an ATS makes posting jobs comfortable, as you only have to set up your job details and description once, and the ATS will spread your ad on the platforms you choose for you.

To make matters even better, some applicant tracking systems structure your job posts for you based on your hiring requirements in order to comply with the many various rules of different job boards.

Many trucking companies are not that creative when it comes to advertising their jobs, with most picking one or two job boards, at most. If you’re one of those companies, an ATS can help you be seen by more drivers.

Aside from being able to easily post to a hundreds of job boards at once, some applicant tracking systems (certainly not all) offer other job advertising options to really boost your results.

  • Facebook - Some applicant tracking systems can help you run efficient Facebook ads as part of your ad strategy. These paid ads provide great value for money when done correctly. As a bonus, Facebook ads convert drivers that are passively seeking a job as well as those actively seeking a job.

Read more about Facebook advertising here.

  • Programmatic job advertising - This method of job advertising is probably the best that currently exists. Programmatic is the secret sauce of job advertising agencies, and it’s only now becoming available to trucking companies. In a nutshell - programmatic ads employ an AI algorithm that distributes your job ad all over the internet. This AI continually improves where and how it buys ads to ensure you get the cheapest and highest performing ad space available. It runs on autopilot and tends to achieve better results than a team of well trained specialists.

Read more about programmatic job advertising here.

2. It saves you time managing applications

Once your newfound ad-savvy starts bringing in more driver leads than you know what to do with, you’re going to be swamped. At this stage, the sanity of your recruiters depends entirely on how well you can manage the workload.

he management tools most applicant tracking systems can save you a lot of time and remove a lot of busywork from your recruitment process.

Here are the ways an ATS makes managing candidates easier for you: Note: Not all applicant tracking systems come with these features

  • Allows you to screen, qualify, and reject drivers. Advanced tools like Lanefinder pre-qualify drivers based on your exact hiring requirements.
  • Team collaboration - everyone in your team can log in and work on the same platform.
  • Create and organize drivers into groups
  • Set up job descriptions, hiring areas, hiring requirements, restrictions, and more
  • Keep track of your and your colleagues’ activity with readable event feeds

3. It helps you build a pipeline of drivers

When you start processing driver applications, an ATS starts serving as a convenient repository of driver names and numbers. It’s like having a virtual phone book, but better.

Instead of taking note of drivers you would like to hire but can’t at the moment, you can simply build up your ideal pipeline of drivers that you can reach out to later.

Just as with management, the applicant tracking system provides a way for you to do what you might have done before it, but in a way that’s easier and focused on saving you as much time as possible.

4. It helps you make a better impression on drivers

Before agreeing to a job, 91% of drivers will research your brand online. They’ll check your website, your reviews, and see what other drivers have to say.

How you make an impression at this stage is very important.

The ATS is a great tool for companies that don’t have the resources to refine their online presence. So, how does an ATS help you make a great impression on candidates?

For the most part, it comes down to the career site. I’ve written at length about why I believe all trucking companies need a decent career site here.

In summary, a career site allows your drivers to have a smooth application experience that can, over time, provide you with many additional driver applications that you normally wouldn’t get.

It also serves as a snapshot into your company culture, which can be very important to drivers looking for more purpose-filled work. Career sites have been proven to retain the interest of more driver applicants, and convert them into hires.

5. It can lower your cost per hire

This point is just one of the wonderful outcomes of optimizing your hiring process. Many companies using an ATS see a big improvement to their overall cost per hire.

Companies that nail their ad strategy with the help of an ATS significantly lower their cost per applicant, and by using an ATS to efficiently screen and place those candidates, they cut down on their applicants per hire.

Their (cost per applicant * applicants per hire) = cost per hire

The lower the variables, the lower the overall cost. Once you start seeing your recruitment success in a numerical and concrete way, you’ll discover the formula that will keep all your trucks full.

6. It can improve your hire quality

It’s no surprise that better advertising, better screening, and better filtering will yield better hires.

This , just like the point before this, is not a feature but rather another delightful byproduct of improving your productivity with an ATS.

Drivers, especially if they’ve had a positive experience throughout the hiring and screening process, are more likely to get a good impression of your company and stick around.

On your end, being able to get a good overview of all your driver applications will help you select the best drivers easier.

And, if you pull off your ad strategy, you’ll have more applicants than ever before. That means you can start getting picky with who you want behind the wheel of your trucks.

Is an ATS right for you?

The answer is probably yes.

There is almost no reason to avoid using an ATS unless your finances completely prohibit it.

Even if that is the case, there are affordable options available. Before making your choice, make sure the software is tailored to your needs as a trucking company.

Thanks for reading!