Lanefinder shares insightful driver preference data that's sure to be valuable to your business.
Drivers aren't always the best communicators. Understanding what drivers want is tough without the right data. Thankfully, Lanefinder has us covered with some insights based on the behavior of 11,000+ drivers on their app in the year of 2020.
The data obtained at this point in time is unlikely to represent actual figures, but instead is largely based on drivers setting up their preferences within the Lanefinder app. As the Lanefinder userbase continue to grow into the year, we promise to keep you updated whenever new valuable insights present themselves.
Let's dive in and take a look at what drivers want.
Cabin companionship
Let's start with what's clearly the most important preference. Ever wondered how many drivers need a job to share with their furry friend? Turns out... not that many.
However, the amount of drivers looking to bring a human rider is significantly higher.
Out of 11,000 drivers, 907 wanted work where they could bring a human rider. That's 8.5% of all drivers.
Drive stick?
Being able to drive a manual transmission truck is somewhat of a mark of honor among many drivers. In fact, some drivers reject a job outright when they find out the fleet's full of automatics!
But how many drivers lack the license required to operate a truck the good old fashioned way?
According to Lanefinder, 5.5% of drivers only want jobs where they can drive an automatic truck.
Taking the truck home
This one's tricky since many OTR drivers don't expect to be able to take their truck home. Still, with OTR, Regional, and Local jobseekers, only 7.2% insist on taking their truck back to the home yard.
Dedicated & determined
Lanefinder's data indicates that 8.3% of drivers are looking specifically for a Dedicated Route.
Most drivers don't seem to mind one way or the other!
Freight handling
Who is touchy about touching freight? Well, only 8 in a 100 drivers, according to Lanefinder. 7.7% to be specific - that's the number of drivers that absolutely do not want to touch freight.
As for those that prefer mostly no touch, that's an even smaller 5%.
Drug testing
When it comes to their hair follicles, these drivers say "Hands off!"
Whether you think it's a high number or a low one - 3% of drivers refuse to submit to a hair follicle drug test. Does that align with your recruiting experience?
Average pay expectations
Out of 11,000 drivers, 6,345 set their weekly pay expectations. What do you think the average is?
I would have expected a higher number based on the expectations of the vocal drivers on Facebook, but country wide pay expectations average out to about $1,210 per week gross pay.
Disclaimer: This average is across drivers looking for OTR, Regional, and Local positions. If you were to isolate the expected pay of OTR drivers, it would certainly be higher and vice versa for Local drivers.
Pay expectations in the biggest trucking states
What about the states with the most truckers? Are there any outliers to the average?
In Texas, driver pay expectations are close to the country-wide norm at $1,280 per week.
Next up...
Californians average a slightly higher weekly pay request at $1,304 per week.
Meanwhile...
Pennsylvania, following Texas and California, has the third highest number of truck drivers in the country. PA drivers expect about $1,316 a week.
And...
Florida drivers line up with the national average with average pay expectations of $1,223 per week.
Surprising outliers
Would you be surprised if I told you that...
Drivers in Delaware have the highest pay expectations in the country and expect an average of $1,389 a week.
Or if I said that...
Nebraska drivers come in close second with an average weekly pay expectation of $1,369.
But wait a minute...
Drivers in Arkansas have the lowest pay expectations in the country, expecing an average of $1,075 per week.
Followed closely by...
Arizona, where drivers expect an average of $1,101 per week.
Conclusion
What did you think of Lanefinder's data? Does it line up with your own personal experience as a trucking industry professional? If not, that's probably because the data isn't quite perfect. We'll continue working with Lanefinder as their userbase grows to obtain more and more relevant data to share with you, our carrier partners.
If you have any specific questions that you would like answered, please reach out to sales@youcruit.com or to your dedicated account manager with your query, and we'll always do our best to help you out!