Trucking companies are accustomed to driver shortages. There are the national shortage and high industry turnover rates that have dominated industry discussions for several years. Your drivers also take vacations and holidays, which can lead to staffing shortages. And then there are seasonal shortages due to increased demand.
Hiring can be tough. And managing your staff once you have them? Even tougher. But whether you’re hiring OTR, regional, or local drivers, there is a solution to your driver shortage problem: temporary drivers.
The truck driver staffing industry is undergoing a technological revolution that is making it faster and easier to find high-quality candidates who are ready to drive at a moment’s notice. Read on to find out how you can benefit from temporary driver hiring through the revolutionary driver leasing model.
What is Driver Leasing?
Driver leasing uses real-time technology to match pre-qualified, DOT verified, drug and alcohol tested drivers with jobs that fit their skillset and endorsements. It uses granular filtering, including job length and location, job requirements, pay scale, driver qualifications, geolocation, and more, to attract the right candidates for your jobs. It’s not a job board, so you don’t have to worry about going through lengthy and expensive interview processes. And it’s not a contract… you can hire drivers same-day to fill immediate needs and keep your trucks moving.
Cover Your Gaps Without Blowing Your Budget
One of the best ways to reduce driver turnover is to ensure that your full-time staff has access to paid time off and sick time. However, you still have contracts to fulfill, and you don’t want to leave money on the table! Planning for PTO and sick time means assuming that your drivers won‘t be available from time to time. And hiring more full-time drivers to fill those gaps isn’t always a practical option.
That’s where driver leasing comes in. With the accelerated nature of driver leasing, you can offer vacation and sick time to your employees without worrying about trucks sitting idle in your lot. When a driver takes leave–whether scheduled or emergency–you can leverage driver leasing to fill that gap. And because there’s no long-term commitment required with your temporary driver, you minimize your staffing costs while keeping your business fully operational and eliminate your coverage gaps.
Drive Toward an On-Demand Business
An on-demand business means saying “yes” to contracts and jobs as they come up, which means a better long-term growth potential for your business. But you need to have the staff to turn opportunities into deals. Managing a large enough driver staff to build an on-demand business can quickly become cost-prohibitive. It can also lead to higher driver turnover rates when your drivers end up either over- or under-worked through surges and lulls in demand.
While having a full-time staff is beneficial–and necessary for most carrier companies–immediate access to temporary drivers through a driver leasing app provides the resource management tool you need to create an on-demand business. If your full-time staff is booked up when an opportunity comes along, you can say “yes” to the new job and feel confident that the drivers you need are just a few clicks away.
Stay Compliant with Laws Like CA AB5 (Without Over-hiring)
Just a few weeks ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit dealt a blow to the trucking industry in California. They denied a petition by the CTA for a rehearing of the court’s decision to remove the injunction that exempted the trucking industry from CA AB5. And while the CTA is still fighting to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the laws surrounding independent trucking in California remain in a confusing limbo.
Driver leasing apps keep you compliant, regardless of court decisions around contractor laws. In the case of a driver leasing app like F|Staff, the driver you’re leasing is already working on W2, with access to full benefits, including unemployment insurance. The driver is doing work for you, but they work for F|Staff, which keeps you safe while providing you and the driver with the opportunity to work the way you all want to work. The driver gets to better manage their careers by choosing the jobs that interest them the most. And for carrier companies, temporary driver staffing is still a valid, legal option. It’s a win-win.
Try the F|Staff Driver Leasing App
Are you short on truck drivers? F|Staff has qualified, prescreened, DOT-approved drivers who are ready to work. With F|Staff, you can:
- Post jobs in seconds
- Connect with qualified drivers (who fit your exact criteria) in minutes
- Use F|Staff for free and pay only when a driver works for you
- Hire temporary, permanent, or temp-to-perm staff
With F|Staff, there are no contracts and no obligations. Ever. You can use the service as much or as little as you like. Fill your gaps, expand your business without the risk of overstaffing, and stay compliant in California and beyond.
Learn more and try F|Staff today. Just fill out the short form online, and we’ll give you a call to walk you through the onboarding process.
