Before you begin your truck driver job search, we’d like to give you a few things to consider. The internet opened up so many new ways of finding a trucking job, so we need to take a slightly different approach than we did a few years back.
Some things have changed for better and some for worse. If you’ve been out of job searches for a while than article should help point out a few things to be aware of.
A truck driver job search is something we all find ourselves doing at some point in our career. I spent some time online myself recently looking at different job sites. I became concerned at how many of the companies are representing in a true and professional way. With the so-called “driver shortage”, one would think companies looking to hire a truck driver would be a little more professional?
I wonder if it’s just me, or do many of you feel these truck driving companies have something to hide?
There are two things that seem to be lacking from these companies. Disclosure about the job, and disclosure about the company.
If you’re new to this industry, you can consider this part of your truck driving job training. You may need this skill as much as you’ll need the behind the wheel driving skills throughout your career. Protecting yourself against bad employers is an essential skill in this industry.
Truck Driver job searches are much easier during boom times in the oil and gas industry.
So after browsing through Kijiji ads for trucking jobs where I was living in Calgary, These are the areas of concern I noted.
I don’t want to pick on Kijiji as they’re a great resource for a truck driver job search, but:
- Who is it that you’re applying to?
- Who’s getting your sensitive personal information? (Your address, social identification card numbers and your abstract with your drivers license number).
- What do they pay?
- Where are they located?
- What are the hours?
- Where will you be driving?
The first thing I thought about was identity theft.
With identity theft on the rise, shouldn’t there be a certain amount of information that should be provided by law in order to advertise for an employee?
A company name, address, contact name, or number perhaps? This should be the bare minimum. This would also save thousands of hours a day in wasted time for drivers. Sometimes I couldn’t tell the difference between OTR truck driver jobs, and the city P&D jobs with the ad.
“Truck driver wanted”. So you click on the ad expecting more information and all you get is,
“Please respond with resume and driver abstract”.
A law making them provide more information would also reduce the amount of bogus jobs in the sales section by half or more. Imagine that? A guy with some creative ad about making thousands a week now having to reveal he works for Amway, or some other pyramid type organization. (Trust me, have a look for yourself if you haven’t already.)
Calgaryjobshop.ca will at least will provide you with more standard information about the company. Indeed.com is another good resource in case you’re wondering.
So here’s a few general warnings of things to look out for in your truck driver job search. They’re not always the case, but I’d like you to consider them. If they don’t provide any information, it just might be possible they have something to hide.
If the job sounds too good to be true, it just might be. The best companies and jobs rarely make it to advertising. They have a waiting list of family members, friends, and a backup stack of resumes dropped off by those who know how good of a company they are. This isn’t always the case, it depends on your local job market (supply and demand).
Continue reading Truck Driver Job Search…..
If you see an ad is a permanent fixture appearing every week or month, they may not be the right company for you. The ad is always there for a reason. They are a revolving door playing the numbers game.
There are only a few reasons why a company is looking for drivers. They don’t have enough work to keep the ones they have. They either pay or treat the ones they have poorly, or they’re expanding. So think about this and always ask why they’re hiring in the first place. Many places will have big promises, but very little work.
Truck driver job search. Many companies will entice with big pay and lots of work, but the reality could be lots of sitting and that’s why the seat was empty in the first place.
The more professional companies will usually provide some information about the job. If they don’t, the company may not be worth your time to put together a resume and drivers abstract. Try contacting them first before you dismiss them.
I always liked to talk to someone on the phone because it’s much more personal and you can ask questions. You should be able to read a little more into the person, the company, and the job by the way the conversation goes.
How would a company react if you sent off a nameless resume asking a whole series of questions about the job and their personal information? Let’s go one step further and ask them for a list of assets, balance sheets, etc. to be sent to the following email address and if you approve, you’ll send them your name.
How many of you have been financially stung by a company you didn’t know was on the verge of bankruptcy?
Where is our protection? They do background checks, credit checks, criminal searches, drivers abstract searches, previous employers checks, and reference checks.
What do we do? Many of us are to scared to even ask what the pay is in fear of them dismissing our interest.
This is some driver shortage we have isn’t it? This isn’t how supply and demand works.
So all that aside, there are other things you should be asking like:
- What’s their equipment like?
- How well do they maintain it?
- What’s their record like with departments of transportation? (Different countries offer this online already.)
- Vacation pay and vacation time?
- Health care and benefits?
- Uniforms?
- And the biggest one of all. What do you pay for? Down time, repair time, wait time, layovers etc…?
This information should be obtained before you give your resume. These are important decisions that will save you a lot of wasted time pursuing a job you wouldn’t be happy with. The last thing we need are more drivers unhappy with their jobs.
We NEED to ask more question. Don’t be shy. It’s your own time you’ll be wasting if you don’t.
The industry itself has created the driver shortage and as drivers we never used it to our advantage, but maybe we should have? It seems the trucking companies are dictating too many of the rules when a shortage should work to our advantage right?
The next time you see a nameless company asking for your resume and drivers abstract, take the time to let them know. Send a message that’s professional, but to the point.
“I may be interested in this position, but who do I address my resume too?” or,
“I’m currently laid off due to a work shortage. I’m required to complete accurate job search information to the government in order to receive my insurance benefits. Could you please provide that information?”.
You can even be blunt about it if you’re not interested in the job anyway.
“Please provide the information about the position, the pay, and the company. I am a professional in every aspect of my life, and I don’t wish to give sensitive personal information to an unknown entity that could possibly be used in identity theft.”
You probably won’t get a response with the last one (we just threw it in for fun), but would you want to work for a company like that?
So this is just our take of a truck driver job search, but we’re all different. My only wish is that there’d be more disclosure in what companies are offering.
Your feedback on truck driver job search is always welcome.
Keep on Rolling!