Hire Truckers Podcast

00:00 - 00:18
Aaron Craddock: Welcome to the HireTruckers podcast, where we interview experts in driver recruiting. We provide industry insights, marketing trends, and motivation to help you level up your recruiting game. Welcome to the Hire Truckers podcast. I'm your host, Erin Craddock. And today, we have Connor Bain with Venture Logistics.

00:19 - 00:40
Aaron Craddock: Connor is the manager of their driver recruiting and retention department. And a little bit of context on Connor. So, you know, most of the fleets we talk to are 500 plus truck fleets, and that's kind of our our target audience. So Conner is working with Ventra Logistics. So they currently have a 1,000 trucks and about 1200 drivers, plus or minus a few.

00:41 - 01:08
Aaron Craddock: And a little bit of Connor's background. So Connor has been in the industry for around 10 years, around a decade, and worked at in Celadon for in recruiting and retention for 5 years and then moved to Eagle Logistics. Another thing we might dive into is he's also a rock star or a music star. And so we might have to dive a little bit into that. And then he was also at Schneider for 4 years, and is currently at Venture Logistics.

01:09 - 01:28
Aaron Craddock: So a lot of experience on this call today between Conor and I and the industry. And so our aim today is just to add as much value to the audience as possible. Again, our primary audience is recruiters, directors of recruitment, c level executives, and the top fleets in the country. So we appreciate you joining us today. And, Connor, thanks for being on the

01:29 - 01:30
Conner Bane: show. Yeah. Thanks for having me, Aaron.

01:31 - 01:52
Aaron Craddock: So where I wanna start, Connor, so so some of the different categories we're gonna go in today are growth mindset, industry trends, and marketing trends. So let's start with the growth mindset piece. And so what are you passionate about right now, like, in driver recruitment and working with your teams?

01:54 - 02:53
Conner Bane: We're working a lot on just pushing the recruiters to get out of their individual comfort zone. As a company, over the last year, we've had quite a bit of growth into new markets across the country, new types of drivers in different areas, and we've had to tailor some of our recruiting, our advertising, just our overall tactics to meet the requirements for for those different markets and how we're communicating with those individuals. So just trying to push everyone out of their comfort zone and to get to a point where they are comfortable working in those different markets with different recruiters selling different accounts. And then, again, pushing them out of that, but, also being there to to support them, you know, when they have any issues or any questions about any of this new growth that we're currently going through.

02:53 - 03:17
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. When we were chatting last week, one of the books you mentioned is Extreme Ownership by Jocko. And, like, how how does that apply, like, the because I think there's this dichotomy of, like, the extreme ownership component, but then also support. So how does that dance, like, work with your teams and and and what is good leadership when it when it pertains to those things?

03:18 - 04:00
Conner Bane: Yeah. One one thing I've really been working on personally with with the growth and and pushing the recruiters is just being very concise and trying to provide as much information about a new account, a situation that I possibly can, and then giving them the leeway to run with it and and do what is best for them. You know, we've got 6 recruiters. They all have a different process, a different way that that works best for them when it comes to recruiting. So allowing them that freedom to, work within the parameters, you know, that we have to follow as a company, while we're recruiting.

04:00 - 04:23
Conner Bane: But me personally, just trying to provide as much information, as much detail, on anything new or any change that is happening. And then, again, just allowing them to take it and run with it and, you know, work it however they see fit and and in a process that's going to be best for them.

04:24 - 04:29
Aaron Craddock: Yep. So you guys are bringing on, I think, as you said in January, over a 100 drivers. Is that correct?

04:30 - 04:47
Conner Bane: Yes. Yeah. We had a we had a great start to the year. Had a new account that started in California. So so that was a a nice bump to the year, and and then some other accounts, current accounts that we've had for quite a while that we're growing as well.

04:47 - 05:35
Conner Bane: So, you know, within that growth, there's typically some changes, whether it'd be pay or equipment, locations that drivers are running out of. And so I typically gather all the information from the ops team that is coming through, and then I communicate that out to the recruiters and to the rest of the department. So now I've really been working on trying to have as much information as possible, but putting it in a concise, straightforward manner. So to try to eliminate as many questions as possible and then, you know, letting them run with it, do do what they need to do to fill those spots, but also being there and being prepared to answer any questions or help out in any way that is needed.

05:35 - 06:03
Aaron Craddock: I'm kinda curious. So, like, what metrics do you hold? Because that's pretty incredible to bring on 25 drivers a week consistently, kind of in this season with new routes, you know, new dedicated lanes, a lot of change, new pay packages to memorize equipment locations. So, like, what does that cadence look like? Because you gotta do the work, bring the drivers in and educate and inspire.

06:03 - 06:07
Aaron Craddock: Like, what does that cadence look like with you meeting with your recruiters?

06:08 - 06:31
Conner Bane: Yeah. So from the information standpoint, I'm typically the point of contact for the operations team. So the operations team for whatever the account is will reach out to me. They'll provide details on the account. We work off of a Google Doc that we call our need sheet.

06:32 - 07:22
Conner Bane: So any position, any new account, whatever, is added to that And then we keep a running total of number of openings and number of drivers scheduled for that for those accounts on the need sheet. So if it's a new account, we will also do implementation meetings. So our director of business development, the operations team, equipment, any other department from time to time, you know, that may be needed throughout the process, they will also be on those calls. So from the new business standpoint, we go through a little longer process of getting everything in order, making sure we have all the information. I try to get that information out as early as possible just to prepare the recruiters so they know what's coming.

07:22 - 07:53
Conner Bane: They know how many drivers we're going to need at a new account. They could start contacting leads and applications that we may have from that market, you know, before we even have to turn on any marketing or advertising. Just kind of prepping them for what is to come, giving them the start dates, communicating, you know, when we would need a driver in orientation for those positions. Are they moving equipment? Are they just going to show up at the location and the equipment will already be there?

07:54 - 08:54
Conner Bane: So that's a little longer process of typically multiple emails, multiple conversations throughout that startup phase. And then once the accounts are running or any current accounts that we have, I do weekly meetings with each operations group throughout the country, and I get any updates that they need, any positions they need opened, any positions they need closed at that time. And then I communicate those out in individual emails to the team, to all of the recruiters letting them know, hey. We've got 3 new positions open at this account in Florida or 2 new positions in Northern Indiana, what whatever the case may be depending on the call. And so that that's where I learned about most of the openings, and then I will also get, you know, random emails or messages throughout the week with from an ops team saying, hey.

08:54 - 09:46
Conner Bane: I desperately need a driver out of this location. We just had something pop up, and that gets communicated out. I tried to almost immediately via email to all of the recruiters. And, any of the positions or accounts that we have within the need sheet so within the account that is listed on the need sheet, we have the number of positions open, number of drivers scheduled, and then over to the side, it shows any of the details, location, pay, number of drivers needed, you know, if there's specific pay information for each account, that is also listed on the side. So it's not only getting that information out to the recruiters, but also updating the information on the need sheet when it changes, communicating those changes if and when they happen.

09:47 - 10:25
Conner Bane: So it's a lot keeping keeping all of that in line. Some weeks, I feel like I send out a 100 emails of changes that are happening, and then other weeks, I feel like I only send out 2 or 3. So it it kind of ebbs and flows, but we do a lot of the communicating and and all of that information there on the lead sheet with the info that we have for the patients and the the recruiters, you know, take it upon themselves to to go in, review all that information, review the deed sheet on a daily basis to know what openings are are available and and where they need to focus, their time.

10:25 - 10:45
Aaron Craddock: Like, has a huge impact on just retention in that 30 30, 60 1st 30, 60, 90 days. Because when you tell them the correct pay, the correct equipment, what are the challenges with the route, like, that route of call honesty just has a huge component to that retention rate. So I hope I hope you guys are taking notes.

10:46 - 11:25
Conner Bane: Yeah. It's very important. And and through our application tracking system, when we schedule a driver, all of that information from their pay to their type of travel to the account, the division that they're going to run under, all of that information, we require that to be placed on the application while the recruiter is scheduling the drivers. So we have a record of everything right there, and that alone eliminates a lot of those questions or concerns once the driver gets into orientation. Hey.

11:25 - 11:40
Conner Bane: My crew told me this or I thought it was that. We have that record right there saying no. This is exactly, you know, what was discussed. It's all time stamped. And this is the information that that was provided to you, before you were scheduled for orientation.

11:41 - 11:57
Aaron Craddock: So the next thing I wanted to go into that we kinda chatted about was just industry trends. Like, what are you seeing, you know, we're in in q one. Like, what are you seeing in terms of freight? Like, what are you hearing from industry peers? Just like what what's going on in the market?

11:58 - 12:27
Conner Bane: Yeah. As we touched on a little bit earlier, we are in a fortunate position right now that, we're growing quite a bit. We started a decent amount of growth in q one of last year. It slowed down a little bit through the summer and the fall, and then picked up again towards the end of the year, and and we've just kept that momentum going here through q one. We're we're growing with new accounts, so so that's been nice and and it's it's keeping that moving.

12:27 - 13:22
Conner Bane: I think, overall, it's it's slowed down, you know, for the majority of the industry, and and we see that, you know, with some accounts not growing, other accounts are adding drivers, some taking drivers away and and or moving drivers around. So it's it's definitely affecting everyone. But then we talked last week from a freight standpoint, you know, freight being a little slow and but a lot of companies are are seeing that slow down. And then 2 days later, I I saw an article saying that the freight market isn't slow, and it's not really affecting anyone, and it is actually going to pick up, and it has already started picking up. So I I think it, you know, it kinda depends on each individual company and and how they're set up, the type of freight that they're running.

13:22 - 13:29
Conner Bane: But fortunately for us, we we haven't seen too much of that slowdown, overall here in the last year.

13:30 - 13:53
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13:54 - 14:07
Aaron Craddock: Visit trucking clicks.com or call 512-982-0816 today. Was it hard for your recruiters, like, when things slowed down, they couldn't bring on as many drivers? Like, was that hard in that season last year?

14:08 - 14:37
Conner Bane: Yes. Yeah. We we went through a, a 3 or 4 month stretch where it was, it it it was tough on the floor. My boss and I do week or monthly one on ones with with everyone on the team, and we we we had some tough conversations during those months just trying to keep everyone motivated. Positions and number of openings that we had were the lowest that we had ever seen.

14:37 - 15:03
Conner Bane: Our recruiters are very bonus heavy in their yearly compensation. So if they're they're not hiring drivers, you know, we don't have the positions open, then they are, you know, they're not getting those bonuses and that additional compensation that they're used to. So that was definitely a a tough time. I think that we are are out of that. I hope that we are out of that.

15:03 - 15:37
Conner Bane: And, you know, with with these new opportunities that we have coming, it's it's looking like we will we will be in the clear from that for a while. But, yeah, it it got tough just with we we had work, you know, plenty of work for all of the drivers that we had employed, but we didn't have that need for for any additional drivers or any growth. And there were just very few positions open. So we were treading those waters for 4 or 5 months last year.

15:37 - 16:04
Aaron Craddock: How do how do you keep them motivated? Because again, it's something outside of the recruiter's control that it directly affects their compensation. So so knowing that other fleets, you know, may still be in that cycle, you know, everybody's running different freight, have different contracts, like, how if somebody else is going through that season right now where their recruiters can't close as many as they want to, Like, how how should they navigate that to keep them motivated?

16:05 - 16:29
Conner Bane: Yeah. That's one of the times where, you know, you really have to start getting outside of your comfort zone. We we were in that position, and I I think a lot of recruiters are in that position where it was easy. All you had to do was send a message, make a phone call. You you could get someone that was interested, and and get them into a position.

16:29 - 17:32
Conner Bane: We had a ton of drivers that were that were still interested, but, again, the openings were were just scarce. So we had to do a lot of, you know, pinpointing tougher markets that we typically weren't looking for drivers. You know, they may be 30 miles away from the account or 30 miles outside of a different location where we may not have a ton of advertising or a ton of presence and, you know, pushing the recruiters and and putting it on them to go out and start communicating with those drivers, trying to find the that availability and those options in those tougher markets and, you know, making it known that, hey. It's not gonna be easy right now. You know, it's it's been easy for the last year, but you're gonna have to start working in those in those different areas, putting in a little extra time on each specific opening that we have if if you wanna find that driver.

17:34 - 18:04
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. I kinda think of just even even my business, like, my primary business is Trucking Clicks and and we provide leads for fleets. And, you know, we ended up growing, I think, 4% last year, which, you know, most of the industry was down. But I still think of when I hear, like, you're, like, talking about it being a harder season, things aren't as easy. And when, like, for us, like, when people don't have as many empty empty trucks, like they don't need our services as much.

18:04 - 18:27
Aaron Craddock: And so I kinda think of like we're having to do things a little bit differently and and have more conversations to think about how we grow and scale this year. Just when, again, like, you know, there are certain seasons where everybody's like, I can't find drivers, like, I need you know, and they're beating our doors down to work with us and we have to say, like, hey, hold up. Like, we don't have the capacity to bring you on right now.

18:27 - 18:27
Conner Bane: Right.

18:27 - 18:58
Aaron Craddock: And then there's, you know, seasons like this past 12 months. So I I can really empathize with those recruiters in that context because it's like and then sometimes it's hard when you go through those good seasons to be able to make that pivot. Like, because it just when when the work required to get the result changes. And so that can be, you know, on the recruiting side, on the marketing side, on the sales side, like with our company. But that that's it's hard to make those pivots.

18:58 - 19:26
Aaron Craddock: And some people make them and some people don't. And I think and that's where you see kind of the differentiation. Like, if you can maintain your team and maintain the morale through those tough cycles and pivot a bunch of different times, Like, hey, I know guys, we haven't had these conversations with guys 30 miles outside of our hiring area that we typically do, and and we might have to talk to them more about what their needs are and talk about how we fit. Like, just yeah. Those changes.

19:26 - 19:38
Aaron Craddock: But I think those are the differentiators. Like, when you can do that with your team and make those pivots and lean in when it's tighter, think about how much better your team's gonna be. Like like, when they had the opportunity to bring on a 105 in January.

19:46 - 20:02
Conner Bane: Oh, Oh, yeah. And and that's where, you know, you just you you have to communicate that as well. Okay. It's tough right now. You know, it it's going to be tough again for for a while.

20:02 - 20:19
Conner Bane: Here's some ideas. Here here's some things that we need to try. And then to your point, Aaron, once it does open back up, it's just going to be that much easier. You know, you've built different relationships with different drivers in that area. You maybe honed your skills a little more.

20:19 - 20:56
Conner Bane: You feel more confident about reaching out to to these individuals that you don't already have a relationship with that we may end up needing, and it just makes it that much easier on everyone working a lot on being flexible. You know, we're making changing budget for for marketing and advertising and and trying to find that sweet spot of exactly what we need and how many positions that we have open and communicating that with the recruiters as well. Like, hey. Here's kind of the number that we're spending. Here's where we're focusing all of this.

20:57 - 21:40
Conner Bane: Here's where you should focus or, you know, what we think you should be focusing on then giving them that opportunity to to take it and run with it. And then if it's not working, we can go back to the drawing board and say, okay, maybe we need to add some more budget here or change this or, you know, try to find that solution to to give them the opportunity to be successful. But, again, going back to what I said, being upfront and honest and letting them know, hey. It's not gonna be easy right now. We'll you know, myself as as the manager and my boss as the director, I'm gonna try to do we are going to try to do everything we can to make it easy, but it's not always in the cards.

21:40 - 22:10
Aaron Craddock: And that's good. I think that, yeah, just that communication is so important because I think sometimes people avoid hard conversations and or like communicate with their mouth, like, hey, this is easy, when everybody sees that it's not easy. Yeah. So I think just that that authenticity, like and it it just puts you in a lot better position. And then the other thing I heard in what you just said was communicating the vision of, like, hey.

22:10 - 23:09
Aaron Craddock: This season that's a little bit harder to get drivers on because of our new parameters is gonna equip you with more conversations when things open back up. So I like I think that's super super key and could be missed in this conversation of, like, you are casting that vision even last year in the hard times that like, all this work's gonna pay off, guys. Like, you might not see it right now, but it's gonna pay off. I don't know when, because kinda to our conversation earlier, like, we don't know when, you know, we're gonna pick up a new account or or the freight, you know, freight volumes are gonna change significantly, but just casting that vision, I think is really important. So the last thing I wanted to go into, kinda taking a pivot is like, what's something you've implemented, this is from a conversation we had last week, with, like outside of work that's been super impactful just in terms of like growth mindset, yeah, just with some stuff you do outside of work, If you could share that with us.

23:11 - 23:35
Conner Bane: Yeah. I try to stay consistent as possible on a a workout schedule, a workout routine. I've read a lot. I've got a 3, almost 4 year old and a and a one and a half year old. So, in the last 4 years, you know, you see all these parenting stuff and and one thing that always jumps out is, like, hey.

23:35 - 24:21
Conner Bane: You, as a parent working out or taking care of your health is not being a bad parent to your child, and you you need to take that time for yourself out of the day. I typically do a lot of after 8 PM workouts, what once the kids are in bed, but trying to stay consistent with that, you know, reminding myself that, hey. You need to do this to be around and and help take care and raise the boys. Another thing we just started doing recently, we try to have dinner every night with the 4 of us, my wife and the 2 kids. Try to sit down, have dinner, no phones, no music, nothing to to distract anyone.

24:21 - 25:01
Conner Bane: And we we started this new thing in December called Hi Low Buffalo. You'd say one sad thing that happened during the day, one surprise that happened to you during the day, and then, one happy thing that occurred during the day. So give us that time to reflect personally, on the day that you had, but then also go around the table and listen, you know, and and learn what everyone else had going on throughout the day. So the 4 year old loves it. He gets to talk about school or day care and what things he got to do all day.

25:01 - 25:22
Conner Bane: Our youngest, his answer is just good to everything. So he has a good sad thing, a good surprise thing, and a good happy thing, each day, which is always funny. But, just gives us that time to like I said, there's no distractions. We can all connect, just discuss our day, and it's not just, hey. How was your day?

25:22 - 25:41
Conner Bane: It's just a a different way to communicate that and and learn some more detail about how everyone was doing and then that typically sparks more conversation and or more questions about what, each of us were doing throughout the day. Just try to connect there as much as possible.

25:42 - 25:46
Aaron Craddock: That's cool. So which one is buffalo? So you got high, low, buffalo.

25:47 - 25:49
Conner Bane: Buffalo is the surprise, I believe.

25:49 - 25:51
Aaron Craddock: Surprise. Okay. Okay.

25:51 - 26:11
Conner Bane: Yeah. So the high is the happy, buffalo is the surprise, and then the low is is the sad. So I think it's supposed to be high, low, and then you're buffalo, but our our 4 year old decided to, to make it happy, sad, and surprised. So we we go with that, Dais.

26:11 - 26:24
Aaron Craddock: I like I like the I like the high low buffalo that's gonna stick in my head. Yeah. Yeah. It's so funny that you you shared that because, like, we're in just this such a similar season of life. I think people a lot of people can relate to being in in recruitment.

26:24 - 26:54
Aaron Craddock: Like we have so we have a, 3a half year old, he'll be 4 in May. And then we have an 11 month old, like, his birthday is this month, he'll be 1, 2 boys. And so, yeah, just this season, I can really relate to, like, working out late at night. Like like, a lot of times, like, I'm doing a challenge right now with the accountability group I'm in of, like, the 100 push ups, 100 sit ups a day, which is killing me. But so one the other night, it was, like, 11 o'clock, and I was like, oh, I haven't gotten it in.

26:55 - 27:05
Aaron Craddock: I was dying. But, yeah, a lot of times I I'm like, oh, man. I haven't gotten it in. I gotta get it in before before I hit the pillow. And that accountability helps a lot.

27:05 - 27:51
Aaron Craddock: So I'll be reaching out to you and be like, did you get your workouts in this week? Yeah. Because it just helps, like and and the outs the reason I bring this stuff up, like, we're recruiting, we're retention, we're talking about all these things, like the stuff you do at home, like the strong family life and way you take care of yourself, like, affects how you show up at work, right? Like, the way you're able to pour into this podcast and then like pour into your team, when they're having a hard time and empathize is, like, because of those things you're doing outside of work. And and if we lose lose track of that, because, like, there's a season in my life where I was a £100 overweight and, you know, drinking too much and all these different things that were unhealthy habits, and that impacted my work and everything.

27:51 - 28:01
Aaron Craddock: And so I'm super encouraged that you're doing that. I also like before our call, you talked about your Peloton, like, tells you if you haven't done it, it, like, notifies you.

28:01 - 28:07
Conner Bane: Yep. I I get my reminder that, hey. You didn't work out. You haven't worked out for 2 days. It's like, oh.

28:08 - 28:09
Aaron Craddock: Yeah. Yeah.

28:09 - 28:12
Conner Bane: That's probably why I was that's probably why I've been grumpy at work because

28:14 - 28:15
Aaron Craddock: I have Yeah. It worked out too.

28:15 - 28:27
Conner Bane: And then you you go and you get it knocked out. You feel much better that day. You feel better the next day. And just Yeah. Build building on that, it's not fun.

28:27 - 28:52
Conner Bane: I don't necessarily enjoy it, but it it's amazing how how much better you do feel. Even if you're exhausted while you're doing it, just go do it. It will change your day, change your week, you know, the cliche, get into that routine. But once you get into it, it just becomes second nature and, yeah. It's amazing how much better you will feel, How many more things you can do.

28:53 - 29:05
Aaron Craddock: Oh, I know. Like, I get I I kinda have amnesia when it comes to this. I'll be like, why am I so exhausted today? And then I'm like, because I haven't worked out for 3 days. Like, you know or why am I disconnected from my family?

29:06 - 29:36
Aaron Craddock: Well, we haven't had like, I was traveling this last week, and we haven't had dinner together in 6 days. So Right. I think those things are key. So whether it's a recruiting retention takeaway from this call today, like, I just encourage, you know, the listeners to just take action on one of those things or take action, like, implement high low buffalo, like, at the dinner table, or or get get accountability, surround yourself with other people that are that are working out daily that kinda encourage you in that area. So, yeah.

29:36 - 29:49
Aaron Craddock: Well, I really appreciate your time today, Connor. I think we added massive value to the industry as we push this out. So, where can people connect with you, follow you? Like, where are you active on social media?

29:49 - 30:05
Conner Bane: I'm active on LinkedIn. That that is where I I typically am at on a daily basis. So it's, just Connor Bain on LinkedIn. I'm out of Indianapolis, Indiana. If anybody wants to connect or chat, don't don't ever hesitate to reach out.

30:05 - 30:16
Conner Bane: My contact information is on there as well. So, yeah, shoot me an email, shoot me a message. The I would be more than happy to to have a discussion with you.

30:19 - 30:32
Aaron Craddock: Awesome. Well, thank you again for joining us on the Hire Truckers podcast. This is Aaron Craddock, and have a great week. Thank you for joining us today. Our goal with the Hire Truckers podcast is to provide industry insights, marketing trends, and motivation to level up your recruiting game.

30:33 - 30:37
Aaron Craddock: If we added value, take a few seconds to share this with your network. Have a great week!