Hire Truckers Podcast

00:00 - 00:18
Yvonne Valdez: Every year we are doing something different based off of what we found worked the previous year. So there's always a change. You're always going to be evolving, if you will. If you're staying the same, I think that's where you should be asking some questions if we're not moving, changing things.

00:34 - 01:16
Ginger Craddock: Yvonne, transportation leaders everywhere tell me the same thing. We just can't find enough drivers. Yet some transportation companies continue to build exceptional teams year after year, while others struggle to fill the same position. You've spent your career leading talent acquisitions supporting more than 25,000 DOT regulated hires annually across one of the nation's largest transportation workforces. When you look across the organizations that you've supported, what do the highest performing recruiting organizations consistently do differently?

01:17 - 01:30
Yvonne Valdez: I think the companies that consistently achieve their goals do three things. They move fast, they make the process easy, and they create clear ownership and really does level up to expectations.

01:32 - 01:40
Ginger Craddock: And that's interesting. I love the clarity with which you communicated that. Why do you think so many companies miss that?

01:41 - 02:13
Yvonne Valdez: I think it probably depends on, you know, do they have the time to really sit down and look at all of these things that they can really fine tune, right? Most of the time, organizations are trying to fill gaps that are critical to the business. Right? And it is someone's likely doing it off the side of their desk along with their regular day job. It's really, really critical if you want recruiting to be that you make this part of your business, right?

02:13 - 02:28
Yvonne Valdez: Not part of HR's function, but really a business unit within the organization that really is the backbone of the organization. And so you need a committed team. You need to have the right players and the right processes.

02:28 - 03:05
Ginger Craddock: One of the things that I appreciate most about your perspective is that you've seen transportation recruiting from nearly every angle. The RPO, the BPO, the enterprise talent acquisition, technology operations, and leadership. So let's unpack what you've learned and how transportation leaders can apply those lessons to build stronger recruiting organizations. So what changes operationally when an organization begins hiring at enterprise scale?

03:06 - 03:40
Yvonne Valdez: Well, I think one of the biggest things that happens is the shift from moving just from individual contributors to technology, right? There comes a point when you're hiring at such volume that it cannot sit with just a hands on team. You have to have the right technology, the right smart technology, right? The technology that helps automate and just achieve tasks that it would typically take four to eight hands to complete, right? So it really is understanding and optimizing what technology you're using, what processes you're using.

03:41 - 03:46
Yvonne Valdez: But I'd say technology is the absolute key to hiring at large scale.

03:47 - 04:00
Ginger Craddock: And with all the shifts that we've seen in the market with technology, what are some of those technology tools that you're like, Hey, Ginger, here are the things that we've leveraged technology for that have really been helpful to us at scaling?

04:01 - 04:30
Yvonne Valdez: Yeah, I would say a CRM, right? Having a recruitment CRM is going to make all of the difference. It allows you to just take things to such next level and allows you to do campaigning and mass communication and automations and just, you know, things that, again, you would have to have manual a person to sit there and, you know, do this over and over and over again. So I would highly recommend a CRM. I would highly recommend a CRM that has automations and AI built into it.

04:31 - 04:34
Yvonne Valdez: You know, the more it can help you, it's only gonna benefit the entire team.

04:34 - 04:47
Ginger Craddock: Absolutely. And so when thinking about the recruiting metrics and the tracking, which recruiting metrics matter most to executive leadership?

04:48 - 05:06
Yvonne Valdez: You know, executives really wanna know, are we meeting our hiring goals? Are we moving quickly? What what and why are candidates falling out? What does it cost, and what's slowing down the process. Those are really the main things they think the executives are are interested in hearing.

05:07 - 05:23
Ginger Craddock: Absolutely. And you're navigating one of the nation's most complex hiring environments. So what makes transportation recruiting fundamentally different than other industries?

05:24 - 05:42
Yvonne Valdez: You know, I think it really would come down to the compliance and the safety piece. Those are such critical elements of our business and elements that we cannot shy away from. They are at the front of our business. So, I definitely say that's a driver.

05:44 - 05:59
Ginger Craddock: Absolutely. And understanding those safety requirements and DOT requirements, how do you balance compliance, safety, and an exceptional candidate experience.

06:00 - 06:42
Yvonne Valdez: And, you know, luckily for myself, I've got an amazing counterpart, a compliance director that I work with, and her team supports my team. So we kind of work in tandem where, you know, my team supports bringing in all of the candidates, giving them that world class service coming in the door. And then we've got a dedicated post offer compliance team that helps ensure we've got all our t's crossed and our i's dotted when it comes to the compliance and safety, and we call that our candidate experience specialist. That team helps just get their arms around these candidates in that post offer process and and help to ensure that we've got, you know, all all t's crossed.

06:42 - 06:56
Ginger Craddock: So what I'm hearing is you've aligned recruiting with safety, with onboarding for a clear through line for the candidate experience.

06:57 - 06:58
Yvonne Valdez: That's right. Yes.

06:58 - 07:17
Ginger Craddock: Yes. That's exceptional. That alignment takes a lot of effort internally. And just to see that you guys are doing that, definitely your results speak to that alignment. So what workforce trends should transportation leaders be preparing for?

07:18 - 07:28
Ginger Craddock: You mentioned at the top technology. Are there other technology trends, other workforce trends? What should transportation leaders be preparing for?

07:28 - 07:45
Yvonne Valdez: You know, I think not just in transportation, but across the board. You know, candidates are expecting a faster, easier, and just more transparent experience. You know, they want to be able to apply from their phone. They want to be able to apply through text. They're looking for convenient ways.

07:46 - 07:53
Yvonne Valdez: So I think we need to be ready as leaders to find more ways that we can meet the candidate at where they're at.

07:53 - 08:10
Ginger Craddock: I absolutely agree. And so looking at these innovations that strengthen recruiting performance and candidate experience, where has AI created the greatest impact within your recruiting organization?

08:10 - 08:40
Yvonne Valdez: Oh my gosh. AI has been a tremendous help for us. It has helped us to respond faster to candidates, schedule interviews, send reminders, answer basic questions. We've got a really cool chatbot on our website where you're allowed to, you know, interact with it, and it will help, you know, answer questions about benefits, values, open positions. So it it really has helped us just, again, meet the candidates where they're at.

08:40 - 08:46
Yvonne Valdez: Those candidates can ask questions at 01:00 in the morning and still get an answer. So it's great.

08:46 - 08:56
Ginger Craddock: It it allows people to engage when it makes sense for them. What parts of recruiting should always remain human?

08:57 - 09:42
Yvonne Valdez: You know, I think at the end of the day, especially when it comes to a role that is so safety sensitive and transporting the most precious cargo in the world, we always need to be able to have that human interaction during that interview, right, and have that face to face conversation to really level set expectations about the role and just what we're looking for in our candidates, right? So that piece could never, could never ever be replicated by any AI unfortunately. Or fortunately, I should say, because I don't think we would ever want that. Right? I don't think anybody would necessarily be comfortable with AI saying, yes, I think you're qualified to drive this bus filled with absolutely precious cargo.

09:43 - 10:14
Ginger Craddock: Absolutely. And so at Hire Truckers, we serve the nation's largest fleets in recruiting truck drivers and other talent. And so share with our audience. You kind of teased it out there and we can see it in your background, but we serve fleets who handle all types of cargo and freight and unique shipments. Tell us about that precious cargo that you guys are transporting.

10:14 - 10:41
Yvonne Valdez: Yeah. So we have the the most amazing cargo in the world. I will say this at time and time again. We get to take the the most precious, beautiful students to and from school every day and get them back home to their parents or off to their school to start, the most important part of their day, which is their education. We also get to take them on field trips and charter trips.

10:41 - 10:51
Yvonne Valdez: So it's really, really exciting. It's great work. Get to be the heroes that kind of start and end a kiddo's day. So it's absolutely amazing.

10:52 - 12:03
Ginger Craddock: And so your cargo, the precious children and all of us have some type of connection, whether it's children, nieces, nephews, friends, family, our own children that spend some time usually on a school bus either coming and going to school or on a field trip. So thinking about the many unique pieces of cargo that the transportation moves from the heavy haul and safety and refrigerated, you know, it is true everything by truck, our groceries, our household supplies, the big dirt moving equipment that is transforming the roads here in Austin, Texas trying to keep up with the growth. So thinking about all the different type of cargo and all the different recruiting solutions, what advice would you give to leaders who are evaluating AI enabled recruiting solutions for their valuable cargo?

12:04 - 12:31
Yvonne Valdez: You know, I'd say first identify what the problems you're trying to solve are. I always say just play with it because you can't break it. And I think there's a misconception around AI that it's going to break. You can quite literally ask it populate many ideas or suggestions in there and it will start just helping you kind of get your your wheels spinning. So, I would say, you know, don't necessarily buy anything.

12:31 - 12:49
Yvonne Valdez: Start small. Start using the free resources just to get yourself acclimated with it but then identify really what you're trying to solve within your business and within your organization. And then, you know, quite literally ask it. Right? Give it some some different, ideas about how you approach things.

12:49 - 12:57
Yvonne Valdez: What are some of the challenges that you see? And and let it kind of start spitballing with you, I think that is the easiest way to start.

12:57 - 13:28
Ginger Craddock: And I really appreciate that. I've seen the value in that. Of course, we're a technology company. And three years ago, think it was about three years ago now, our owner and founder said, I want everybody on the team experimenting and using maybe ten to fifteen minutes interacting with AI. And of course, we've been using AI on the backside machine learning for more than a decade.

13:28 - 14:05
Ginger Craddock: But now it's become very common in the public to talk about AI, not just with technology companies using it on backside. And so he did the very thing that you're saying. He challenged everyone on our team, spend ten to fifteen minutes a day experimenting and interacting with the AI tools that are out there. And it's been amazing how it's propelled not only the technical side of our team forward, but all parts of our organization, forward. Hiring CDL drivers isn't about more leads.

14:05 - 14:26
Ginger Craddock: It's about better ones. That's why serious carriers partner with Hire Truckers by Trucking Clicks. We don't sell ads. We bring clear strategy, straight talk, and a relentless focus on quality drivers. Even in a tough market, our clients see improved performance month over month.

14:26 - 14:50
Ginger Craddock: By optimizing smarter and making every hiring dollar work harder. For honest insight, sharper targeting and results that you can trust. Visit truckingclicks.com or call (512) 982-0816. Hire Truckers by Trucking Clicks. Clarity, courage, results.

14:50 - 15:21
Ginger Craddock: I wanna pivot now from that experimentation and just encouraging people. Like you said, you can't break it. Use it, learn about it, be a part of the process. But what I see in the results that I'm seeing in what you guys are running and what we're doing is operational excellence. So you've actually used AI as a transformative tool in recruiting, and you've turned it into a competitive advantage.

15:22 - 15:34
Ginger Craddock: You've significantly improved time to fill, candidate engagement, and cost per hire. What leadership decisions made the biggest difference for you guys?

15:35 - 16:18
Yvonne Valdez: You know, I think part of what we did different is, again, mapping out those expectations. We defined exactly how quickly candidates should be contacted, how soon interviews should happen, you know, how often candidates should receive updates, who owned each step. I mean, we really were very thoughtful and intentional with planning every step of what part what a candidate goes through, right, in our life cycle. And with intention, we tried to be fast and thoughtful where we could optimize things, we did. And where we had to pivot from certain things we did, right?

16:18 - 16:45
Yvonne Valdez: And I think that was the biggest thing is kind of, you know, every year, obviously school bus, we have seasonality. So every summer, we start our summer hiring and, you know, get ready for that whole year. But after each summer hiring ends, the first thing that we do is kind of take a step back and say, what went amazingly well and where did we have the most heartburn? And then what was that heartburn and why? And then how can we approach that differently in the upcoming year?

16:45 - 17:13
Yvonne Valdez: And so since I've been here year after year, we really have optimized and pivoted our process at least three times. At least every year, we are doing something different based off of what we found worked the previous year. So there's always a change. You're always going to be evolving, if you will. If you're staying the same, I think that's where you should be asking some questions if we're not moving, changing things.

17:14 - 17:43
Ginger Craddock: 100%. If you're staying the same, you're being left behind and innovation and adaptability and just that strategic process improvement is what you guys have done with excellence. That's what I hear. And so how do recruiting leaders earn credibility with operations and executive leadership? Because change and innovation have elements of friction and it's uncomfortable.

17:43 - 17:50
Ginger Craddock: So how do you earn that credibility with each of the verticals, operations and executive leadership, for example?

17:51 - 18:26
Yvonne Valdez: Well, for me, I'm in the position where I'm lucky enough to be able to rely on the data, right? And I'm able to really earn my credibility by understanding the business needs and the data that we have to tell that story, right? And then bringing solutions for each of those kind of pain points that we're seeing. You know, I think we always understand that there are actions that need to be taken. And I think right now what we see is nine times out of 10, you've identified 10 plates in the air and nine of them are priorities, right?

18:27 - 18:43
Yvonne Valdez: So you really have to be able to show that you understand and can action what those priorities are, be able to solve for, you know, the plates that are falling out of the air, and then be able to show that in the data ultimately.

18:44 - 19:13
Ginger Craddock: Yeah, I hear you prioritizing the nine plates. That is a skill in and of itself and allowing the data to guide you in that. Very important and something everyone can look at their organization and see where they can apply that and where they can improve. So along this line, what separates high performing recruiting organizations from the average ones?

19:14 - 19:47
Yvonne Valdez: I think probably consistency. I think, you know, the teams who are consistent, they move quickly, they communicate, they follow-up well, you know, keeping their hiring managers informed. You know, they quite honestly have their arms around everything and they're consistently having their arms around everything. I think it really is that consistency, at least for my team, you know. We have shown year over year that again, we're not just consistent, but we're better than we were in that previous year.

19:47 - 19:54
Yvonne Valdez: So applying that thoughtfulness and those consistent layers are just going to help you get and stay ahead.

19:55 - 20:41
Ginger Craddock: And what I'm hearing there is the connection between the AI, the process, and the human connection. Like you really are going faster, more efficiently because of the AI, because of the process improvement, the after action reviews, and genuinely having that continuous improvement centered around a better driver experience, a better candidate experience. That's incredible. Your your results to your point, the the data tells the story and just what a great job you and your team are doing. So what I want our audience to see is there are lessons that every fleet can learn from school transportation.

20:42 - 20:55
Ginger Craddock: So recruiting purpose driven professionals is one of transportation's most trusted roles. So, what makes recruiting school bus drivers unique?

20:56 - 21:25
Yvonne Valdez: Again, the cargo, right? And the fact that these drivers have to be trusted not only by the cargo, the beautiful children that they're transporting every day, but the parents, the communities, the teachers. I mean, there's so much more that's involved in it. And at times they have to be more than a school bus driver, right? They are sometimes the only person who can identify that something might be off with a child.

21:25 - 22:02
Yvonne Valdez: Or they sometimes have to be the only smile a child can see that day, right? So they really need to bring a level of professionalism, but also a level of caring, right? You really have to be an empathetic, caring person to hire or to drive school buses and to work with these children all day long. So, one of the things that we're really looking for is that compassion, right? That care, that willingness to just protect and serve essentially.

22:03 - 22:53
Ginger Craddock: Absolutely. And so when you think about protecting and serving, I can see that there's an element of every professional driver that is moving a commercial vehicle down the road. We've all seen the dangerous things that individuals have done on the road or the unexpected. And so our professional drivers, whether they're in a school bus or they're a CDLA driving one of the big rigs with a heavy load, they're not only keeping their cells safe, they're keeping their community safe. They're keeping families and children safe when we're going up and down the highways on school buses or in personal vehicles.

22:53 - 23:14
Ginger Craddock: And so when we think about that importance of safety culture throughout the entire transportation industry, what lessons from transporting children can strengthen recruiting across all trucking, all commercial fleets?

23:15 - 24:09
Yvonne Valdez: Yeah, so, you know, I think one is just not recruiting people who have, you know, the qualifications and and again, I know not not every trucking or or fleet transportation company is able to train but you know, look for somebody who has some of those transferable skills that is going to be able to pick things up a little bit more easier than others. But on the alternative side of that, if you do have the resources to be able to train, you will get not only a well trained employee, but also a loyal employee because you've given them something that no other organization has. You've invested in them, right? You've shown that you care about them and their future so much so that you've taught them a skillset that they're gonna be able to carry with them through the rest of their life and their career. So I think it will also give you that loyal employee as well.

24:10 - 24:37
Ginger Craddock: And that's a market differentiator when you can grow them up from within your organization, they fit your culture. And and then the relationship them goes both ways. To your point, they value being a part of that story. So what advice would you give transportation leaders today who are facing recruiting challenges? Because recruiting challenges are real, what advice would you give them?

24:37 - 24:50
Yvonne Valdez: You know, I would say, one, know your profile, right? Know what that profile's challenges would be, you know? Are candidates being contacted quickly? Are they getting the warm and fuzzy feeling? Right?

24:50 - 25:15
Yvonne Valdez: Are we giving them all the feels in that initial contact? Because we also have to remember whoever that first point of contact is, that's the representation of who we are and what the experience is going to be. So make sure that you have the right person doing those outreaches. And then just be sure that we're not lingering with decisions. It is a very competitive market right now.

25:15 - 25:40
Yvonne Valdez: And the difference between getting an interview today and an offer tomorrow could mean 10 more applications get completed. If you've got the candidate that you like and they're in front of your face at the interview, don't wait. Offer them on the spot because if they walk out of there, they're going to go do another application and then, when you do extend your offer, they may or may not take it then, right? So, you might have missed your shot.

25:41 - 26:17
Ginger Craddock: That's excellent. So Yvonne, I want to finish where we began. We started today's conversation by asking what separates the highest performing recruiting organizations from everyone else? After everything you've learned leading one of the largest transportation recruiting operations in the country, what's the one mindset shift transportation leaders need to make if they want recruiting to become a true competitive advantage instead of a constant challenge?

26:19 - 26:41
Yvonne Valdez: I would say, you know, again, recruiting can't do it alone. It's going to take the entire team, operations, HR, safety. We all have to work together, have clear expectations, and move with urgency, and know where you are at all times against that goal. That would be my my key takeaway.

26:42 - 26:57
Ginger Craddock: That's gold. If you could leave every transportation executive recruiter and operations leader listening with one piece of advice about building the workforce of the future, what would it be?

26:57 - 27:26
Yvonne Valdez: I would say that we focus a lot on recruiting and bringing people in. And I would love to see as much energy and attention around retention, right? Let's work on retaining the folks that we have today, keeping them happy, keeping our culture right, so that we don't have to continue kind of refilling that bucket, right? Retention is equally as important.

27:26 - 27:34
Ginger Craddock: Absolutely. And what's a retention hook that you have found and implemented within your organization?

27:35 - 28:03
Yvonne Valdez: You know, I think for us, it really is our career pathing. We invest so deeply in our employees and just the career that they can have with us. And so at the very early onset, we are really trying to show that from not only the interview and application phase, but when they're on-site and they're in the role, we are training them and developing them for their future career here. And that's helped us to retain very well.

28:04 - 28:42
Ginger Craddock: Absolutely. In our initial interview at Hire Truckers, we have career pathing questions that we are asking of every individual candidate, matter what role they're gonna serve within our organization. And so having those career pathing conversations and questions from like conversation one and then following it all the way through and delivering, I could not agree with you more on just the importance of that for retention. So thank you for sharing that with us. That's excellent.

28:42 - 29:19
Ginger Craddock: So Yvonne, thank you for sharing your experience, your leadership and your passion for advancing transportation recruiting. It comes through in everything that we've talked about today. So one of my biggest takeaways from today's conversation is this, the organizations that consistently attract great drivers, they aren't simply working harder. They're leading and serving differently. They treat recruiting as a strategic business function.

29:19 - 29:50
Ginger Craddock: They invest in people. They embrace in technology with purpose. And I see that they are building systems that create a lasting competitive advantage. Thank you for joining the Hire Truckers Podcast. If you found value in today's conversation, subscribe, share this episode with a colleague, and join us the next time as we continue exploring the people, the ideas that are shaping the future of transportation recruiting.

29:50 - 30:03
Ginger Craddock: Until then, I want you to remember, great fleets don't just find great drivers. They build organizations where drivers choose to belong.