Tips for Driver Interviews
Asking the right questions can reduce turnover.
By Mitch Bookbinder, Manager of Recruitment & Retention, Louis J. Kennedy Trucking Co., Kearny, N.J.
It's quite possible that the person who has the greatest impact upon the profitability of most trucking companies isn't the president or the owner. Rather, it is the individual responsible for the recruitment, screening, interviewing and hiring of drivers.
Consider the following rationale: If the people responsible for hiring are up to the task, the drivers they select will have fewer accidents than typical drivers, which will reduce insurance premiums. Furthermore, if drivers meet or exceed expectations, on-time service will meet or exceed expectations. This will make the job of the sales department much less challenging, since they won't have to apologize to their customers for inferior service. Finally, a team of professional drivers will assure that mechanics won't have to spend undue amounts of time repairing and replacing abused equipment, thus reducing maintenance costs.
If you accept that rationale, it is only logical to assume that trucking company management would allocate sufficient resources to train recruitment and safety personnel in selection and interviewing techniques. In most cases, your assumption would be wrong.
Most trucking companies rely on a "seat-of-the pants" approach to hiring. It's all about "gut feeling."
If you require a more systematic approach to interviewing and selection of applicants, a good start would involve the use of a standardized interviewing technique that could help identify drivers likely to satisfy company needs and, ultimately, reduce turnover.
Surprisingly little has been written about interviewing techniques designed to reduce driver turnover and assure the selection of drivers likely to be right for your company. Sure, plenty has been said about how to reduce turnover of your existing driver force.
Unfortunately, by that time it may be too late.
The more cost-effective solution to the driver-turnover crisis is to first identify and avoid drivers most likely to inflate your turnover rates. You do this by utilizing proper interviewing, application analysis and background checking techniques.
Step One: Do A Quick Records Check
Before the interview begins, review the driver's application closely. Look for "red flags" such as crossouts, erasures, unanswered questions, etc. These items require probing.
Get a copy of the applicant's past employment history through DAC Services, which can be done quickly and inexpensively via the Internet at www.dacservices.com. This single step often reveals a disturbingly large number of undisclosed jobs.
Review the applicant's driving record. Once again, DAC Services can provide this information on-line at a low cost. Why waste time interviewing applicants who are lying about past employment and their driving histories?
Step Two: Get The Applicant's Respect
Before asking any questions of the applicant you must earn his or her respect. If the applicant doesn't respect you, he is unlikely to provide honest responses to your questions or to disclose negative information.
Let the applicant know that your company takes the interviewing and background checking process more seriously than any carrier he has interviewed with before. Remind the applicant that you scrupulously check driving records, past employment and criminal records, and that dishonesty will lead to termination, if hired.
Step Three: Understand The Rules
There are no rules, at least in the eyes of many applicants. Puffery, covering-up, deception, outright lying, etc., are permissible. The hiring process is regarded as a game, and hiding inconvenient truths from you is a key objective of many an applicant. You must cut through the fog and determine the applicant's likelihood of success with your company.
During the interview process, you have 30 to 60 minutes to discover the attitudes, reveal the character and uncover the true nature of the applicant you are going to entrust with equipment, cargo and responsibility.
Step Four: Ask The Right Questions
Following are some questions that might reveal if the applicant is likely to quit or be terminated prematurely.
Question 1. "Do you understand the requirements and downsides of this job?"
List the reasons drivers most often give for quitting your company. Don't engage in a cover-up and don't sugarcoat the true nature of the job. Does it involve layovers? Hand unloading? Northeast traffic? Slip-seating? Governed speeds? Lower than average pay? Big deductions for benefits? Work performed that is not paid for? Long hours? Tarping? Deliveries to food warehouses? Driving in New York City?
Whatever the downsides of the job, get them out in the open immediately. You can't expect applicants to be honest with you if you aren't honest with them.
Your candor will be jarring to many applicants who are used to recruiters who stress the positives of the job and hide the negatives. Your honesty will impress many applicants, causing them to respond to you in an open and honest manner. Set a positive tone for the interview by disclosing the precise reasons drivers are not satisfied with your company, or refuse employment with your company. Give the applicant the reason for your unorthodox approach.
This listing will flush out applicants for whom the job isn't right and, equally important, it will flush out applicants who aren't right for the job. It isn't enough to hire drivers that meet your standards and expectations - you must also meet the driver's standards and expectations if turnover is to be kept low.
Question 2. "What expectations that you had when you were hired at your most recent and worst job, weren't met?"
Driver expectations that aren't met lead first to disappointment, then to lowered morale and finally, to turnover. If the driver reveals unreasonable expectations or unmet expectations that are likely to reoccur at your place of business, address them head-on.
Question 3. "When was the last time you lost your temper at work?" Follow-up with "What typically makes you angry at work?"
The answer to this question could be a revelation. If the applicant is hired, what you learn could be communicated to your dispatchers in order to assure the driver is managed accordingly.
The applicant may have had legitimate reasons for losing his temper. Nevertheless, it is vital information to know. If the driver's loss of temper was caused by incidents that are likely to occur at your company, you must advise the applicant of that reality. It's better to have the applicant walk out on the interview than to abandon a truck or a load - or worse - if the conditions that cause him to lose his temper are likely to occur again and again.
Question 4. "What do you want to avoid in your next job?"
This is a variation on Question 2. If the applicant wants to avoid aspects of the job that are unavoidable at your company, you must confront him with the harsh realities of the position. Never forget that a key part of your job is to disqualify applicants that are likely to boost the turnover rate at your company. Once again, both the applicant and the company must be satisfied if driver turnover is to be reduced.
Question 5. "What percentage of driver applicants do you think lie on their applications — about things like dates of employment, number of accidents/incidents, disclosure of all jobs, criminal records, etc?"
I'm no psychologist, but I believe that people have a tendency to rationalize behavior they know is wrong. "Hey, if everyone else does it, why can't I?" The higher the estimated percentage of lying an applicant estimates, the more likely it is that he's being less than honest.
Question 6. "We are going to ask all of your past employers what your biggest area for improvement is. What do you think they will say?" Follow-up with "What do you think is your biggest area for improvement? After all, no one is perfect. I myself need to improve my (fill in the blank). Prepare me for what your past employers will say."
This question reminds the applicant that you take reference checking very seriously. It also reveals the applicant's willingness to admit he is human. If he is willing to admit that he is in need of some improvement he isn't likely to think he is always right whenever a dispute arises. This flexibility will help him on the job.
Finally, if the applicant reveals a shortcoming, you can decide if you can tolerate it or if he can improve with training and guidance. Not every liability is a cause for termination of the interview - no applicant is perfect. Your search is for applicants without crippling liabilities that are likely to seriously affect your operations in an unacceptable way. Minor flaws are inevitable - major liabilities are unacceptable.
Question 7. "We all make mistakes. What's the biggest mistake you've made on the job, and what did you learn from it?" Follow up with "Have you ever been suspended? Disciplined? Are there any past employers you don't want me to contact?"
Similar in intent to Question 6, this answer can provide some insight into the driver's sense of honesty, self disclosure and introspection. If he can't or won't reveal any mistakes he had made in the past, do you think he will be able to admit to any mistakes once hired? The person who is so sure of the rightness of his position is inflexible and difficult to manage. Finally, he is more likely to leave quickly when he doesn't get his way.
Question 8. "How do you deal with dispatchers who give you a hard time?" Follow-up with "How do you deal with customers who give you a hard time? Motorists who give you a hard time?"
How a driver reacts in stressful situations is an important indicator of his degree of common sense and his ability to tolerate and adapt to situations and circumstances that aren't going his way. An applicant lacking in tact or diplomacy is a disruptive force. Drivers who can't deal maturely with life's disappointments are not likely to deal appropriately with disappointments in the workplace either. The same applies for drivers who are not in control of their emotions or anger.
These are not all the questions you should ask. Questions regarding safety and many other areas must be addressed. Nevertheless, by dividing your interview into segments with specific focuses, you should be able to glean insights that will help you select applicants likely to stick with you for the long run. Separate segments regarding safety, past-employment and other areas of importance to you can be dealt with in a similarly systematic manner.
A few final bits of advice:
Keep notes during the interview. Look back at them and search for additional insights.
Allow no interruptions or distractions during the interview. Don't answer the phone. Stay focused on the applicant.
Pay close attention to body language, gestures and signs of stress.
The hiring of safe, responsible, reliable and productive drivers may be the single most important factor that will determine whether a trucking company's bottom line is in the black - or in the red. A segmented, systematic approach to interviewing is one step toward achievement of a critical objective: reduced driver turnover.
