This article was last updated Monday, January 30, 2012
So far we have learned that the need for new truck drivers is huge and that there are several training options available. But what is the best way to find the best trucking job out there with a carrier that is hiring drivers with your qualifications and level of experience?
Before the World Wide Web, most people found truck driving jobs by:
The problem with this process is that it takes a long time and is hit or miss at best. Even the driving job publications found at the truck stops are not organized in any particular fashion and certainly not in the way that a computer can sort and deliver data. You often have no idea exactly what the trucking companies advertising are looking for in a driver. In any case, it would still be weeks and weeks of phone calls, sending resumes and/or visits. Worst of all, you have no idea if your driver application is actually getting to the person who needs to see it.
With the advent of the internet, information became available in an organized, computer-driven format that could be searched. This format, among many other things, was perfect for job listings.
Now, with the widespread use of the web, you can apply directly at trucking company sites or visit the truck driving employment sites. Some of the larger carriers have their own sites but few have the advertising, filtering and instant application process that the truck driver recruitment sites have. That is why they use the trucking job sites.
Also, many of the smaller carriers, who just might be offering the perfect driving job in your area, do not even have a site let alone an online application. If you wanted to apply at all the carriers that do have an online application, you would have to take the time to search out each company's web site, discover and then compare the types of jobs that each company might be offering, fill out an application at each company's site, and still you would have no way of knowing whether that particular carrier is looking for a driver with your skill set, qualifications and experience.
This is the beauty of the trucking job sites. They are very adept at the application and filtering process and they have special arrangements with all the carriers, large and small, that are on the site and have a database of what each carrier is exactly looking for and what qualifications they will specifically accept. They then compare your application to each carrier and send it to only those companies that are looking exactly for you. Besides saving you loads of time, this can also give you a leg up in the hiring process since your application has already been, in effect, pre-screened and the interested carriers will then call you.
Between the research and time required, the "insider" information that they already have and the ease of filling out just a few applications to reach all carriers hiring drivers with your qualifications and experience, it looks like the trucking job sites may be the best way to go. Just click on any of the ads on this site to get started.