Deadline approaching for TCA’s 10th Annual Recruitment & Retention Conference

The registration deadline for the Truckload Carriers Assn.’s 10th Annual Recruitment and Retention Conference to be held Feb. 11-13 at the Renaissance Hotel Nashville, TN, is fast approaching.

Registration must take place before Jan. 28. Click here to register.

Following is the schedule of events planned for the annual meeting:

Eight Great Traits of Superstar Recruiters

Speaker Mike Frank will share what he calls "Eight Great Traits of Superstar Recruiters" in the opening keynote address. Through real-life illustrations, Mike — whose brother-in-law has been a truck driver for many years — will explore skills such as leadership, selling, speaking and listening, and their importance to recruiting.
Speaker: Mike Frank, CSP, CPAE, Professional Speaker and Consultant

Solving the Economic Puzzle: The Impact of the Current Market on Driver Recruitment

FTR Associates President Eric Starks. a leading freight transportation forecaster, will identify and examine the trends that will have the greatest impact on your recruitment plans — nothing more, nothing less.
Speaker: Eric Starks, President, FTR Associates

Recruiting and Mobile Technology: A Perfect Storm for Innovation

The rapid emergence of mobile technology, social media and cloud computing is creating a perfect storm of innovation. Human resources and talent management veteran Ed Newman will share his insights on why this is the most exciting time to be in recruiting and how you can seize this opportunity for change and make a real business impact with mobile technology.
Speaker: Ed Newman, VP of Strategy, iMomentous

Piecing Together Your Driver Recruiting Puzzle

In this session, participants will learn how to develop and create a brand foundation and implement strategies that help build and grow their fleet. The session covers:

Understand the ROI for specific strategies and how to take specific driver lead types and effectively turn them into hires. Participants will also learn and understand a comprehensive list of marketing and branding strategies that make up the driver recruiting puzzle for successful recruiting and retention programs.

Speakers:

Lori Furnell – VP Business Development, ACS Advertising
Priscilla Peters – Marketing Director, TripPak SERVICES & ACS Advertising

Maximizing Your Digital & Social Recruiting Footprint

Digital and social media experts will answer two questions: Why is search engine optimization (SEO) relevant to your recruiting success? And, how can your social media presence lead to hires for your organization? Learn why SEO is important to your digital footprint when it comes to recruiting, and understand the benefits of social channels and how your social strategy can directly correlate into hires.

SEO best practices and benefits.

Speakers:

Elmer Mobley, Digital Media Strategist, ACS Advertising
Leah Mackey Schultz, Director of Social Media Operations, ACS Advertising

90 Days to 75% Retention

Drawing from his recent book and two decades of trucking company ownership, Michael Komadina will share strategies carriers can use to increase their company driver and owner operator retention rates. This interactive session will include case studies and small group discussions to help you develop a deeper understanding of how to increase retention while learning from your peers. Seminar covers driver pay and its effect on retention; dispatch operation department design; new dispatch design models for large and small carriers; dispatch planning and how recruiting fits into the model; identifying and categorizing drivers as they begin employment, and the impact on driver retention of different generations
Speaker: Michael Komadina, Author of 90 Days to 75% Retention

Reaping the Rewards of Web-Based Driver Orientation

This workshop will showcase real-world examples of how carriers are using web-based driver orientation in various situations such as at carrier terminals and facility locations and from driver-owned computers and laptops used at home or on-the-road to lower costs, reduce orientation schedules while enhancing learning, and litigation support.

Speakers:

Tim Norlin, Director of Recruiting, Marten Transport
Steve Sichterman, VP, Business Development, TripPak SERVICES

A Healthy Driver is a Happy Driver

This workshop explores how offering health and wellness programs and training for a driver and his/her family are an investment that will pay forward. Participants will hear about the latest industry regulations that may come into play and about the different programs available to the industry, what kind of successes they are having. Participants will also hear directly from drivers who have reaped the benefits of good health as they share their experiences and provide tips and best practices.

Speakers:

Kathy Ayres, Lindora Clinic, Lean for Life On-the-Road Project Manager
Siphiwe Baleka, Driver, Prime Inc.
Scott Grenerth, Driver, Fikes
John Hancock, Prime Inc.

Learning from the Best Fleets to Drive For

Participants will learn from the recruiting and retention best practices and innovative programs gleaned from five years of surveying North American for-hire trucking companies. Surveyors will show distinct patterns that make some carriers outstanding fleets including bonus and incentive programs that improve all areas of your business; examples of post-orientation ramp-up programs that maximize the success rate of new hires; wellness programs that increase overall driver satisfaction and retention rates at fleets of all sizes, and examples of contractor programs that help the fleet improve its safety and performance scores, while maintaining their independent status.

Speakers:

Mark Murrell, President, CarriersEdge
Jane Jazrawy, VP, Product Development, CarriersEdge
John Fritzius, General Manager, Motor Carrier Service, Inc.

Recruiting from the Military Resources

Many carriers have been successful in recruiting drivers and diesel technicians from the military and in using the resources and organizations available to them. Participants will learn about the organizations, websites and groups that can help enhance or create a military recruiting practices.

Moderator: Chris Burruss, President, TCA

Panelists:

Dena Boelter, Director of Human Resources and Recruiting, Don Hummer Trucking
Ben Torbett, Director of Capacity Development, Covenant Transport

The State of Independents: Recruiting and Retaining Owner Operators

This session will take an in-depth look at what it takes to find and keep owner operators. It will cover best practices and look at the current environment for this type of driver. Carriers will share their challenges and successes and provide possible solutions for increasing the owner operator driver pool.

Speakers:

Moderator: Todd Amen, CEO, American Truck Business Services

Recruitment and Retention Idea Exchange

In this interactive, moderated discussion, participants will learn recruiting and retention best practices as they network with their peers to find practical solutions to the obstacles they face. They will engage in small group discussions on preselected questions as they share their own experiences and offer possible solutions. Participants will also have the opportunity to share their recruiting and retention challenges and listen to the suggestions of their peers. Each participant is both teacher and student.

Moderators:

Dave Heller, Director of Safety, TCA
Rose Kastrup, CEO, CSA Advisors, LLC

Legal-Ease: The Impact of Compliance on Recruiting Made Simple

This session will cover important regulatory and compliance requirements related to the hiring process, and how they impact driver recruitment practices. Through small group discussion, case studies and practical examples, attendees will get a simple, yet useful exploration of the most pertinent employment law issues.

Speakers:

Moderators: Billie Lee, Co-President, Driver IQ

Panelists:

R. Eddie Wayland, TCA’s General Counsel
Fred Giles, SVP Operations, Driver IQ
Libby Garvey, Director of Recruiting, Earl H. Henderson Trucking

From Text Book to Log Book: Transitioning New Drivers

This session will discuss how carriers and truck driver training schools should work together to recruit and retain new drivers to the industry. Participants will learn the best practices for building a good relationship with a school, what the roles of carriers and the schools should be in the relationship, and how to share information and resources to ensure that newly trained drivers have a smooth transition from their CDL training to being on the road alone.

Moderator: Kevin Burch, President, Jet Express

Panelists:

Brad Ball, Vice President, Industry Relations & Student Finance, Roadmaster Drivers School Inc.
Debbie Landry, Director of Recruiting & Driver Services, Halvor Lines, Inc.

Registration deadline is Jan. 28 and fees for the 10th Annual Recruitment and Retention Conference are: ACS Client/TCA Carrier, $495; Non-ACS Client/Non-TCA Carrier, $595; Non-Carrier/Vendor, $995.

To register, go to https://www.cvent.com/events/10th-annual-recruitment-retention-conference/registration-b4e7d4075bc946b887c2070e0bd03da8.aspx.