Are Recruiters Really the Lying Scumbags Drivers Say They Are?

ATeam · Feb 19, 2008

An expediter wannabee does not have to go any further than the EO Open Forum to quickly discover that recruiters get a bad rap from a fair number of drivers. Accusations of lying and warrnings to never trust a recruiter are common.

Personally, I don't agree. I think a lot of the bad rap drivers give recruiters comes not from the recruiter but from drivers asking ill-conceived questions, hearing only what they want to hear and/or making a poorly researched move for which one was ill prepared, and later blaming the recuriter for the driver's own failure.

Still, as common as driver warnings about recruiters are, I thought I'd give the recruiters themselves a chance to respond. So, recruiters, what say you? Are recruiters as bad as some drivers say? Maybe some of them are good and some are not. If that is the case, how is someone new to the industry to know the difference?

Paul56 · Feb 19, 2008

davekc · Feb 19, 2008

I am not sure the purpose of this post Phil?
Isn't this like asking "who is a good car salesman"?

Most is based on reputation in the business.

Turtle · Feb 20, 2008

It is kind of bizarre post. And to what end?

The better educated and prepared a driver is, the better their recruiter is gonna be. Because, the recruiter will be able to answer specific questions that matter. An uneducated and ill-prepared driver is going to have a bad recruiter, because the recruiter will not likely tell them the things the drivers don't know enough about to even ask in the first place.

Any recruiter that comes on here and says, "No, recruiters are not as bad as some drivers say," then they'll be forced to explain why the recruiters are not as bad as driver say they are. And the only way to do that is to blame the drivers - the very people they are trying to recruit.

Would any recruiter come on here and say, "Yes, recruiters are as bad as the drivers say they are. Well, except me, of course. I'm the rare straight shooter." Yeah, right.

If there are ill-prepared drivers asking ill-conceived questions, a good recruiter should be able to spot that in a matter of seconds. And, I think many of them can, indeed, spot it. The question is, what do they do when they spot the signs of an ill-prepared driver? Do they take the time to educate the driver? That's not really their job.

Their job is to recruit, to put butts in the seats, so to speak. They're a barker standing at the threshold of a girlie bar, in a sea of girlie bars, trying to get patrons to enter their girlie bar. It's a numbers game, and they know it.

The turnover rates in the industry dictate what they must do. Just as a girlie bar barker won't try and recruit people who have zero cash, a carrier recruiter is going to try and differentiate between those drivers that are so ill-prepared as to be a liability to the company, versus those who may be ill-prepared, but will still likely be an asset to the carrier. At least for a little while.

So how 'bout it recruiters? Which of you are bad, and which of you are good? Come on up folks! Step right up! Give it a whirl! Everyone's a winner, everyone's a winner! No losers, no losers. Everyone's a winner. How do we do it? Volume, volume, volume! It chops, it slices, it dices, it even makes julienne fries, but you've got to hit that sucker juuuuust right. Batteries not included.

The large print giveth, the small print taketh away.

ATeam · Feb 20, 2008

The end, or purpose of my post is exactly as explained in the post; namely, "I thought I'd give the recruiters themselves a chance to respond."

Turtle · Feb 20, 2008

It's probably just a figure of speech, but since you have used the same exact phrase twice, by quoting yourself, I'm gonna respond to it by saying, I suppose it was real thoughtful of you to go out of your way like that to give them a "chance to respond" to something that they'd be caught between a rock and a hard place if they did. The only way they could respond to something like this is either by lying, bashing other recruiters, or by bashing drivers. It would be easy to conclude that the only recruiter who would come on here and do any of those things would be a bad recruiter. Who would want to set themselves up like that?

Granted, a recruiter could post a well crafted reply that doesn't lie or bash anyone, but that would take time, and I have a feeling their time could be better spent dealing with people one-on-one rather than postulate on these various situations. Some recuiters will lie and mislead, some won't, some get fairly blamed by drivers, some are unfairly blamed. That's the job, and I don't envy them one bit.

Paul56 · Feb 20, 2008

ATeam said:
The end, or purpose of my post is exactly as explained in the post; namely, "I thought I'd give the recruiters themselves a chance to respond."

...and with respect to that:

<crickets *still* chirping>

Tennesseahawk · Feb 20, 2008

I, for one, am curious as to what recruiters would say in response to Phil's question. Unfortunately, Scott is no longer here. I'm sure he'd give as honest and in depth an answer as anyone can.

Like Turtle, I wouldn't expect anyone to give away trade secrets. But to target recruiters for unethical tactics would be to ignore the company they work for, wether they recruit for trucking companies or the US Army. Afterall, recruiters get their marching orders from the ones who write the rules... our rules too.

I'm still interested in what they'd say.

Moot · Feb 22, 2008

Turtle said:
-

How do we do it? Volume, volume, volume! It chops, it slices, it dices, it even makes julienne fries, but you've got to hit that sucker juuuuust right. Batteries not included.

The large print giveth, the small print taketh away.

Will it mow my lawn? Pick up my kids after school? Get rid of unwanted facial hair? Will it win the election? Give me an.....

cheri1122 · Feb 24, 2008

Recruiters sometimes get badmouthed by drivers. Carriers sometimes get badmouthed by drivers. DOT & FMCSA get badmouthed by drivers - hell, other drivers get badmouthed by drivers!
Anyone who wishes to respond to any badmouthing, knows that this is an Open Forum - why would they need an invitation to do so?

bigjoep89 · Feb 24, 2008

My experience has been very positive with the FedEx recruiters. Everything they have told me has been very accurate. If anything, everything we were told has been even a little better. Robin and I have put on three different units with FedEx and our recruiter has been a lot of help with all of our trucks. I sincerely hope if someone has had a bad experience with a recruiter that they don’t think all recruiters are in that same category.

arkjarhead · Feb 24, 2008

Recruiters have a job to do plain and simple. If a recruiter tells me I'm going to average X amount of miles per week I know to subtract about 10% from that number. The reason is most recruiters don't know much about trucking. They just know two things what truckers want to hear, and what they are told to say. I know not all are like this, but I think most are. I know of some who used to drive. Just like their are dispatchers that used to be drivers. I've worked for 1 company that was a great company to work for. The reason I think it was so great was because everyone from the president of the company to the office personell to the mechanics had either been a driver or was a wife of a driver. Everyone in that office either knew what it was like to spend time in the truck, or be at home waiting on their driver to get back. It makes for a good working relationship.

RichM · Feb 25, 2008

What a ridiculous post,kinda like saying all drivers are incompetent so comon drivers let us know how good or bad you are.

Turtle · Feb 25, 2008

I'm an excellent driver. Yeah. Dad lets me drive slow on the driveway every Saturday. Yeah. Of course I don't have my underwear. I'm definitely not wearing my underwear. Have to get to K-Mart. Uh oh, fifteen minutes to Judge Wapner.

Moot · Feb 25, 2008

Where's the cheese balls?

cheri1122 · Feb 26, 2008

Ummm - south of the cheese logs?

2 minutes to Judge Wapner!

RichM · Feb 26, 2008

Philly Babitt made a joke.

highway star · Feb 26, 2008

ATeam said:
"I thought I'd give the recruiters themselves a chance to respond."

So, Senator, when did you stop beating your wife?

Tennesseahawk · Feb 26, 2008

highway star said:
So, Senator, when did you stop beating your wife?

Hillary Clinton: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. O'Donnell!

Ted Kennedy (singing): "The day Mary Jo Kopechne drove off the Chappaquiddick bri-hidge."

John Kerry: "She stopped beating me four years ago. And I have a purple heart to prove it."

B.Hussein Obama: "It takes a collective effort for ALL of us to stop beating our wives!"

Barney Frank: "I'm homosexuwow, not mawied, and a congwessman; not a senatow."

Robert Byrd: "It seems to me... *scruffles mic* ...that the situation here... *scruffles mic* ...is not whether or not I beat my wife... *scruffles mic for a minute* ...but rather... *scruffles mic*"

SHUT UP!!!

abcwine · Mar 3, 2008

Sorry for the late response, but I haven't been on the site for a week or so.

Good question though and worth responding to. I can respond to this question by asking are drivers always late to their pick ups and deliveries?? How can you place all recruiters in one general category. The answer is... you can't. Can I justly say that all drivers drive the same?? So here we go..Some recruiters will tell you like it is. The good, the bad and the ugly. Some recruiters will take time with you and try to educate the uneducated. Most recruiters that have been in the industry for a few years have a decent understanding of what it takes to be a successful contractor. Normally, the contractor can pick up on this by getting a sense of direction the recruiter is going with the phone conversation. I will be honest with you. I have been in the industry for about 14 years mainly handling the recruiting functions of the business. When I get a call from someone that sounds somewhat educated...has good questions and is a potential candidate for our company, I spend a good deal of time with them. I bring up things that they may not know or ask such as qc fees or workmen's comp or escrow. Normally, if the potential candidate is well informed in the beginning and is told accurate information up front, the longevity of this contractor will normally be greater than a candidate that was either misinformed or not informed at all. On the other hand, if I receive a call of a candidate that I simply can't use, the phone conversation is definitely shorter. However, if the potential sounds decent, but I don't have a need for that specific piece of equipment, I generally refer them to another expediter that may be able to lease them on.

So are we lying scumbags???

Were you late to your pick up or delivery today???

ABC (Phil Weiner)