Panther driver placement assistance?

Vinnie T · Jan 15, 2008

Hello Panther recruiters

Quick question for you in regards to assisting fleet owners with driver placements.

I have spoken with a lot of Panther fleet owners and they are under the assumption that something is a little off when it comes to hiring drivers for Class A / E units and assisting the fleet owners with driver placements. Part of the sales pitch when signing on with Panther is that fleet owners will have assistance with driver placement. I know some fleet owners all they do is call recruiting and get a driver for their trucks, no questions asked. I know some fleet owners that every time they have an open truck Panther never has any applicants, especially when it comes to E units. You would think with all the resources Panther has to find drivers there would be a little more assistance and efforts to assist fleet owners in driver placement. After all when a truck is sitting empty is Panther still paying for insurance, trailers etc. on these trucks? One would think Panther would be better suited and have much more expertise at driver recruiting then lets say your average guy out there with a couple trucks. I have even heard some O/Ops and fleet owners claim ( Only heard this ) Panther "spoon feeds" certain larger fleet owners with drivers and lets the other guys fend for themselves. I hope this is not true but it is hard to believe that with ALL the resources and money Panther spends on ads, publications and overall recruiting costs ALL fleet owners (especially E units) could get a little more assistance and recruiting could be a little more proactive finding drivers. Maybe instead of concentrating on new hires and owner ops to add to the fleet, Panther could look at the empty trucks currently signed on and be a little more proactive helping them out? Does Panther pay recruiters to place drivers with current fleet owners? Perhaps even matching up single drivers to form more teams? My main concern is what is Panther doing to get better at this to assist their fleet owners or if there are any plans to do anything at all about this issue? After all the recruiters told me when signing on, we would get some help finding drivers. Guess what, hasn't happened yet!

Fleet owners..please chime in on this!

davekc · Jan 15, 2008

Let me first start out by saying, I have trucks leased to Panther, but am not a recruiter. It is true that Panther puts out a lot of money on advertising to recruit potential drivers.
You situation is more challenging because you are looking for tractor drivers. There are many more companies that are competing for drivers which limits that pool of candidates verses straights or vans.
We have had drivers provided by Panther, but we don't limit ourselves to that only resource. Working with recruiters, running a ad here on EO and networking yourself will go a long way. Some of our best leads are from former and current drivers. In that case, the illusion is they are getting all the good drivers, but in reality, it is the owners reputation and those drivers that are providing the leads. That isn't preferential treatment. Outside of advertising/recruiting, Panther isn't absorbing any costs unless you would be sitting on one of their trailers.
I'm sure they would be tickled pink if they could provide you a driver.
Best advice I can give is be patient and realize that this is a slower period and you are working from a smaller pool of candidates.
Lastly, make sure what you are offering is competitive against your competition. Are you using your past drivers for references? Current drivers if you have them.
Is your pay, location, and equipment package competitive with other fleet owners?

Vinnie T · Jan 15, 2008

To say Panther NEVER gets any tractor drivers is not correct. I am sure they get leads on a few tractor only candidates a week. I know somebody who had their company listed on EO on the company listings and they got at least a few tractor driver applicants a week, those drivers have to be going somewhere..to the preferred fleet owners?? I guarantee Panther gets tractor driver ONLY applicants! All companies listed on EO do! It's not as common as lets say D units, but they need to spread the wealth around a little.

I have hired every drived that has ever ran for me. I used EO in the past as well to advertise for drivers, I see many empty Panther trucks here on EO. After the first of the year there are always more applicants than any time of the year. Where ARE THEY? I have had trucks leased to Panther for about 7-8 months now and NOT ONE time have they been able to get me ONE driver lead! Don't tell me you assist with driver placements if you won't do it. I have to do 100% of my own recruiting which is fine, but it would be nice to get thrown a bone once in a while.

I lost my last drivers because they were flakes. I pay competitive to what other fleet owners do, in fact I borrowed my pay structure from one of the largest Panther fleet owners.

mrgoodtude · Jan 15, 2008

Vinnie don't get pissed bro but are you expecting a little too much from Panther?

davekc · Jan 15, 2008

I will send you a PM with a team that is looking to drive a tractor. I can't tell you anything about them, nor do they have any endorsement from me.
They do want to drive for Panther.
Your profile doesn't list your location, but I believe they are from Wisconsin.
Just a lead. Your own your own with the rest.

Vinnie T · Jan 15, 2008

Dave,

That is very kind of you!

Thank you so much. It's the jesture that counts.

Vinnie T · Jan 15, 2008

mrgoodtude said:
Vinnie don't get pissed bro but are you expecting a little too much from Panther?

Why?

If it's part of the pitch, shouldn't they back it up?

I was never told by a recruiter "we do not have any tractor drivers", this was only after I signed on. And let's not go to far with this. I think Panther does a lot of things very good. Some areas they could do better as all companies could. This is one area that could use improvement. I wonder how many tractors they have sitting empty?

Vinnie T · Jan 16, 2008

I wonder why nobody from Panther has replied? Maybe they haven't see this yet??

Vinnie T · Jan 17, 2008

Bump

Anyone want to chime in?

rdtrpn · Jan 21, 2008

davekc said:
Let me first start out by saying, I have trucks leased to Panther, but am not a recruiter. It is true that Panther puts out a lot of money on advertising to recruit potential drivers.
You situation is more challenging because you are looking for tractor drivers. There are many more companies that are competing for drivers which limits that pool of candidates verses straights or vans.
We have had drivers provided by Panther, but we don't limit ourselves to that only resource. Working with recruiters, running a ad here on EO and networking yourself will go a long way. Some of our best leads are from former and current drivers. In that case, the illusion is they are getting all the good drivers, but in reality, it is the owners reputation and those drivers that are providing the leads. That isn't preferential treatment. Outside of advertising/recruiting, Panther isn't absorbing any costs unless you would be sitting on one of their trailers.
I'm sure they would be tickled pink if they could provide you a driver.
Best advice I can give is be patient and realize that this is a slower period and you are working from a smaller pool of candidates.
Lastly, make sure what you are offering is competitive against your competition. Are you using your past drivers for references? Current drivers if you have them.
Is your pay, location, and equipment package competitive with other fleet owners?

Do you currently need a solo driver for a straight truck? Im driving as a team and my co-driver is leaving. I want to drive solo. Robert

BillChaffey · Jan 21, 2008

I tried working for Panther as a Cargo Van O/O. The recruiter never asked if I had a clue on what to expect in Expediting. At the Orientation out of 45 or so potential drivers 6 were Cargo Vans the remaining were about 50/50 Straight jobs & Tractors and most were there to drive for Fleet owners.

Vinnie T · Jan 23, 2008

STILL no respons on this

What if Panther teamed up with some recruiting firms?

Vinnie T · Feb 5, 2008

Update:

Panther has called with some candidates, granted none of them worked out but it's the thought that counts!

panrec · Feb 5, 2008

Vince,

I would be more than happy to discuss with you the process that is involved in qualifying, and placing tractor drivers. However, I will not get into this back and forth retoric on this site.

Mike

pantherontheprowl · Feb 5, 2008

Hey Vinnie,

As a Panther driver recruiter I can tell you first hand that everything davekc said in his first post explains us to a tee. We would love nothing more than to be able to provide you and all current Panther tractor owners with an endless supply of tractor drivers. We hate nothing more than to see your tractors down and our owners struggling to find drivers for them. But unfortuantly "qualified" tractor drivers are literally one in a million. And if you're looking for a tractor team, well you have a better chance catching a glimpse of a unicorn haha. Yes we do TONS of advertising but unfortuantly for you the tractor owner the people that are calling in 9 times out of 10 want to get into Panther for mainly the straight trucks and cargo vans. I can promise you that we are working hard to assist you the best we can with tractor drivers. It is just as frustrating on our end as it is yours. And as for favoring our larger fleet owners I'm sorry you feel that way because it it very untrue. We treat all owners equally. Why would we frown upon our smaller guys that have the potential to grow like you? Again we are working hard on our end to help you and if you have any questions regarding any of this please do not hesitate to contact me or any other driver recruiter!

Vinnie T · Feb 5, 2008

I have to be honest and tell you both I was told when I called in before by a recruiter that we do not place tractor drivers after I was told you do. What should have been said is we currently do not have tractor drivers available. That was the main issue. I am happy overall because I was contacted and was offered drivers and that's all I can ask as a fleet owner. Also I can take 2 drivers and create teams out of them.

abcwine · Feb 7, 2008

Hey Vinnie,
Not being a P2 recruiter, but being a recruiter for 14 years, what everyone has said is right on the nut! Trying to find a good qulified tractor driver is extremely difficult. Every motor carrier has guidelines, policies and certain credentials that the driver must follow. MVR, criminal history, DAC and prior work history all have to fall in line. Where the driver is domiciled out of, how long they plan on staying out, what they expect for pay, etc, etc....

I have all the sympathy in the world for the large companies that provide driver recruiters.
Normally, they are up against a challenging day every day.

I would suggest to you that you place an ad in your local paper specifying what exactly you are looking for. Also, use your current fleet of drivers and agree to pay them a small bonus for any qualified lead they provide you with that pans out for you.

Good Luck,

ABC

Vinnie T · Feb 7, 2008

I guess most of this was a misunderstanding

I do wish they were more clear in the difficulty in obtaining drivers, but I was told that a Class A driver was near impossible to find, to the point where they don't do it a majority of the time. That being said I completely understand how difficult it is to recruit Class A drivers. I've been at this a while and have done a lot of recruiting, I just thought maybe with the Cats I would have a little more help. But they did call eventually with some leads and it was very appreicated..too bad my truck has now been down since the first of the year. I have called three times since last spring and recruiting has told me they never have any class A drivers. I would have never started this thread if I new that upfront. That is my main point. I too have been a recruiter at one point in my life, I am not saying I was intentionally mislead. In fact I find Panther as an organization truthful, most people are straight shooters! I just wish they would have been a little more clear on the issue. But as a whole if you run class D or under, drivers are not hard to come by with them from what I hear..I wish I knew that specific info. Some of it may have been ne griping a little too, we are in trucking so we are allowed! As far as the favoritism thing maybe I "bought into" some O/Op gossip, maybe they were trying to push my buttons? Who knows, we all know how some O/Ops like to exaggerate!

Overall I want to add I think Panther is a good company to run with. In fact I had offers with other companies that had drivers for my truck, but I held out to stay with the Cats. I am happy I held out and am staying with Panther and I was able to get input from some people on the issue and recruiting chimed in as well!