What Are Advantages of Assessments To Select CDL Drivers?

Finding good CDL drivers is very tricky. Keeping them is even trickier.

Every day it seems like there are fewer CDL drivers with clean records and good driving experience. Often we end up hiring either the applicant with minimal (or no) track record, the guy with questionable violations in the last year, or the guy that quits in a month. So what do you do? You know that bringing onboard rookies and lead-foot-Larrys just compounds the risk that bad things might happen. You also know those trucks need to be rolling. But trucks won’t drive themselves. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Most managers at other trucking companies have been here, too.

Assessments help select good CDL drivers.

At Avatar Fleet, we have ways to solve this problem. We bring our deep experience in these areas to every engagement, and we ensure that when we leave, our clients are equipped with the tools and capabilities they need to continue to improve and grow. We bring our deep experience in these areas to every engagement, and we ensure that when we leave, our clients are equipped with the tools and capabilities they need to continue to improve and grow.

Pre-hire Assessments For CDL Drivers

One proven way is to use validated pre-hire assessments. First a job is analyzed and broken into component parts, focusing on identifying skills that relate to performance. From there, an assessment that measures those skills is constructed. CDL driver applicants respond to an online version of the assessment and their answers are compared with responses of drivers with good track records. The applicants are scored, giving you a solid way to check recruiters’ information gathered in the hiring process. These assessments are also useful for pinpointing strengths and weaknesses to investigate further (like maybe during an interview or background check).

These types of assessments are a proven method that has been used for decades in industry (science, engineering, sales, clerking, and many more) and in the government and the military.

They’re easy to complete, don’t take much time, are easily scored by computer, easy to interpret and are inexpensive.

At Avatar Fleet, industrial-organizational psychologists developed an AssessmentCare™ product called the Driver/Operator Behavioral Inventory (DOBI), a pre-hire assessment designed specifically for commercial drivers. Driver applicants take this inventory as part of the hiring process and you are given helpful guidance regarding which applicants are most likely to be great drivers.

How It Works

It works like this:

1. After a CDL driver applicant submits an application, recruiters send the person an email with a link to an assessment site.
2. The applicant signs in with a user name and password to ensure privacy.
3. The applicant (driver) completes the 10-minute assessment.
4. The recruiter has instant access to the assessment results.
5. The recruiter then uses the assessment in conjunction with other information gathered throughout the selection process like job knowledge, experience, skill and aptitudes and results of a job interview to make a decision to hire or not.

In creating the DOBI, we have brought our deep industry experience to the driver staffing issue so that we can be sure that you have all the tools you need to hire, and keep, the right people.

Our process is easy to use, easy to interpret and requires little time to get started. Costs vary and they include ongoing technical support, structured interviewing kits, and all associated educational materials.

For more information, contact Karen Downing at 1.800.728.2827 ext.222 or email kdowning@avatarms.com.