// Why Now

The cost per seated driver has doubled. Retention hasn't.

Driver supply is structurally constrained. Cost-per-hire keeps climbing. AI bots drive higher apply rates and lower stick rates. Most recruiting shops are running the old playbook into a market that needs the new one.

01

Supply Is Structurally Tight

Clearinghouse prohibited-status counts climb every quarter. CDL training pathways have narrowed. Enforcement of Dalilah's Law and the Connor's Law amendment is tightening the qualified pool further. This isn't cyclical. It's structural.

02

Apply Rates Lie

AI-only recruiting shops are getting more applications completed than ever. They're also losing drivers before orientation. Carriers paying per-application are paying for a metric that doesn't predict retention. Cost per seated driver tells the real story.

03

Retention Is The Recruiting Problem

Equipment is the #1 most-cited reason drivers leave. Compensation is second. Operations is third. Most recruiters can't address any of those. We connect carriers to equipment partners so the cycle stays moving — aging iron out, newer iron in — and the seat doesn't go cold at 60 days. Three lanes, one operator, because retention is one problem with multiple causes.

How The Engagement Works

Three steps. No retainer.

From cold introduction to seated driver, the engagement is built around outcomes. No monthly minimums, no application fees, no padded retainer.

01

Discovery Call

30 minutes. We learn your lanes, equipment, home-time model, pay structure, and orientation cadence. On the call we either work with you to build a driver Q&A form scoped to what you're trying to seat, or we talk through whether you need several different lane profiles or the same driver type recruited at scale. Either way, you leave the call with a recruiting brief, not a sales pitch.

02

Milestone Agreement

If it's a fit, we sign a short scope. Recruiters based in middle and rural America, equipped with intel most recruiters don't know exists. We integrate with your existing hiring model — under your brand, under ours, or alongside your internal team. Whichever fits how you actually run.

03

Paid On Retention

You pay when a driver hits orientation. The remainder of the fee releases at 30, 90, and 180 days as they stay seated.

Billing Milestones

Pay when they stay. Not when they apply.

The retention milestone schedule below illustrates our default structure. We tune the schedule per engagement based on your lane economics, orientation cycle, and risk tolerance.

Orientation

Milestone One

First release of fee when driver reports to orientation

30 Days

Milestone Two

Second release when driver completes first 30 days seated

90 Days

Milestone Three

Third release at 90 days of continuous service

180 Days

Milestone Four

Final release at 180 days, full economic alignment

How We Recruit

Recruiters based in middle and rural America. Intel layer underneath.

Two tool sets, in the right place

Data and chatbots get the application completed. Data and human callers get the right driver seated for the long term. Same data layer feeding both phases. Volume tasks handled by automation. Judgment tasks handled by recruiters who live in the same small towns the drivers live in.

The data feeds the call

The recruiter knows more than the driver expects, because the intel layer got there first. CDL pool shifts by state. Carrier authority changes. Driver sentiment from the forums where drivers actually talk. We bring intelligence to every conversation.

Straight talk wins

Truckers are professionals and they want to be treated like it. They want predictability. If the job's unpredictable, they want to know that too, in advance. Drivers vote against bots with their feet. The recruiters who close are the ones who pick up the phone and tell the truth.

How We Fit Your Model

We adapt to your hiring strategy.

Recruiting works when it fits how you actually run, not the other way around. Some carriers want a separate brand calling on their behalf. Some want every touchpoint under their own name. Some want us alongside their internal team, not in front of it. The model bends to the engagement.

Under your brand

For carriers who want every touchpoint to carry their own name from the first dial. We run as your team, with your voicemail, your follow-up cadence, and your forms. Drivers never know there's a third party involved.

Under the Old Drum name

For carriers who want a separate brand to recruit through, particularly when their own name has a history with certain drivers. We carry Old Drum's reputation into the conversation, then transfer the relationship at the close.

Alongside your team

For carriers with an internal recruiting function that's at capacity, not broken. We extend bandwidth on specific lanes, specific endorsements, or specific campaigns. Your team keeps the core book. We handle the overflow or the specialty.

Cold-lead reactivation

Most carriers are sitting on years of leads they already paid for. Indeed bills, ZipRecruiter campaigns, referral incentives, retargeting spend. Most of it is dormant in the CRM. We work the dormant pool first, so your already-spent budget produces real seats before we touch a new dollar.

Who We Recruit For

Every lane. Every endorsement.

We work fleets of every size, from 50-truck regional operators to 3,000+ unit national carriers. Lane-tiered pricing scales with the complexity and endorsement requirements of the seat.

CDL-A OTR Reefer Tanker HAZMAT Flatbed Household Goods Dedicated Regional Local Owner-Operator

// Intel Built In

Every recruiting engagement is backed by our daily intel stack: FMCSA Clearinghouse state shifts, regulatory dockets, driver sentiment on Reddit, Facebook, Glassdoor and the trucker forums, job-posting volume across the major boards, and SEC filing analysis on the public carriers. The recruiter on your call has all of it.

Performance-based CDL recruiting.