This week on Taking the Hire Road, host Jeremy Reymer, founder and CEO of DriverReach, sat down with Josh Mecca, director of recruiting at American Central Transport (ACT), to discuss how recruitment processes should be driver focused.
When he was new to the recruiting world, Mecca experienced a dreadful job interview.
“The interview/meeting turned into an hour or two of being told how I won’t ever amount to anything within recruiting. I sat and listened to this experienced gentleman and started to question whether he was right. He was very wrong and I will continue to do my best to prove it,” Mecca said.
A couple of years later, Mecca sat on stage as a Transport Topics’ recruiter of the year finalist and now uses his 17 years of industry experience to continue to improve logistics recruiting processes in his position at ACT.
“I’ve realized that there is a moment where we as recruiters, or anyone in the hiring process, can make or break the perception of the company,” Mecca said. “One of my biggest driving forces is the desire to ensure everyone feels valued and heard, no matter the outcome.”
Mecca ensures the recruitment process is focused on potential drivers and meeting their needs.
“It’s about making the driver the hero. I love knowing that I can take someone and put them in a really good job where they can be successful and make their families proud of them,” he said.
ACT recently was listed in the Top 20 Best Fleets to Drive for 2023. To Mecca, making the list for the sixth consecutive year illustrates his recruiting efforts are paying off. The list is driver led, meaning the company must be nominated by drivers.
The hardest part of the job for drivers is the mental aspect as they often spend long stretches away from home. Being on this list acts as a reminder for ACT to be intentional — to continuously better the lives of its drivers, year-round, he added.
“It forces us to ask the right questions and to not stay still,” Mecca said. “It pushes us to constantly move forward and evolve in order to make trucking as great as we possibly can.”
To learn more about American Central Transport, visit its website.
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