TST Overland Express reduces turnover and improves productivity thanks to Drake Edmonton

Corporate profile – TST Overland Express

• Industry - Shipping
• Countries where they operate - Canada, US
• Number of locations - 14 across Canada
• Number of employees – 2000 nationwide
• 45 in Edmonton

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Executive Summary:

TST Overland Express is one of the leading companies in Canada providing specialty and bulk trucking services across the country and into the US. Their branch in Edmonton provides coordinated services throughout the province, with links into Northern Alberta communities as well as key linkages to other Western Canadian locations. Due to the circumstances of their business and operational structure, the branch faced significant challenges in filling roles, including irregular and evening shifts. 

Drake’s understanding of the market, as well as our scope of recruitment experience, allowed Drake to tap into candidates who were aligned to fill evening shifts and irregular shift assignments. Due to Drake’s testing regimen, Drake was able to reduce turnover and improve the productivity on the regular shift workers as well as provide a reliable stable of part-time staff in order to fill irregular requests. 

 

About:

TST Overland Express is one of Canada's leading providers of time sensitive, less than truckload (LTL) North American transportation services. Since 1928, they have offered unparalleled quality service and customer support, while utilizing the most current technology available to the industry.

 

The Challenge:

TST’s Edmonton’s office was faced with multiple issues. The head office had instituted a hiring policy that was focused on recruiting part time personnel which limited budgets for advertising and sourcing candidates at the local level. While the positions did not require many skilled labour positions, the irregular hours and the evening shifts presented a significant challenge in recruiting reliable candidates to fill the roles on a long-term basis. Turn-over and understaffing were a regular challenge faced by the branch which created a level of instability on meeting quotas and goals on a wider scale for their business.

 

How Drake helped:

When Drake first met with TST, there were two focuses in creating a long term solution for their issues. The first was to develop and execute a sourcing strategy that identified candidates who were suited to evening shifts and irregular hours. By targeting those factors first, Drake was able to start building a pool of candidates who, even if they required slightly more testing and training to start, would strongly reduce turnover and offer higher productivity in the long term with the client. In addition to that, Drake’s recruitment policy helped continually refresh the available candidates in the temporary pool for irregular hours, ensuring that short term requirements and ramp-ups could be met on a consistent basis. 

As Drake grew better acquainted with TST’s business needs and corporate environment, it was better able to anticipate needs and proactively add candidates for positions that were sure to be needed on a part time basis, such as admin candidates, lumpers and swampers. Over time, Drake developed a highly targeted recruitment process which not only aligned with TST’s needs, but also evolved with the company as a whole as it changed and adapted with their market.

 

 

Results:

TST has been a Drake client for well over a decade and we continue to provide a consistent stream of high quality, well suited candidates to meet TST’s needs. We have developed a strong working relationship with TST based on solid lines of communication, including regular updates and reviews. We continue to refine the process and align our sourcing to meet the developing needs of TST. Drake provides an easy process to use to source candidates, and as a reliable partner, we can meet TST’s business needs on a consistent, worry-free basis. 

Drake’s ability to create and deploy a targeted recruitment process capable of identifying candidates who fit the unique shifts and hours TST needed was a key point in reducing churn and ensuring that shifts were fully staffed.

By regularly evaluating the client’s needs and the fluctuations in the market, Drake is able to keep enough candidates in the system to ensure that needs can be swiftly met, building a trusted relationship as the partner who could deliver on-time and as needed.

 

To find out how Drake can help you address your recruitment challenges, contact your local Drake office.