TransportTalk chats with truck driver instructor and recruiter Silvia Parra about her new business Trucking NZ – a project which helps finds talented overseas drivers for local operators.
Parra,47, has been driving trucks in New Zealand for 10 years since arriving from Spain in 2013. Before that she did long-haul in Europe for four years. She started the recruitment business after seeing companies struggle with a shortage of drivers while good overseas drivers were coming to her for advice on how to be sponsored.
Q: Do you run Trucking NZ full-time?
A: I still drive trucks, usually 40 hours a week only, although it can be 70 in peak times. That is how I have time to run the recruiting business. Selecting the drivers is very time-consuming, but in the end, I get the really skilled ones that match our needs in New Zealand.
Q: When did Trucking NZ launch?
A: I started selecting drivers in August 2022 when the borders opened. From hundreds of applicants, I selected 15 and started offering them to the companies in March this year. I have 30 in the pool of drivers right now.
Q: How do the overseas drivers find you?
A: I had already been coaching certain truck drivers who arrived in New Zealand looking for a job before Covid and helped them. So I did not start from scratch. I was already known in certain circles of truck drivers in Spain and other countries. I did set up the website and a couple of social media accounts and it did not take long to reach my target markets.
Q: What are you looking for in your recruits and how do you match the correct drivers for the right jobs and companies?
A: I look for drivers already used to these types of trucks and roads so they need less training than the rest and they are safer, so we are all safer. A minimum of four years’ experience. I select by skill, not by years of experience. A driver with 20 years of experience is not necessarily better than one with five years of experience. Yes, I cherry-pick, because there are millions, yes millions of truck drivers interested in immigrating, but most are not the truck drivers we need.
First, their English must be a solid intermediate or higher, able to do job interviews and courses and interact with others without problems. So once here they are fluent in a few months. Being the face of the company, this is a must.
Second, their experience must be with articulated trucks over 42 tonnes and on narrow, wet, winding roads.
Third, I ask for a five-minute video of them driving. If they say they can drive a road ranger, then the video has to be with a road ranger. It cannot be just on a straight road or a motorway, it must include intersections. Most will fail at this stage, it is unbelievable the videos I receive. Some are just full of very bad habits.
Finally, I have a one-hour interview with the ones that get to the end of the process. I have to check the details and know their motivations.
Q: What are some recent success stories?
A: Jose is a Peruvian truck driver who was working for the mines in the Andes mountains. He was driving American trucks delivering fuel from the port to the mines or picking up copper in bulk from the mine to the port for export. Together with his previous experiences, he was an ideal candidate for New Zealand. He had achieved it all in Peru and had a comfortable life but wanted a better opportunity for his wife and his two-year-old son.
Miguel is an Argentinian driver with over 10 years of experience as a fuel tanker driver. He was previously a beekeeper and worked in New Zealand and Australia with temporary visas years ago so he knew what all this is about. He wanted to come back to New Zealand to live, especially taking into account the Argentinian economy, so as soon as the borders opened he was looking at it.
Both got sponsored by a well-known fuel delivery company and they are already flying solo, driving manual American trucks all over the upper North Island, doing shift work.
Q: Do you have any advice for NZ transport companies looking to attract and retain new drivers?
A: To attract, I would be more flexible, about giving a shot to unusual profiles, and if possible, about the hours.
Not everyone wants to do 70 hours a week nowadays, at least not for months on end. Drivers have girlfriends, friends, family and hobbies.
Many people get into class 2 or 4 and simply burn out, they do not want to see a truck ever again. They will be sweet with an eight to 10-day driving job but they are not interested in doing more, as fatigue hits them hard and they have to spend their time off just resting.
However, companies always tend to think that fewer drivers with more hours a week is always the best solution. I am not saying it is workable for every company, but I have seen jobs where the loading and unloading could be done by a labourer so the driver has a nice 12-hour day with real breaks.
Also, you will not be very successful attracting women with 70-hour weeks, because we have a family to run, too, and no one is cleaning our house or cooking us dinner 🙂
To retain, there are many subjects.
The money is not that good in many cases and there are still many illegal runs out there where the drivers are doing 15-hour days with no breaks and being told they are “just slow, but will catch up”.
The pay varies between drivers for the same job, which shocked me when I arrived. Some veterans are paid more than younger drivers despite making mistakes that cost the company money. That pushes the younger driver to go where they are treated fairly. I believe in ‘same job, same pay’ and I believe in performance, so bonuses and annual gifts can go a long way to reward and motivate the ones who are really doing a great job.
Companies that are desperate to get a driver promise a lot of things but they never deliver so they are always losing drivers. If you promised such a truck or such route, then deliver.
Early starts or shift work are not used in other parts of the world for truck drivers, because it interferes with family life and body clock. It has been demonstrated that those drivers have more accidents, are more tired and have more health issues earlier in life, so it is not common. Early starts for drivers are rare in Europe, and there are night-shift drivers (who get paid more) and day-shift driver to cover together the 24 hours. Retaining drivers working early starts and/or shift work will always be more difficult and in a situation of shortage like this one, they are struggling despite offering a very good pay.
Good mid-management is crucial for drivers and leadership skill courses should be mandatory annually for them. Because mid-managers and supervisors are leaders, not bosses. If we want to retain drivers they need to understand that and be reminded of that. For some managers, an ‘open-door policy’ is just a nice phrase they like to pronounce in the meetings but when the driver goes to visit they behave like their time is being wasted. It is difficult enough for a Kiwi driver to go to the office and say something, it is most probably a good idea that will help the company. We are the ones dealing with everybody and we see room for improvements. But that driver will not go again to see the manager and this is the start of a bad culture.
In general, I think money is the least important factor, if you have a good relationship with the driver and can offer other important perks, retaining is not that difficult.
Q: What makes NZ a desirable place to work as a truck driver?
A: A beautiful country with not much traffic or aggressive drivers where truck drivers are still respected and skilled overseas workers are welcome. Most of the vacancies are jobs where every day you sleep at home. There are no misunderstandings with payroll admins and the police are not trying to issue you a fine because you scratched your ear while driving, and the smoko rooms of the customers are available for the drivers to rest. For a start, the USA, Canada and the European Union need long-haul drivers living in the truck for up to three months before giving them a week off.
Q: What brought you to NZ and what have you enjoyed about working as a truck driver here ?
A: I arrived in 2013 and went straight to work in the Christchurch rebuild. In general, people are more relaxed and happy, so the job is done with content. The police are very professional and the Kiwi truckies are mostly happy to have foreigners and women, and as soon as they see you doing the job properly they just treat you as a part of the group. I never had to dispute a paycheck. The landscapes are amazing and full of endless green pastures and rainbows, making it a pleasure to drive, especially if you love winding roads like I do. Also, I found people who trusted me and invested in my upskilling, to whom I am very grateful, as it is not that easy in other countries.
*Go to truckingnz.com for more information.
