What’s the Real Cost to Hire a Truck Driver? (Updated 2025)
In the dynamic and highly competitive trucking and logistics industry, one of the most overlooked expenses is also one of the most critical: the cost of hiring a truck driver. Whether you’re managing a regional fleet or a national carrier, understanding what it actually costs to seat one qualified driver can be the difference between profitability and financial bleed.
At Class A Jobs 411, we’ve worked with hundreds of fleets and know firsthand how hidden recruitment expenses pile up fast. If you’re not calculating your true cost per hire, you’re likely burning money you don’t even see. This article breaks down the key components of that cost and explains how carriers are slashing it using smarter recruiting strategies.
Why Driver Recruitment Costs Matter More Than Ever
The U.S. continues to face a chronic driver shortage, with aging workforce demographics, evolving FMCSA regulations, and fluctuating freight markets putting constant pressure on fleet managers. Meanwhile, turnover rates remain sky-high — often 70% or more in long-haul segments.
When every unseated truck means missed loads, late deliveries, and lost revenue, your cost per hire isn’t just an HR issue — it’s a financial emergency.
Average Cost to Hire a Truck Driver (2025 Data)
According to the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute, the average cost to replace a truck driver is $13,566.
But that’s just an average.
Costs can range from as low as $3,696 to as high as $34,153 depending on the type of haul, driver location, endorsements required, and whether you’re hiring company drivers, owner-operators, or dedicated contract personnel.
Other sources like The Drivers World put the typical recruitment and onboarding cost between $6,000 to $12,000 per driver — and even higher for specialized freight or hard-to-fill lanes.
Breaking Down the Real Expenses: Internal vs. External
To understand your true cost per hire, you have to break down every expense into two categories:
Internal Hiring Costs
These are in-house costs associated with recruiting and onboarding a driver:
- Driver recruiter payroll
- Referral bonuses (which now average $1,000–$2,000)
- Orientation & onboarding expenses (hotels, meals, travel)
- Safety/training department payroll
- Lost productivity during unseated truck days
- Management oversight on rehiring or policy enforcement
Even things like printing DOT files, distributing manuals, and uniform packages count here.
External Hiring Costs
These are what you spend outside the company to source, advertise, or evaluate drivers:
- Recruitment agency or headhunter fees
- Pay-per-click job ads on sites like Indeed, CDLjobs, and Tenstreet
- Background checks / MVR / PSP reports
- Drug testing & DOT physical reimbursements
- Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and CRM software
- Branded landing pages or application portals
- Call center or outsourced prescreening teams
When all these costs are added up, even a modestly-sized fleet hiring 20 drivers per quarter may be spending six figures without realizing it.
How to Calculate Your Cost Per Hire
Here’s a simple formula every carrier should be tracking:
(Total Internal Costs + Total External Costs) ÷ Number of Drivers Hired = Cost Per Hire
Let’s say you spend:
- $60,000 quarterly on ads, tools, and bonuses (external)
- $40,000 on internal recruiting team and onboarding expenses
You hired 25 drivers in that quarter.
Your cost per hire is:
($60,000 + $40,000) ÷ 25 = $4,000 per driver
That’s considered “good” in many markets — but you’d be shocked how many carriers are closer to $10,000 without realizing it.
Why These Costs Keep Rising
There are five major reasons recruitment costs are trending upward:
- Competition for Drivers – Carriers are outbidding each other for qualified candidates.
- Inflation – Ad costs, travel expenses, and recruiter salaries have all climbed.
- Poor Lead Quality – Many platforms charge per click, not per hire — so you pay whether the driver is qualified or not.
- High Turnover – When 7 out of 10 hires leave within the first 6 months, you’re stuck paying twice.
- Inefficient Processes – Many fleets use outdated systems or rely on fragmented marketing.
How Class A Jobs 411 Cuts Your Cost Per Hire
We help carriers reduce cost-per-hire by up to 40%, and here’s how we do it:
✅ Flat Pay-Per-Hire Model
You only pay when we deliver a qualified, pre-screened, and motivated driver who is ready to onboard. No click fees. No ghost leads. No bloated retainers.
✅ 100+ Trained Recruiters
Our national network of independent recruiters is constantly sourcing for active CDL-A drivers. We screen and sell your jobs directly to the right driver profile.
✅ Ad Spend Included
We run and manage your recruitment ads at our expense, so you don’t burn budget testing different channels.
✅ Faster Time-to-Fill
On average, we get qualified driver submissions in 48–72 hours, and most hires are completed within 7–14 days.
✅ Improved Retention Through Fit
We don’t just match by ZIP code — we look at home time preferences, endorsements, equipment history, and freight experience to ensure the driver stays in the seat.
The Real Problem: Not Knowing Your Numbers
Most carriers don’t know their actual cost-per-hire because their data is scattered across spreadsheets, ad dashboards, HR emails, and old ATS systems.
At Class A Jobs 411, we help you simplify your recruiting funnel, track submissions, and report results clearly — so you finally understand the value behind every driver hired.
Let’s Eliminate Waste and Fill Your Fleet
If you’re frustrated with:
- Paying for unqualified leads
- Slow or no results from job boards
- Driver churn eating your budget
- High advertising costs with low return
Then it’s time to try a different model.
📞 Call Melissa at 719-301-6891
📩 Find Out how we can help. – https://classajobs411.com/trucking-carrier-recruiting-service/
Let’s build a driver recruiting strategy that makes financial sense — not just marketing noise.
