Escot Bus Lines: 250+ applicants in seven weeks.
How Escot Bus Lines Got 250+ Applicants in 7 Weeks Without Compromising Standards
Escot Bus Lines received more than 250 driver applicants in seven weeks. Doug Domanchuk had been bracing for the opposite problem — that too few candidates would force the charter company to lower the standards he'd spent a career defending.
Founded in 1983 in St. Petersburg, Florida, by Lou and Diane Scott, Escot Bus Lines is a family owned charter bus company. The fleet started with two mini buses running daily shuttles to Tampa Bay area attractions and grew into a leader in the transit and motorcoach industry, serving routes throughout North America. The company takes pride in a well maintained, fully equipped fleet and well trained drivers.
Doug Domanchuk has held himself and his teams to high standards of safety and service since his time in the armed forces, which is why the role of Director of Safety and Risk Management fit when it was offered to him four years ago. "There was a learning curve at first, but nothing that I couldn't transfer my knowledge over to." He now manages everything from OSHA compliance and safety regulations to driver permitting and insurance.
Beyond keeping Escot's safety record spotless, one of Doug's central responsibilities is bringing on new drivers. Working alongside the company's Director of HR, he researches and evaluates new ways to recruit them — and earlier job boards and posting sites had produced little response.
250+ applicants in seven weeks.
Driver applicants
From a company that had struggled continuously with driver recruitment.
From launch to that volume
Earlier job boards and posting sites had brought little response.
Disclaimer: Results shown are based on the actual experiences of Array customers. Results vary by customer and circumstances, and no particular outcome is guaranteed.
A seven-week graph he didn't believe
Where earlier job boards and posting sites had brought little response, Array HQ produced an application volume Doug hadn't thought possible. "I can't explain enough how amazed I was with the service. I looked at a 7 week graph of our applications and saw that we had over 250 applicants in that time!"
Quality rose alongside volume, and Doug credits two things. Unlike bulk job boards, Array HQ let him shift his hiring focus as needs changed — adjusting geotargeting, application requirements, and job type with a single call. "Array HQ made the whole hiring process faster. We can call within minutes and make a change." Prescreening then kept his team's time on the top qualified candidates only.
The campaigns performed well enough that Escot started hitting hiring goals it had been missing. "We went from struggling continuously with driver recruitment to it becoming an afterthought with Array HQ."
Selective, not desperate
Doug sees bus drivers as closer to airline pilots than to general labour. They carry specific certifications and endorsements, they are responsible for people rather than freight, and they need genuine customer service skills.
With candidate volume as low as it was, he had been worried about where that would lead. "If you don't have enough drivers to cover, you may have to compromise your standards to fill the team, which is something I'm totally against."
A deeper pool removed the pressure. Instead of rushing to fill an open seat, Doug can now target well rounded drivers who understand the whole business of driving a bus. "I can't say enough how much it's changed. Array HQ has revolutionized our driver recruitment."
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