Navigating First Advantage
Welcome to Industry Insights with Route Consultant! This week, Dave and Amy Byers discuss the crucial yet challenging process of hiring and screening drivers using the First Advantage platform for FedEx contractors. They detail the end-to-end process from initial application to qualification, the common pitfalls, and tips for minimizing delays. Whether you're a seasoned FedEx contractor or new to the space, this episode offers invaluable insights into optimizing your hiring process and avoiding common frustrations with First Advantage.
About Dave + Amy Byers
Dave Byers, President of Slicker Trucking, Inc., started as a FedEx package handler before launching his own route in 2007, growing it into an award-winning operation with a hands-on leadership style. His wife, Amy Byers, joined as COO in 2017, bringing expertise in marketing, compliance, and finance to scale their family-owned business. Together, they run multiple FedEx P&D and linehaul operations, two fleet repair shops, and businesses like Ohio Valley Pizza Company™ and Hokulia Shave Ice™, all while staying rooted in their core values of Honesty, Integrity, and Commitment to People.
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Josh Gregory: [00:00:00] Welcome to Industry Insights with Route Consultant, your front row seat to the fast moving world of logistics and beyond. Each week, we bring you game changing insights, real world strategies and fresh perspectives to fuel smarter investments and build stronger businesses. Join us as we sit down with expert guests to explore emerging trends and pressing topics across a wide range of industries.
This is industry insights. At Dave and Amy Byers back again to talk about, you know, I think just everyone's favorite subject in the FedEx space. Uh, and it's basically a curse word when it comes to the hiring side of things, but First advantage. Yeah. Uh, it is the, the platform that we use to hire and evaluate candidates.
But tell me a little bit more. If somebody's never heard first advantage, what would you say it is? Um,
Amy Byers: so first Advantage has changed over the years. Um, they've used it, uh, it's our background [00:01:00] screening and qualification process. Mm-hmm. Uh, for onboarding new drivers into the FedEx network that then can become available for us to hire.
Yep. So all things start with the FedEx application. Back in the day, we used to have to go to FedEx. I remember I'd help Dave before I came over. We'd go to FedEx location and fill out the application at their. Location on their computer mm-hmm. That had the FedEx system or the first advantage system loaded.
Now we're able to have that on the fly. You can do it from your phone, you can do it from your computer, whatever. Um, even some hiring agencies have access to it. Um, so it's. Kind of the start of all things employment. After you've identified a candidate that fits for your company, you need to screen them.
Yeah. And sometimes rescreen them, but screen is the first word, right? So that's where you put in your name. Their name, their email, uh, your contract number, uh, what type of driver, um, they're applying for. So, uh, you know, which is [00:02:00] counterintuitive. Also, package A is not Class A driver. CDLA is B. It's very not, you know, a little convoluted, but yeah.
Um, you would wanna pick whether they're a, uh, non DOT. You know, driver, do they need a physical and a drug test? Do they just need the screening and the drug test so you can pick the package that you want 'em screened for, and then the next part you just add what terminal and class and level of employee that they're gonna be.
Okay, level of driver. And then you hit the go part and then hopefully they fill it out, which is a whole other conversation about, um, getting things through. The process is they have to then fill out that part which asks them, um. You know, everything from social security number to background check, it's gonna do full background.
Um, the line haul side is a little bit more in depth, uh, but federal criminal, um, local, um, job verification mm-hmm. And motor vehicle report. Okay. So that's the process. [00:03:00] Um, and then they, that will also track the, uh, DOT physical and Okay. Um. A drug screen.
Josh Gregory: So is it, it's always after you found somebody like to, do you guys do like a phone screening first before you ever send somebody to first Advantage?
Or is it the first step in the process? So
Amy Byers: we, we have a conversation. Usually they apply. Yep. We have a conversation with them to just determine whether they're. A good fit for the job.
Josh Gregory: Yeah.
Amy Byers: Um, and then we, uh, push 'em the application and then we actually have a phone screen team that will dig in a little bit deeper.
Okay. Um, and have a phone screen. But you'll learn a lot about people is how quickly they wanna fill out that application. Uh, if you, you have to prod. And poke a candidate to fill out the application. Probably not gonna be your best worker. Yeah. Um, or they just don't need the job that bad. Um, or they've had some technical difficulties, so we find that quite a bit.
Uh, but when we. Kind of introduce the screening process. We kind of hit all those things right out of the gate. [00:04:00] Like, hi, this is Amy. I'm sending you an application. It's coming from First Advantage. It's going to say Needs attention. Mm-hmm. Or needs Action. If you have any issues, there's a little chat bot in the corner that's open from 8:00 to 5:00 PM that can help you.
Um, but it's going to ask for 10 years of experience. Mm-hmm. Um, I kind of hit all of. Yeah, the headache stuff, right? Like they want 10 years, no gaps. And intuitively, when you fill out a, an application for an employment, being unemployed is a negative, right? So a lot of people are like, well, I don't wanna tell you that I didn't have a job for six months, or I was, you know, lazy or whatever.
Yeah. The case, whatever that perception looks like, where we just need them to fill it out. So I always say, if you were unemployed for a small amount of time, just put unemployed. Doesn't hurt you. I just need you to fill the tenures with no gaps. Yeah. Because if there's a gap, it won't let you finish. Um, you know, same thing with any type of, you know, points or anything, just fill it out, you know, but even little things like it asks for your [00:05:00] previous employers.
Go back 10 years and it wants their email address and phone number. Like a lot of these folks don't even know what they had for breakfast. Yeah. So, you know, like my memory, I don't even know what I had for breakfast. Some days, you know, you're moving so quickly. Like, I don't remember that guys. I'm like, so okay.
You just have to trick it, you know? Yeah. Just get through the process.
Josh Gregory: Yeah,
Amy Byers: do your best. Um, so the hurdle of just getting it filled out is definitely a process, right? Yeah. Uh, it's a lengthy process, but I get why they do it, but. You know, now it's like upload your driver's license. Yeah. And there's all kinds of technical situations with that or the paper.
You know, all of our new driver's licenses in Ohio, they come paper first and then they mail you the hard copy. It doesn't like to take a picture of that one.
Josh Gregory: Mm.
Amy Byers: So getting through the application is the first step and is very trying. So once you get through the. The process, then it kind of kickstart that process, right?
It's they're processing in the background. Yeah. Their MVR is processing, their background check is processing, their verification of employment is processing, and then they get an [00:06:00] email with the request for the drug screen and or physical. Okay. So now the employee is kind of on their way to do their side of it.
Josh Gregory: Mm-hmm.
Amy Byers: Um, and then there's. Kind of our side of managing that relationship, and I think the questions that you're going to be poking me are, is what happens. Yeah. When those things kind of pop back at you, right? Yeah.
Josh Gregory: Well, and, and just from a general perspective, that screening that first step, how long does that generally take?
Amy Byers: So it could take somebody 20 minutes to fill out an application. Mm-hmm. Um, the screening process, like the background check process Yeah. Can take up to a week. Okay. I have someone in there right now that it's been a month and it's not anything to do with. Them or their background check. Usually they would always say, well, if there's a delay, it's probably, 'cause there's something creeping in the person's background, so you probably don't want 'em anyway.
And it's really not, it's just court closures and record, you know, protections. We had a system outage in Cleveland the other day, so literally I had somebody, and it stinks because I actually lost an employee. Yeah. Because they came to me [00:07:00] because they needed a job and two weeks later they were like, they still
Josh Gregory: didn't have it.
Amy Byers: We didn't have a result. So the day I called 'em and I was like, Hey, finally you're eligible. Nothing popped on your background. But I couldn't even get 'em onto FedEx property to train because their background wasn't cleaned. Okay. So, or wasn't reported yet. So that's a frustrating piece of it. Right. Which is not FedEx's fault, it's not first advantage's fault, but it is the court system's reporting so that that causes a little bit of strain.
But it's typically, I mean, I've had people that. And, and these are good candidates. Yeah. So these are the ones that you want when they've been at a job for a long time. So the verification is only like one employer or two employers over 10 years. Yeah. And they don't move around a lot, so there's not a lot of cities to check as far as background checks go.
And they don't have anything that's negative on their driving record, which is kind of your. Ideal candidate, right? Yeah. You can get eligible within 24 hours. Okay. You can get a result that quickly. I usually find that there's one or two, like the national, federal, or the first Advantage check is the one that's kind of [00:08:00] lingering a day or two.
Mm-hmm. Um, but usually within a week you can get whether they're eligible or ineligible.
Josh Gregory: Okay.
Amy Byers: Um, and there are some false, false negatives and some false positives. So, um, and that's kind of another section. We'll kind of touch on that here in a little bit. Um, but again, you're looking at a week. I always say a week, um, to where you can get an eligible result.
Um, if I start seeing, um, that things are processing, I totally keep touch with the person during that timeframe. Yep, yep. That's like, Hey, we're just waiting on this verification of employment or just waiting on the city of Cleveland. Usually I can get, if there is something lurking in the background, that's when they're like.
Oh, well I did have this thing. Yeah, it was a, you know, misdemeanor. I'm like, oh, there it is. So then you at least have a headspace of they might pop positive or they might have a good or a bad background check, um, that they might have forgotten to tell you about earlier on. Yeah. Um, so in that timeframe though, you can kind of.
Poke and prod people to get that drug test and that physical completed, like, Hey, while it's processing, [00:09:00] why don't we save a little bit of time and go for the, that screening? 'cause a lot of times we just actually had one for the first time that popped that the guy could not get a physical, um, just didn't,
Josh Gregory: just
Amy Byers: couldn't get an appointment.
Just couldn't, no, just couldn't get. Couldn't get it passed. He went, oh. And there was just no, like, whatever it was, you just, and I've never had that. Usually it's, you need to go see a doctor. Yeah. Blood pressure medicine, whatever the cause. Right? Yeah. Um, and there's always like a, you just need to sign off from your doctor.
This was like, no, you can't get one. Oh, wow. And he, so he was like, I can't get one. And I said, well, I'm sorry.
Josh Gregory: Yeah. I'm
Amy Byers: sorry. It's a requirement. Yeah. So, um, so that was, you know, but. But his background hadn't been cleared yet either, so it was nice that we kind of got that ahead. Helps
Josh Gregory: some time energy. Yeah.
But, but
Amy Byers: it does definitely point to the fact that you need to fill your funnel
Josh Gregory: Yeah.
Amy Byers: Of with candidates in order to get a couple good ones that kind of make it through the whole process, right? Yeah. It's not a one for one, uh, you can't just guarantee that that one guy, I mean, I've even had referrals from guys that are like my top drivers.
That have tested positive for drugs or their background checks aren't clean, doesn't mean [00:10:00] they're not a good person, or I wouldn't want to hire them
Josh Gregory: Yeah.
Amy Byers: Just they can't pass, they can't get through, they just can't get through the process. So,
yeah, and like what you said, I think it is probably really important to emphasize that you do need to do as much communication as possible.
Mm-hmm. From, you know, the beginning to help prepare them for what's coming, for the things they have to fill out and the time it could take. But also, you know, every couple of days checking in if you, you know, if you want to help make sure that somebody who's. Looking for a job, a bunch of places continues to think of you.
Yeah. And doesn't just think that, you know, you've forgotten about them. 'cause it's been a week. Yeah. That's an important way to keep them in there.
Amy Byers: Yep. You have to keep 'em engaged. Um, you know, again, that process can delay. So staying engaged with them. Um, the big question that I always get is, when can I put my notice in?
Mm. And I tell people all the time, wait until everything's clear. Yeah. Because I would hate to have you give a notice and then. Not be able to hire you. Right. So ineligible or something from a while back, or maybe even they were a FedEx driver before for another contractor [00:11:00] and maybe had a signature failure.
Mm-hmm. Um, so there's another layer of can't drive for us that's beyond first advantage. That can kind of lurk in the background so they can be eligible. Negative drug test, great. DOT Physical, everything's verified and they can still possibly. Pop out at the end. So, you know, I always say, just please, like, please wait.
And they're like, oh no, I've never used drugs in my life. I'm like, let's just, let's just wait because it could be a medication or who knows what. And they're like, I didn't know. Yeah. Um, you know, especially with some of the vitamins and things, a lot of people don't know that a lot of these natural things have THC in them.
Um, or to what level enough to cause you to fail a drug test. Um, even, even like. CBD oils and things like that. They do have levels of THC in them that they don't recognize. So, you know, it's just a, you just completely rolled the dice, right? You, you had a great job. You weren't maybe the happiest, but now you have no job because you put your notice in and now you're burned a bridge.
And now. You know, can't work for me. So, so that's kind of that process, right? We just, uh, wait until everything's good, but [00:12:00] staying in contact, um, I, I constantly say like, you know, and that's why we do that phone screen mm-hmm. After they fill out the application, because we have then a little bit more than maybe they put on their Indeed app or their resume.
I have exactly what they put. Mm-hmm. In. Um, if they moved somewhere, like, tell me about when you lived in Florida or, you know, you have a little bit more information to go on and you can see the whole 10 year picture. Yeah. When you print that application and you can have the phone screen with them. So, so first step for us is for Dvantage application or obviously they apply Yep.
Have a quick conversation, send 'em the application, kickstart the process, um, get 'em the drug screen and physical stay in touch. Then we do a phone screen. So then when we're close. I can follow back up and say like, Hey, you had a great phone screen with our team. Your background looks like it's pr, you know, progressing well.
You know, drug screen and physical are good. I'll have an answer for you. Hopefully, you know, and it does give you an estimated date. Mm-hmm. But sometimes those are, you know, they [00:13:00] extend, when they extend, make sure you are going back in and letting the person know, like, Hey, it looks like this was supposed to report on the 23rd, it looks like now the 27th.
Please hang in there with us because we're really interested in getting you, you know, processed through. Um, there's even times where if somebody's. Drug test and everything has popped through and it's just a verification of employment. Um, we have a deeper conversation and we'll even bring them in for training if they're a good candidate.
Yeah. And we know that it's good. I'm not gonna put them in a truck and I'm not taking them to the terminal yet, but if we're having a GroundCloud class and I'm like, Ooh, that would really kind of, you know, for the whatever, nice, for the base rate that we would have to pay them the six hours or eight hours of training that we would have to provide.
Um, it's a good way to. You know, kind of roll the dice. Yeah. And yes, you could say that it's a little bit of a waste of money. You're getting the cart before the horse. But that is one situation where we do kind of Okay.
Josh Gregory: Push
Amy Byers: through.
Josh Gregory: Yeah. I was gonna ask how early, like the earliest you would bring somebody in for training?
That is, that is the
Amy Byers: earliest one. It's a verification of employment, especially only on like, only on a p and d driver. Yep. [00:14:00] Um, because the verification of employment as far as like work history doesn't matter as much. It's not weighted as much as it used to be with the new CT program. Mm-hmm. Um, which is the training program that we.
Are, you know, required to perform, uh, for a new driver. Uh, but line hall. That is very specific. They have to have experience with tractor trailer. Yeah. They have to have one year, unless you're putting 'em through the, the ELDP PRO program. Um, but uh, but yeah, I think that's the, you know, that would be the one as long as the background's eligible.
Um, there's some checkpoints, uh, there's a PA person ID on the second screen. You can kinda look if it's blank. I reach out to my quals team and say, why doesn't this guy have an id? There's always something lurking in the background when a. Clean file doesn't push through. Yep. Um, and then there's many results that, that come that are not just eligible Right.
Needs attention. Um, case canceled.
Josh Gregory: Yeah. Um, yeah, I mean, so, you know, everything I'm hearing is a process. It's a week. Mm-hmm. It's, or a couple of weeks. [00:15:00] It's, it's, that's not ideal, but it doesn't sound horrible. Mm-hmm. So why is, why, why do people hate first advantage so much? What is it that, what are the problems that come in this process that seems kind of.
Defined. Yeah. So I'll,
Amy Byers: I'll hit two sides of it. Yeah. Because I can get caught up with it as well. Mm-hmm. Where I get super mad, right? Yeah. At first advantage, and it's totally my fault, right? Like, maybe my guys didn't fill out, they, they didn't put a digit on the driver's license on a road test, so they send it to me, or they send it to my team and we upload it.
I, I should have taken five minutes to make sure that it was thorough before I uploaded it, right? Mm-hmm. So the problem though is then you upload it. It's 24 hours before it's scored, and you see that it's not approved, and you're like, what? Right. And they're like, damnit. And then you go look and you're like, that was me.
So then you add the digit and then you re-upload it and now it's 24 hours again. Mm. Okay. So that's tough when it [00:16:00] happens on like a Thursday.
Josh Gregory: Yeah.
Amy Byers: And then you recognize on Friday that it's not. Approved and they don't work weekends, we work weekends. So not having a 24 by seven infrastructure to support our business is definitely, you know, frustrating.
A, a frustrating downside. Mm-hmm. I get that. So if you submit it on Thursday, it's rejected on Friday, you resubmit it. It could potentially not push until Monday or Tuesday. So it's like what was 24 hours has now turned into four or five days. Yeah. And that's tough when you're trying to get somebody in a class and trying to get them through the next hoops and bring them on board and kind of do all these things.
Um, so that's a frustrating part of it is that upload piece, that secondary piece of uploading the credentials, which is their road test, the training certificate, their medical card. Right. Those things need to be once they get eligible and that's when the handoff then. Goes into like where we can start affecting change and getting things done quickly, that's when it gets frustrating.
Um, it, it, there are errors too. I've [00:17:00] had, um, first Advantage score document and it's wrong. Mm-hmm. They're like missing, you know, registration number from the doctor. I'm like, no, it's right there. They're like, oh, I see it now. And then they have to wait to push it. You know? So there are some things that are not, you know, a hundred percent, but for the most part on that side of it, it is definitely.
My fault. Um, but I can get equally as mad at them because they can't just go, oh, you fixed the digit. Mm-hmm. We're gonna fix it. It's 24 more hours. Yeah. So that gets a little frustrating. Um, the pieces that you can't control, um, is if a candidate, um, applies for you as a contractor and then applies for me as a contractor.
It'll come over as case canceled. And you don't have transparency to what that background looked like. Mm. So the candidate wanted to work for anybody just. You know, out there, apply, apply, apply, apply. Yeah. Right. And applied for you and filled out the application for you. Filled out the application for me and then it came over as case canceled, meaning there's a duplicate in the system.
Oh. But then you don't have transparency to what their background check looks like. So you have to just kind of keep calling and checking. [00:18:00] Um, you can send 'em for the drug screen and physical because it still had, you know, you still have that link, but you don't really have a whole lot of transparency to what's going on with that candidate.
Josh Gregory: Yeah,
Amy Byers: that's super frustrating. Um, so you have to email your quals team, which is your. Division and then the word [email protected]. And hopefully they can help you, um, or get onto your service connect. Uh, 'cause First advantage no longer takes phone calls uhhuh. So you have to go to, uh, help do fa.com mm-hmm.
And go to Service Connects in the bottom corner and basically get on like a chat with a live person. Okay. Um. Again, limited hours, so that gets, you know, their Pacific time. So I guess that's helpful that I'm in Ohio. Yeah. So I get 'em a little bit longer. Um, but, uh, but from there, you know, case canceled is tough.
I've also seen recently ineligible okay. On our p and d drivers, but it's not ineligible. They actually just have. Their CDLB or their CDLA. Mm-hmm. But they're taking a non DOT job. Oh, interesting. So [00:19:00] what happens is there's a mismatch on the medical card because they have to be a non accepted interstate.
Yeah. Instead of entrust state, which they are currently. So then it's just a match. But if you see it, it pops through and you're like, oh my gosh, I had such a great conversation with that guy. He was totally great. He's gonna be perfect in a. P 1000 because he drove CDL. Yeah. Like this guy's bus driver, like good dude worked for the schools.
Like what could possibly be ineligible about this guy? And you look and it's just some simple goofy thing. Little thing, yeah. Thing that you can move through. But that flag comes through and it says ineligible and it's like red, right? And this is a guy that you really wanna hire and it's frustrating. Um, so you kinda gotta do a little bit of digging.
So you click on the MVR and kind of make sure that it's not. 95 points. Yeah. Right. That's holding you, um, accountable or suspended license or something like that. It's just the CDL. Um, so that's okay. But again, it's that initial contradicting information that might have you thrown in one direction or not.
And it's a delay. Yeah, it is. Well, it's, it's actually it, it's a delay. [00:20:00] But the crazy part is you can just keep going 'cause the background's cleared. But you wouldn't know that if you didn't click on the MVR report to see that it was the fact that they had a CDL. Yeah, you would just say. Uh, FedEx deemed you ineligible.
You're ineligible, but you just don't know. But you just don't know. And I don't know why they, I don't know why that does that, but I would've, and the first time it flagged for me, I was like, well, that's weird.
Josh Gregory: And where did you, you know, learn all of these different little things? It basically just had.
You know, process of elimination or like trial error. Yeah, we've been doing it a long, long time. Yeah. Yeah.
Amy Byers: Trial and error, asking a lot of questions. Um, I, you know, really dig in, uh, over the years, somebody would, you know, our staff would bring us one and say like, this doesn't make sense.
Josh Gregory: Yeah.
Amy Byers: You know, I'm eligible.
I've never done anything wrong in my entire life. And you can see on the file it'll say like, background check. Green or red or yellow. Background check, background check, background check, MVR, red. So that's the first thing I do because I'm gonna have an adult conversation with this person and say like, Hey man, it's your driver's license.
Come back to me in two years when your [00:21:00] childhood speeding, expedited. It's gone. Yeah, I have left. Have left. Um, or Hey man, this is what's flagging. And if it's right and they're like, oh no, that dropped off. I didn't get charged for that, then I need you to go to BMV and check it. Um, so I learned through, you know, when you have a conversation with someone, you have to give them a reason for why you can't.
Josh Gregory: Mm-hmm.
Amy Byers: Why I can't hire 'em.
Josh Gregory: Yeah.
Amy Byers: Um, so that's kind of where I saw it. And when I would look and I'd say, oh my gosh, like, I can hire you. It's an MBR R mismatch. Then I would reach out to First Advantage and say, you know, what do I need to do here? And they're like, oh, no big deal. You just need to. Upload a new MVR and have them go to the BMV and update, you know, the MVR Okay.
On their side. So they have to go to the BMV and change it. Um. And Reregister self, it's called self certifying, their medical card. We don't have to do it on the p and d side, but if you have your CDL or CDLA, you do. Mm-hmm. Um, so you just have to change it from kind of a DOT to a non DOT driving position.
Um, but it's just something, I mean, so minor. Not ineligible by any means.
Josh Gregory: Yeah,
Amy Byers: right. Um, so the duplicate searches come over super [00:22:00] frustrating. The ineligibles come over super frustrating, delayed. Mm-hmm. Um, if it's delayed on a job verification, there is actually a form, um, that you can get off of my ground bz, um, that you can download and you can actually verify it yourself.
Okay. So you can. Do a little bit more digging. Um, and you can, you know, in your English speaking voice, try to reach out to these business owners Yeah. That are probably on their cell phone and just say like, Hey, I've, I've even texted, um, business owners. I'm like, Hey, I, I get it. You're busy. I'm busy too. I just really need you to answer these questions for me.
Can you, can you do that? And they're like, yeah. So then they answer the questions for me. You fill it out, you fax it to First Advantage. And then First Advantage,
Josh Gregory: find the fax machine.
Amy Byers: Oh, crack eax. Yeah. So you fax it to First Advantage and then they will call. But at least I've had a conversation with the guy or the girl who owns the company and say like, Hey, and by the way, there's gonna be an 800 number that calls you, or a three, four, seven number that's gonna call you to verify [00:23:00] this.
Can you please? Answer it. That's right. Do it. Like this guy really just, you know, he's a good dude, wants a job, right? Can you just help us out? Um, and that's more on the line haul side, but that's when it's delayed, right? So if you want that guy through or that girl through quicker, then you gotta do a little bit more work.
You might have to take some of the work on, on your end instead of just getting frustrated that it says delayed. Help. Yeah. You know, if a drug screen hasn't posted, and I know it's been a few days, I will call the MRO and say, here's the specimen number. And they say, oh, well there it is. And they just didn't have it linked.
Like for some reason the social security number or something didn't connect or whatever. So you just kind of have to force it and then all of a sudden magically it's negative and you're good and you've moved the ball forward a little bit. So I guess my. My suggestions or recommendation would be don't just sit on it.
Yeah. Right. Try to get it to move forward. And if somebody's MVR turns yellow, or if you identify that their background check is red in any category, have the conversation with them immediately. Get 'em off your [00:24:00] dashboard and move to the next qualified candidate. Yeah. Instead of trying to force, you know, the square peg in the round hole.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because you know, and I, ideally, you want safe. People to work for you. And I get that. It's a long background check. There's
Josh Gregory: a reason for a screening, there's a reason for all this testing. Yeah,
Amy Byers: yeah. So, you know, but there is a way to kind of navigate and kind of move through some of that stuff.
Yeah. But it's frustrating when our guys, our guys are like, Hey, you got two new, that's what,
Josh Gregory: yeah, that's what I'm saying. It's like you, you deal with this as an owner, as on the HR side, but you know, you've got, maybe you had a guy who called out or who quit or you had to let go and now you've got a manager in a truck, or you've got a guy covering another route.
How much do they understand that? Yes. First advantage makes things take a long time and that's why drivers are delayed. Like how hard is that conversation managing those mindsets of we're waiting on a guy 'cause he's sitting through first advantage. The, the managers
Dave Byers: have been around so long that they understand it at this point.
Yeah. But. The thing about like, like me at the terminal, I, [00:25:00] I, I, I couldn't manage this process Yeah. And manage the terminal. Yeah. Thi this is, I, I wanna say it's a full-time job in itself, but, you know, Amy does, does everything else with the, with the team at the office and, and it is a lot of work. And our, our managers, we include 'em.
Yeah. Right. We the why. Yeah. We get back to the why. So we, we include 'em in the conversations and we tell 'em everything that's wrong, but they also know. If they don't thoroughly fill out a road test, it's gonna hang up that potential driver, right? Mm-hmm. So they, they understand the, the hiccups that come with them being thorough before they submit to the office, all the paperwork that, that needs to be submitted from their end.
So, so they, they understand it, but it's really goes back to being transparent with them. Yeah. And, and explain to 'em the process because it, it ultimately puts the, the manager. A couple days out if, if something doesn't go right on the first advantage side. Yeah. Which, which seems to be the case. We, we get a lot of hangups.
Yeah. When it, when it comes to that. But, but they're pretty good [00:26:00] about understanding that. I'll tell '
Amy Byers: em too, I'll be real transparent. I'm like, Hey, I have, you know, 10 candidates coming through for two positions. And then I'm like, okay, the next day, two days, I'm like, all right. We have four of the five, four of the 10 have actually made it through to stage three.
Yeah. Right. Or two of them. And now I'm waiting on a drug screen, like four of 'em are eligible, but we're waiting on a drug screen from two. Yeah. And they're like, oh boy. You know? So they know. They know that it's on the employee side or the candidate side as well as first advantage as far as that like delay in processing.
Mm-hmm. Um, but I will say people's frustration with first advantage is typically the wait time. Mm-hmm. Right. That 24 hour timeframe. And a lot of it, a lot of it stems from, from their own mistakes. Right, right. Like, I have to eat that all the time, it's my fault. Um, so we have to go above and beyond to make things.
Make sure things are correct, like if that's that driver's license number on the road test or they didn't do a full s under satisfactory, you know, whatever it looks like or missed. A y on the, on the linehaul road test, whatever that looks like. It's very [00:27:00] easy to do, but you need to double check it because it's a longer wait if you, it takes less time to double check things right out of the gate, wait
Josh Gregory: extra few days.
Little things I tell
Amy Byers: them too, if you get a medical card. If it seems blurry, it probably is blurry. And by the time it gets to first Advantage uploaded, yeah, it's gonna be even blurrier. So that's the worst thing is like I upload it. You're not just checking a box, it has to be reviewed, um, if it's cut off.
So I always say, send me a picture at your medical card. I need to see all four corners. And I specifically say that I need a clean copy all four corners, or bring it to the office. I'll make a photocopy of it, but. Those are the things that are going to harm you down the way I've even had where the, um, medical company mm-hmm.
Has misspelled the person's name or not filled something out. And I'm like, you have to go back. You know, it, you can't just, you can't just edit a DOT document, by the way. You can't just fill out, you know, now if it's the fact that the guy didn't sign it or put his address, those are all handwritten. Yeah, but I'm talking like from a doctor.
If your [00:28:00] last name is Johnston and they write John. It is not going to fly. Yeah. Or you can just
look over that. Yeah. Correct. And
Amy Byers: I have drivers that whatever their legal name is, so if it's, you know, buyer Smith and it's a hyphenated name, whatever is on the application is what they're gonna wanna see on that.
So we've had those kickback.
Yeah.
Amy Byers: Right. So there are definitely some checks and balances that you can do, but I find that that's the most frustrating thing. The wait time is what's killing people. Yeah. The frustration is. That I made the mistake and now there's a delay and that happens more so when you go to scan, right?
Right. You go to log in the scanner. So this is now flipped to the onboarding part of first advantage, to the maintenance part of first Advantage. And that's the part where people like to, you know, bang their head against a wall when they're ready to dispatch. And it says medical card. Expired and you're like, I uploaded it yesterday.
And it's like, well, [00:29:00] it's, you know, and then they get the, well, we say it's 24 to 48 hours, and you're like, but my guy needs to go right now. Yeah, right. And the terminal saying, we can't update those for you anymore. So there's this whole like, like we're in it. Everybody's that's watching knows that. Oh yes, yes.
I felt that. I'm getting a lot of head nods I think out in the world right now.
Josh Gregory: Yeah.
Amy Byers: But those are the ones that are frustrating when you're ready to. To dispatch and the guy can't drive. Yeah. So then you have to go back and say, oh, there was something missing. The driver's license number was wrong. The date was wrong, the eye wears glasses wasn't checked, the CDL bubble wasn't filled in, whatever it is.
Mm-hmm. The full address, the zip code wasn't, the phone number wasn't led. Um, legible. Yeah. So all those things Right. Will, will impact a clear. Approved. Reviewed DOT card and you think, you know, you set it and forget it. You're like, upload, we'll be good tomorrow. He'll be ready to run routes covered. And they go to do it and they're like, boop.
Expired. Expired driver's license. Now that one's [00:30:00] an easy one because you just go, unless they actually forgot it was their birthday and didn't go get their driver's license. But I
Josh Gregory: assume even at a time like that, you know if, if they're ruled ineligible that morning Yeah. For dispatch, they're not going out.
Mm-hmm. And so, you know, time like that, you just have to either send the manager in the truck, hopefully you've got a backup, figure it out. And, you know, immediately. And that's when you feel Yeah. The most frustration. Well,
Amy Byers: and the, and then the frustrating part is that if the, if the driver did get their DOT in the timeframe that you needed mm-hmm.
Right? And you uploaded it, but you didn't go back and check that it was approved, um, or reviewed for clarity and all that stuff, um, that driver deserves to work that day. Yeah. So use him as a jumper. Send him with the manager, send him with another driver that might need, you know, help move the ball forward.
But that guy doesn't deserve to get sent home without pay because, you know, unless he wants to take the day off, that's fine. Yeah. But at the end of the day, he was prepared to work. And it was your technology that failed. Yeah. [00:31:00] Right. Or your process that failed. So we do that quite a bit when it, when it happens.
Um, but we do, um. My team will go in and double check. So if I upload something or if they upload something, we check within 24 hours that it's actually been cleared. Uh, because sometimes it is just, you know, clarity or fuzzy or blurry or whatever it is, um, but there could be missing information and you think you're all good, you upload it.
Everything's good that I should be eligible to drive tomorrow. And here, you know, it didn't work. We actually had that. There's also a 10 megabyte limit on the upload. Yeah. So sometimes you don't realize what you're clicking on if you're just a clicker. Yeah. So you upload it and it usually gives you a little window that says Okay.
And you say, okay, but sometimes it says, this file's too big, it's 10 megs or higher. And you go, okay, okay. Yeah. And then you don't realize that that's actually
Josh Gregory: it didn't upload it. Not upload. Yeah. Yeah.
Amy Byers: So we've learned that one, I learned that it took one good time for me to be uhhuh. It was, I was on my phone.
Yeah. And I was like, oh, I'll upload it right now. And then I got the [00:32:00] Okay. And I was like, okay, you're not in reading. You're just taking, that was, yeah. That was not the Okay. I needed to click on that day. Um, so, so just like trials and errors of things that I've learned over the course. Yeah. But I find that that's when my frustration gets.
The best of me and I get really mad is the turnaround time, but it's a turnaround time because I did something, you know, or, or my guy waited too long. Um, you know, we actually, one of the good things at first Advantage there is a reporting in a compliance section. So you can do a report of upcoming expirations, whether they're already expired or coming up.
So 30, 45 days of, um, mvs. Medical cards and ground cloud training. Mm-hmm. Well, your certification training re regarding what, whatever vendor you use. But you can get a list of those. So it's not like, oh my gosh, that guy's recert, you know, his certification, tomorrow's gonna expire tomorrow. And we're like, okay.
You know? So you have to get the guy in a one day class for recertification. Yeah. And that's, you know. That's then gets really messy when you [00:33:00] can't get everybody in the appropriate class at the right time. Yeah.
Josh Gregory: Um, I think what it comes down to is this is a, is a process. Yeah. And there are set time limits for just about everything and understanding how long that takes and understanding how long a mistake takes or a delay can take.
Yeah. You know, it's never gonna be like a, I made a a mistake, so it's just cost me an hour. It's usually 24 hours. Mm-hmm. And understanding all of that is important, but it also points to exactly what you said is that. It is a lot, you know, it's not a trivial amount of work to make sure it's done correctly and that you're following up and communicating to drivers and communicating throughout the whole process to make sure everybody's engaged.
And it, and it also points to why a lot of times we, you know, we recommend working with a vendor before you know what you're doing mm-hmm. On the recruiting side, because it's hard to figure all this out on your own. Yeah. Unless you're willing, willing to take the delays and the trials and error. So whether you learn from somebody who's doing it or done it before or, or, you know, a lot of people use a vendor early on to mm-hmm.
You know, figure out the process before they bring it internally. Yeah. I think it's a, it is, [00:34:00] it's not a super fun or exciting process, but it's the process that FedEx is requiring. Yeah. Where this is how we get drivers in, this is how we certify 'em. There's ways to check it and it's work, but, but this is the.
The technology and the world we live in. So make sure you understand how it works or make sure you're working with somebody who does. Yeah.
Amy Byers: So there's, there's workarounds, there's communication. Um, service connect, like I said, is that new? Yeah, online. That's actually been super helpful for me for chat. Um, because you don't have to wait online on the call, right?
Yeah. So it's pretty much you can do it while you're at your desks. Kind of working on other things. Mm-hmm. Um, again, something that your BC's not gonna be able to do. Yeah. Right. So that's definitely admin staff or, you know, luckily if you have like, you know, a, a vendor that you use, a hiring vendor that you use, they'll be able to do it.
Um, but those are the things that, you know, can speed things up, is use the service connect, um, it's just a chat, basically live chat. Mm-hmm. To get through these questions, you need your order id, your service numbers, make sure you have your, your. People, um, all their information so that when you call 'em, they can look into that file specifically, [00:35:00] um, and then use your quals team.
Uh, they're there. It's a qualifications team. Um, ours is eastern [email protected], or we have another one, central [email protected]. If there is something in the file that you see case canceled and you don't have transparency or cannot figure out what is wrong. With that employee's file reach out, or there's been times where they're completely eligible and they don't make it all the way to my ground BZ or the CDA program, so they don't see that they're eligible.
They need this wonderful r word called repu. Um, and and quals can help you with that. Don't just sit back and be frustrated. Yeah. Right. Ask questions, poke in the community, ask the positive questions, ask questions, move the ball forward, um, and connect with that service connected. And sometimes it's, sorry, we're just waiting.
Yeah. Um, and sometimes there is like a, oh, I'm sorry, let's. Let's see if we can help you with that. Yeah. Uh, so I think there's, you know, there's goods and bads, but
Josh Gregory: Yeah.
Amy Byers: Yeah.
But it's what we live with, but it's what we live with it, and that's the
Amy Byers: process. But there are ways to navigate, make it a little bit easier on yourself.
Yeah.
Josh Gregory: Yeah. Yeah. Those are, those are great [00:36:00] tips and, and tools. I think not everybody understands that there are things you can actually do to Yes. Go ask for help and yes. Ask for questions and, and maybe accelerate or escalate something. Yeah. But yeah, so. Uh, thank you for welcome talking through the, uh, exciting world of first advantage disadvantage, but it is the world that any FedEx contractor lives in.
Yeah. So it's important. Yes. Thanks for having us. Thanks guys. Thanks.
Amy Byers: You got it.
