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| Neil McGlone Michael A. Burns & Associates Inc. nmcglone@mbapr.com 214-521-8596 |
Bob Viering Vertical Alliance Group Inc. 972-663-3909, x104 |
Vertical Alliance Group’s BubbaJunk.com Gains 10 New Advertisers in Early 2007
Recruiting Web Site Helps Trucking Companies Counter Severe Driver Shortage
DALLAS – Feb. 28, 2007 – Vertical Alliance Group’s BubbaJunk.com, a recruiting Web site where transportation companies advertise trucking job openings, has signed 10 new advertisers during the first two months of 2007. Leading transportation companies such as J.B. Hunt Transport, Crete Carrier, Covenant Transport and Cowan Systems LLC, are among the new advertisers.
BubbaJunk.com helps trucking companies counter a severe nationwide shortage of 20,000 drivers. But that figure is expected to reach 111,000 drivers by 2014, according to the American Trucking Association (ATA).
Jon Schoenweitz, director of driver recruiting at Baltimore-based Cowan Systems, says that during the first three weeks of advertising on BubbaJunk, his company has already received better-qualified applicants and has gained several new drivers. Cowan Systems, founded in 1994, is a truckload carrier and operates east of the Mississippi River and north of Florida.
“Our company needed an efficient, cost effective method to better expose our recruiting efforts in the regions we serve. BubbaJunk.com has an industry-wide reputation as one of the top Internet-based recruiting resources because it’s not a resume database. Drivers have to review our company details and job descriptions before submitting their information,” Schoenweitz said. “During the first three weeks, we had 250 drivers show interest in our available positions, 25 of whom completed our full application, and five of whom are now employees. That’s good productivity for our company in such a short time span.”
BubbaJunk.com was created in 1999 and has since grown to attract strategic partnerships with many large and mid-size trucking companies across the United States. Blue-chip clients such as Ryder System, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Kraft, Frito-Lay and Swift have partnered with Vertical Alliance to increase driver retention percentages, decrease the cost per hire and improve profitability.
The success of BubbaJunk.com – and the continued demand for both entry-level and experienced drivers – has led to several additional and specialized trucker recruiting Web sites. In 2004, TruckerTrucker.com was launched for small trucking companies, followed by FullFleet.com, which targets private carrier fleets; 1099trucker.com, for owner-operators; and USTruckingSchools.com, which enables private trucking schools to recruit and enroll students in specific geographic areas.
FullFleet.com also has experienced an active 2007, signing six new advertisers, including Airgas Inc., Kraft Foods and Panera Bread.
Unlike other recruiting Web sites that blast a job candidate’s information to unrelated companies and listings, visitors to BubbaJunk.com and its sister sites submit their information directly to their preferred transportation company by clicking on a carrier’s advertising unit. Each company is provided with a detailed profile page designed to educate the driver about everything they need to make an informed decision regarding the company and the position.
A profile page often includes audio and video messages as well as custom-written copy and graphics. It’s designed to pre-qualify a job applicant, before they ever speak with the recruiter. The efficiencies gained by the recruiting staff using this system can be dramatic.
Web site content consists solely of advertising and job description space purchased by transportation companies for a consistently low monthly fee that includes the ads, proactive customer support, ad tracking, advertising consulting, recruiter training and more. Vertical Alliance has developed 40 similar niche Web sites for different vertical markets, using what it calls “response engine marketing” to generate pre-qualified leads for its clients.
“BubbaJunk.com is our longest-running Web site and has delivered qualified trucking applicants to transportation companies for more than eight years,” says Jay Wommack, founder, president and CEO of Vertical Alliance. “It, along with our other sites, provides a direct and cost-effective connection between those seeking a particular service or job and those that are advertising them. Our goal is to increase our clients’ ‘Basic Unit of Wealth,’ which is whatever they need to be successful.”
About Vertical Alliance Group Inc.
Vertical Alliance Group Inc. is an online publisher that provides direct marketing services – including lead generation for a variety of personal and business services, and targeted recruiting of pre-qualified employees – for clients in 20 niche industry segments. Headquartered in Texarkana, Texas with offices in Dallas, Vertical Alliance hosts and manages more than 40 Web sites, using response engine marketing to increase its clients’ “Basic Unit of Wealth.” For more information, visit http://www.verticalag.com or http://www.bubbajunk.com.
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