Southeastern Freight Lines (SEFL) recently signed on as Unicru’s first fleet customer. Unicru (www.unicru.com) is a Web-based system used by more than 60 companies, including Universal Studios and Blockbuster Entertainment, to consistently apply best hiring practices across locations.
Braxton Vick, senior vice president of corporate planning for SEFL, says the Unicru system will be implemented by June in all 65 of the company’s service facilities. One of the primary benefits of the system, Vick says, will be reducing by half the number of days it takes to hire an employee by eliminating paperwork and errors from the application process.
SEFL is currently installing kiosks in its service centers for applicants to enter data directly into the Unicru application. Applicants can also apply through the Unicru system via SEFL’s website. When a driver applies for a position, for example, he first fills out a short questionnaire, which asks about his driving and criminal record. If they answer yes to some questions, “we already know we don’t want to talk to them,” Vick says.
The system also includes personality testing to pre-screen applicants that the company would otherwise spend time interviewing. A personality test, for example, quickly lets managers know if someone applying for a sales job has the characteristics of an effective salesperson.
When SEFL decides to initiate the hiring process for an applicant, Unicru interfaces with several third-party providers of employment, motor vehicle records and criminal background checks to automate this task. Once the decision is made to hire an applicant, a person in human resources can simply click the “Hire” tab and the information goes directly into the SEFL’s Cyborg payroll software, Vick says.
