Trailer Transit

Navigating the Roadblocks

How Data and Strategy Drove Owner-Operator Recruitment

overview

Trailer Transit is the nation’s premier power-only trucking company, exclusively partnering with owner-operators—independent truck drivers who own their rigs. In a highly competitive and shrinking market, Trailer Transit needed to elevate its brand awareness and ensure a steady stream of experienced owner-operator applicants.

When Trailer Transit partnered with The Barbauld Agency over a decade ago, they faced significant recruiting challenges due to industry-wide driver shortages, increasing competition from traditional carriers and digital disruptors like Uber Freight, and limited digital targeting options for this niche audience. In addition, the client was switching from a marketing company that only did marketing for companies in the trucking industry to The Barbauld Agency, which had the benefit of cross-industry knowledge.

Our primary objectives in 2024 were:

Engage owner-operators who are considering switching carriers by positioning Trailer Transit as the premier choice.
Increase brand awareness and reinforce Trailer Transit’s leadership in power-only trucking.
Drive conversions, including phone inquiries, form submissions, and completed job applications.

With a minimum national digital advertising budget, our challenge was to execute a highly efficient, data-driven campaign that maximized impact despite targeting limitations on major ad platforms.

objectives/ GOALS

Increase brand awareness within the owner-operator trucking community.
Optimize lead generation efforts to recruit more qualified drivers.
Maximize cost-efficiency in digital advertising despite niche audience constraints.
Improve website SEO and organic traffic to recruitment pages.

services

Creative Testing & Optimization

Through continuous A/B testing, we determined that darker imagery with black and red performed best. We also tested messaging variations, finding that benefit-driven taglines like “100% Power Only,” “Drive Your Way,” and “100% Drop & Hook” outperformed lifestyle-focused messaging such as “Better Work-Life Balance” and “See the U.S.”

Social Media Advertising

Despite the inability to directly target owner-operators, we optimized Facebook Ads by refining creative, messaging, and audience segmentation.

1.65 million impressions
85,947 clicks
5.2% CTR (Industry Avg: 2.53%)
$0.28 CPC (Industry Avg: $1.88)
6,199 recruitment leads
$3.70 cost per lead (Industry Avg: $21.98)

Google Search Ads

To capture high-intent prospects actively searching for trucking opportunities, we structured a multi-group campaign focused on:

Pr-Only Trucking
OTR (Over-the-Road) Trucking Jobs
Owner-Operator Jobs
Dynamic Ad Targets

Key performance metrics:

151,405 impressions
14,812 clicks
9.78% CTR (Industry Avg: 6.42%)
$2.15 CPC (Industry Avg: $4.66)
1,277 conversions
$24.89 cost per lead (Industry Avg: $66.69)

SEO & Content Marketing

Developed new website pages optimized for high-value keywords to drive recruitment traffic.
Created monthly and bi-monthly blogs, strengthening SEO and positioning Trailer Transit as an industry leader.
Resulted in 53% of website traffic leading to the recruitment page.

Programmatic Display Advertising

We geofenced truck dealerships to serve ads directly to potential recruits.

1.32 million impressions
1,486 clicks
0.11% CTR (Industry Avg: 0.08%-0.10%)
$3.61 CPM
23 conversions

results

3.1+ million impressions across all platforms, significantly increasing brand awareness.
100K+ total clicks, driving massive engagement.
7,476 total leads generated, exceeding recruitment goals.
Exceeded industry benchmarks for CTR, CPC, and CPL across all digital channels.

Key Takeaways & Lessons Learned

Data-Driven Optimization Matters

Continuous A/B testing allowed us to refine messaging and creative for the best performance.

SEO & Content Strategy Strengthens Recruitment

Investing in optimized content led to a 53% increase in recruitment page visits.

Budget Efficiency is Key

Even with a modest budget, we delivered high-performing digital campaigns that outperformed industry benchmarks.

conclusion

By combining creative optimization, A/B testing, and multi-channel execution, The Barbauld Agency successfully positioned Trailer Transit as the go-to power-only carrier for owner-operators. Our highly efficient recruitment campaigns ensured sustained lead generation and business growth despite industry challenges.