Staying Ahead of the Curve in Last Mile Delivery

There are more than 10 million independent contractors in the U.S., ranging from delivery drivers to freelance writers. The nature of independent contractors is to juggle multiple gigs, so they’re always on the lookout for another opportunity.

And as a business owner, you’re working countless hours that can make recruiting the right talent hard to fit into an already busy schedule. A recent survey found that almost one-third of small business owners work more than 50 hours per week, and 86 percent work on weekends.

Recruiting and onboarding is vital to building an independent contractor workforce, and it’s usually the number one pain point for a company. Some businesses spend more than 20 hours a week recruiting talent and that’s not even factoring in the financial burden it can put on a business.

To calculate the cost of recruiting you need to factor in the employee in-house doing the recruiting, creating/posting advertisements, screening/background checks, and the enrolling/onboarding process. A business owner needs to consider all costs and how it affects revenue.

By partnering with the right vendor, a business can save time and money on the resources spent to recruit and onboard candidates.

Delivery Drivers, Inc (DDI) has been at the forefront of connecting businesses with independent contractors for last mile deliveries for more than 25 years. DDI understands what it takes to recruit, onboard, screen and enroll top quality candidates. Checkr's partnership with DDI integrates innovative background check solutions into DDI's proprietary platform to onboard the best-fitting candidates for their clients.

Since 2015, DDI has partnered with Checkr to conduct detailed background checks. Some of the Checkr products and services DDI uses are: Motor Vehicle Report (MVR), Criminal Background Check (CBC) and Continuous Monitoring. Over the years, DDI has expanded its portfolio with Checkr by using our tech first approach and robust analytics to work with grocery, restaurant, retail clients, and even those needing accounting services.

The pandemic forced companies to hire even more drivers as they pivoted to bring products to the consumer. With that, DDI has grown exponentially and now serves more than 250 clients including giants like Walmart. Here’s one example. In the last 18 months, the DDI and Checkr partnership saw more than 600% growth in background checks from 3,000 checks per month in April 2020 to 23,000 in May 2021.

Checkr’s integrated platform allows DDI to pull detailed reporting for all monthly background checks, process an MVR in 1-2 hours, conduct a CBC in 1.7 days and even send letters to drivers allowing them to dispute their failed background check.

"We couldn't be more excited about DDI and Checkr's integrated technology platforms and the speed we can bring amazing, new products to the independent contractor economy,” said Aaron Hageman, Chief Executive Officer, Delivery Drivers, Inc. “Checkr has proven to be a great partner by providing training for our team, advanced product planning and feedback, sales support, and we've even beta tested some products to allow DDI to be first to market. We look forward to our future opportunities together," added Hageman.

“The need for last mile delivery drivers is exploding and DDI is at the forefront of the industry. We are proud to work with their teams and empower their clients to hire the best candidates to move their businesses forward,” said Marc Diouane, Chief Business Officer at Checkr. “DDI and Checkr also share a technology-first philosophy. As we roll out new products, DDI is quick to embrace the opportunity to streamline their hiring process.”

With access to millions of data points, Checkr uses a data-driven approach to solving customer’s problems. In turn, customers spend up to 97% less time adjudicating background checks. Checkr is always learning and innovating to help DDI find new ways to make proactive decisions.

For more information on the gig economy visit here, or here to learn more on the State of Staffing.