Sycamore, AL-based truckload carrier Floyd & Beasley Transfer Inc. wanted to increase driver pay but didn’t have funds to do it. Even giving raises to its best drivers could backfire if it did not provide fair and transparent justification.
The solution was a “driver scorecard” that measures key metrics of every driver in its 200-unit fleet, score them every six months and then awards pay increases based on the final numbers for each period. Barry McCrady, vp of IT and safety, designed the scoring system in-house.
“The key is to take data from several different areas to determine which drivers were the most productive and which ones weren’t,” he explained during a presentation at McLeod Software’s recent users conference. “That way we could give our best drivers a 4- to 5-cent per mile raise while providing an incentive to all our drivers to do their best to get…the highest pay rate.”
McGrady decided to compile data to rate drivers based on average weekly revenue; compliance with stopping at company-recommended refueling points; accident/incident ratio; and out-of-service (OOS) violations received.
McGrady said that getting just one OOS violation automatically deletes all their points for the six-month period to ensure drivers stay focused on safety. He also noted a driver needed at least a minimum of two months worth of data to be scored for a chance at higher pay.
Floyd & Beasley’s program has been in effect for a year and even McGrady said drivers have responded positively to this system. “We expected to lose a few drivers by going to this plan, but the opposite happened. Not only did we not lose any, they’ve all become very interested in how they are doing. I can actually show them how they are doing week by week to see if they are on track to reach the highest pay bracket [and] maybe give them a little nudge if I see them slipping.
“On top of that, our fuel compliance really improved,” he continued. “[It went] from between 55% to 66% up to 92% in just 2 months. That really saved us some money.”
In fact, the new scorecard has been so successful Floyd & Beasley plans to use a modified version of it to help assign 25 new trucks at the end of the year. “It’s a non-biased way to hand out pay and new truck assignments; it’s fair because everyone can see the numbers,” McGrady said.
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