At Action Environmental Services, CEO Ron Bergamini said that once employees make it about a year with the company, they’re typically in for the long haul. The trouble is out of the gates, he noted, particularly with drivers.
“I think that people have a perception that it’s easier to do, and then they see that it’s hard work,” he pointed out. “It’s a reasonably well-paying job, and they think, ‘Sure I can do that.’ Then, they get in it and find it’s tough.”
When onboarding new or potential employees, Action shows them videos about the job, gives them tours of the facilities, and tries to explain as much about the job as possible. The company also holds its own job fairs, attends other job fairs, and pays its employees a $500 bonus for employees they refer who stay with the company at least six months.
“The more you know about a job going into it, the more likely you are to be successful,” noted Bergamini. “We spend time trying to do that, but unfortunately, there is only so much you can do. Ultimately, the person has to just get in there and do it. Sometimes you get someone in their first week and there might be bad weather, or something happens to turn them off, then they find another opportunity.”
When it comes to retention, Bergamini stressed that it really comes down to treating people with dignity and respect, proper training, fair compensation, and listening to employees’ complaints and addressing their concerns.
Additionally, Action’s entire senior operations team is composed of former drivers, and many of the company’s former helpers are now drivers.
Action has recently begun paying for helpers who are good employees and who have been with the company at least a year to obtain their CDL.
“We were reluctant about that at first because we could pay for them to get their CDL and they could end up going somewhere else. But we decided that it’s worth that risk,” explained Bergamini. “Last year, we probably had about eight or nine people who did that successfully.”
Action also holds contests and giveaways for employees, including a driver of the year award, where one driver receives a trip to Disney World with his or her family.
“We’d like to think that we have a good reputation here, so when folks have a choice between companies, they’ll want to come to yours,” said Bergamini. “You have to be very deliberate about that. It doesn’t happen by accident.”
“It might sound simple, but you have to appreciate people and show your appreciation,” he adds. “We try to get that across to the whole company. You have to convince your frontline people about this, too, because they are the ones interacting with the guys day in and day out.”
At Waste Pro, drivers who don’t have an accident in a year are refunded their $300 testing fee that they pay out of pocket for their CDL. In addition, if after three years drivers have perfect attendance and no accidents, they are awarded a $10,000 bonus, less taxes.
“They have a lot of incentives to stay with us and stay safe and have good attendance,” says Robert Bourcheau, who works in the company’s safety department. “It’s not a perfect world, but at least it’s the best we can do.
Some of the obstacles Waste Pro has run into come from state and federal regulations that have impacted CDL testing. For instance, the Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires that CDL applicants take their written tests in English, which has been a limiting factor for employers.
Bourcheau says that regulations like this have “tightened the noose and really strangled the driver pool that was available before.”
Additionally, he explains, industry-wide insurance requirements have changed. “Before 2019, we only needed liability insurance, but now they want liability and performance insurance,” he says. “It’s only going to get more and more competitive and more and more professional, and it will be based on safety performance because of the cost of insurance.”
Because of the tighter state and federal regulations and insurance requirements, Bourcheau explains Waste Pro isn’t really hiring helpers anymore. And the helpers that the company does hire must be qualified to become CDL drivers shortly after their hire date.
