Solving the driver shortage

I’ve recently spoken with the owners of two small motor carriers who have successfully maintained a driver turnover rate of less than 10% for the past four years. What are they doing differently that encourages their drivers to stay with the company? Well, let’s look at each one, as they have different approaches.

In this column and that of  next month, I’ll highlight each company and its particular solution to solving the driver turnover problem. Each one approached the solution in a very different way, which shows there isn’t a one-solution-fits-all-carriers answer. Every trucking company needs to evaluate the specific challenges its drivers are facing. What causes drivers to leave for what they think are greener pastures?

Carrier One is a refrigerated carrier that is located in a western state and has 19 lease operators. The largest percentage of outbound freight comes from direct-ship customers within 100 mi. of the main office. This freight is very consistent in that when a trucker delivers in the morning, he or she is loaded and back on the road by late afternoon. The return freight, like that of many small carriers, is from established relationships with freight brokers and the occasional loadboard. The outbound freight heads in all directions, with the farthest end location in southern Florida.

When this company first started its operation, it did what many small carriers do and that is to find drivers through local job ads and hire drivers near their main office. For lease operators with their own trailer, the company offers 90% of linehaul plus 100% of all extras, including the fuel surcharge. Lease operators are responsible for all expenses, including liability and cargo insurance.

The average trucker grosses around $7,000 per week before expenses.  Even with this extremely generous compensation, this carrier had a very difficult time hanging on to drivers in the beginning.

The problem? There was always more tonnage ready to leave, so when drivers who lived nearby returned with inbound loads, they weren’t getting the home time they desired. After analyzing the situation, the company found that at the destination of the outbound loads, drivers were sitting for up to three days at a truck stop waiting for a return load. That wasn’t the case at the origin of outbound loads. Drivers were simply loading up and heading back out with no downtime at home.

The solution? This carrier started hiring lease operators from the destinations of its outbound loads. Now, while drivers sit after delivering to the outbound destination, they’re at home rather than at a truck stop. Today, this carrier has no drivers from the area near its main office, and it hasn’t had a trucker leave in over two years. In the last four years, only two have left: one retired after 35 years on the road, and the other left  because of a family emergency.

Next month, we’ll take a look at how another small trucking company is fighting the driver turnover battle and winning. It could spark a solution for yours.

Contact Tim Brady at 731-749-8567 or at www.timothybrady.com