The natural shortage of truck drivers in the American trucking industry has become a noticeable issue, and it isn’t likely to be resolved anytime soon.
The FMCSA has also started taking steps to overcome the shortage of commercial drivers, but it will take some time for fleets to finally overcome the problem.
In the meanwhile, fleet managers and trucking company owners must identify the reasons for a high driver turnover rate and find solutions to mitigate the problem as much as possible.
According to a recent survey of 24,000 drivers, more than 30% of drivers quit within the first 3 months.
Additionally, approximately 50% leave within the first 6 months.
Those are alarming numbers, which only highlight the importance of driver retention and driver satisfaction.
We highlight the two biggest reasons for a high driver turnover rate and list some proven ideas and strategies that you can use to improve the driver retention rate in your company.
Why do drivers leave?
Different fleets may experience different specific problems that could lead to a high driver turnover rate. However, despite the specific issues, there are two common reasons why drivers leave so quickly after joining a company:
Reason #1: The first reason is that new recruits often get disappointed once they start a job. Most of them realize that the job — or the company’s environment — is significantly different than what they expected.
In other words, a difference in expectations causes most drivers to leave in the first three to six months of starting a new job.
Reason #2: The second biggest reason why so many new drivers leave in the first three to six months of starting their jobs is the differences between fleet managers and dispatchers. These differences are significantly accentuated early in their driving careers.
6 moves to improve driver retention:
Now that we have identified the biggest reasons why so many drivers leave in the first 90-180 days of starting a new job let’s discuss the things you can do to improve the driver retention rate in your company.
Differences in driver vs fleet manager expectations are the biggest reasons new drivers leave. Always clearly convey what the job and lifestyle would be like in your company. If you do not make it clear in your job description or the interview process, the new drivers that you hire will get disappointed eventually because of different expectations.
Raise your hiring standards and the selection processes to filter out highly motivated employees and industry professionals. If you hire lots of applicants who see the job as just a last resort to earn some money, you are more likely to experience a high driver turnover rate.
Maintain good working relationships with drivers — especially with new recruits. Problems with fleet managers and dispatchers are the second biggest reason why so many new drivers leave. By making them feel more welcome, you can improve the driver retention rate in your company.
Seek feedback from drivers on what you can do to improve their working environment and lifestyle. Run surveys, talk to your drivers, and seek suggestions. It is also recommended to set up an anonymous feedback system to learn more about your fleet and the hidden problems in your company that most drivers don’t feel comfortable talking about openly.
Raise driver pay and attract industry professionals who are looking more into other blue-collar jobs that provide a better lifestyle to them and to their families.
Incentivize good performance. Initiate programs such as ‘driver of the month’ that reward drivers for increased efficiency, productivity, and maintaining good working relationships with their co-workers and fleet managers. Apart from the monetary rewards and bonuses, recognition within the organization is also a great motivator for commercial drivers.
Fleet management can be a challenging job. Monitoring all vehicles, drivers, violations, and important metrics and data points can be overwhelming. In recent years, fleet managers have also been dealing with another problem—driver shortage and retention.
According to surveys, more than 50 percent of truck drivers leave their jobs within the first six months. This makes it tough for fleet managers to nurture a workforce that can uphold the carrier’s safety, service, and reliability standards.
Here are a few steps that fleet managers can take to improve the driver retention rate.
1. Earn the trust of your drivers
If you want to improve the driver retention rate, earning the trust of your drivers is a good place to start.
First, try to be more approachable. Organizing regular meetings with the company’s drivers is a step in the right direction. In doing so, you can establish yourself as a fleet manager who’s approachable, supportive and has an open-door policy.
Talking to your drivers face-to-face enables you to share your expectations while giving them an opportunity to voice their concerns. Just be sure to stay consistent and be there to answer their questions, even when the meetings are over. This leads to a two-way communication channel, which may have a significant impact on overall retention and driver happiness.
Another important point to remember is to set clear expectations and leave no room for ambiguity or confusion. Transparency and clear expectations can help you earn the trust of your drivers because they will know where you stand.
2. Build a more robust mentorship program
Just like professionals in other fields, truck drivers appreciate being acknowledged and valued. Drivers should feel that management pays attention to them as individuals and does not consider them mere statistics in reports.
Fleet managers can make drivers feel valued by designing mentorship programs suited to their specific needs. This may include assigning experienced truckers and mentors to guide younger employees on how to deal with the everyday challenges of being a truck driver.
Not only will a mentorship program help new drivers improve and address their weaknesses, but it may also give them the opportunity to form positive relationships within the company.
Start by identifying drivers who require coaching and mentorship. To help contain the early driver turnover rate, you can also start mandatory mentorship programs for new drivers—especially during the first couple of months of their employment.
3. Actively seek feedback
Actively seeking feedback is key to being a good fleet manager. Truckers face numerous challenges every day. Hearing the problems they are facing can ease some of their stress and help them feel valued. This also includes seeking feedback about the company as well as the management style.
A good strategy is to run anonymous surveys or group chats. Give them an outlet where they can safely share their opinions and put forward suggestions.
Whatever they say, always be thankful for the feedback you receive. It may encourage drivers to be more open and cooperative when tackling important issues. Driver retention rate may improve once drivers realize that their opinions are valued in the company.
4. Invest in better equipment and maintenance
Truck drivers may not be around for long if they’re not happy with the vehicle they operate. Poor equipment and maintenance schedules won’t help improve the retention rate in your fleet.
Implement a fleet preventive maintenance plan. Scheduling regular vehicle inspections should be a part of your regular fleet maintenance plan. You can also leverage the power of the Motive ELD solution which automatically monitors fault codes through the direct connection to on-board vehicle diagnostics. If an issue occurs, the Motive ELD alerts fleet managers through a fault-code notification.
5. Improve working conditions
As a fleet manager, it is your job to improve the working conditions for your drivers.
Introduce competitive salary packages for your drivers and promote healthy competition with performance-based compensation and reward systems. Identify the best performing drivers (e.g., drivers with the best safety scores and lowest unsafe driving behavior) and offer monetary and non-monetary rewards. It may increase loyalty and retention rate. It may also encourage other drivers to be safer on the road.
If you are managing long-haul drivers, make sure to create their schedules with their personal time and families in mind. You will want to offer them a healthy work-life balance if you want to keep them happy.
In the case of an accident, protect your drivers when they are not at fault. Front-facing smart dashcams can help you see things from your driver’s perspective and enable you to protect them against fraudulent claims.
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