Recruiting Good Truck Drivers Who Will Stay

According to a conference organised by Truckload Carriers Association and ACS Advertising in 2012, truck owners found out some key features to maintain the high standard of the fleet and maintain the good relationship with their drivers. Recommendations to manage and run a fleet in a digital era, as well as useful tips to hire a truck driver and operating strategies, were mentioned in the conference. Let’s deepen into significant changes to get more idea about growing sustainably in the logistics and transportation industry.

1. Drivers are seen as a human, not a steering-wheel holder
Throughout many of the sessions, there was a message of “drivers are people, too.”

Compensation is one of the first things people ask about when looking for a job. Mark Murrell is president of CarriersEdge, which does the Best Fleets to Drive For the program for TCA. He reported that company drivers working for carriers in the Best Fleets program averaged $53,673 annually, on an average of 111,851 miles, while owner-operators averaged revenue of $162,985 a year on 116,021 miles.

Following to his words, there is a strong belief that a support company will make people stay, even their salary is average and not seemingly increase through years.

2. Communication for sustainable relationships
An increase of social media and smart devices encourages conversations between people. The same happens in the relationship between owners and their employees. To have good driver retention and make them feel they are home, a seamless connection between the operator and their drivers should be maintained. “Retention starts with the very first call the recruiter gets from a driver,” Chappell – safety and recruiting coordinator for Fikes Truck Line – said, “but it’s everybody’s responsibility, right down to the operator who answers the telephone. Every conversation can make a difference.”

Drivers can call to tell about their problems while working, and the first 3 months are the perfect time to create a healthy relationship and long corporation, operators need to take these matters seriously and make a right decision to them to improve the work experience.

3. How to have good driver retention
So you knew the importance of a prompt communication. It is better to know that a judicious move in operating strategy can save for a company thousands of dollar recruiting new people and making them stay.

The issue resolution process is important, said Rim Yurkis, president and CEO for employment consulting firm Strategic Programs Inc. Some companies even created a buddy program that creates a safe and informative support for new drivers where they time for questions and trials at their first time. In a long-term, it creates a sense of belonging for employees when they spend their time and commitment to the company and earn valuable experience as well as a close-knit relationship with their counterparts.

It’s important for driver managers, dispatchers, whatever the fleet calls them, to have a one-on-one relationship with their drivers. Understanding work characteristics of different drivers in various backgrounds, skills, experiences and their motivations help the company build a healthy model to support the work condition, from that the company can maintain their service standard and earn more profit from a professional and productive fleet.

Written by Hugo Phillipps