Are you paying enough attention to your retention efforts? Many trucking companies – and companies in general – assume that if they are profitable, employee happiness will come naturally, and their people won’t want to leave. Yet, the truth is you need to stay on top of your retention efforts if you want to ensure they are satisfied enough on the job to not shop around for other employers.
That’s why implementing best practices in-house to keep your truck drivers feeling appreciate is the way to go. But with so many trucking companies out there, what are the techniques successful operators are using to keep attrition low?
Be Discretionary About Your Shipping Partners
Too many trucking companies operate under the assumption that any business is good business. But if you are doing business with shippers that treat your truck drivers poorly, this could impact your own people’s satisfaction on the job. And while some may think they cannot control a shipper’s behavior – which is true – you can control who you do business with.
We now live in a time where communication is instant, and trucking companies need to be able to rely on their shipping partners to help them provide a good work environment for the truck drivers they see day-in and day-out. Don’t hesitate to open up a dialogue with your shipping partners in an effort to provide better services for your people.
Simple amenities offered by shippers can go a long way in improving your drivers’ on-the-job experience. Whether it be offering a cold cup of water or providing an all-gender restroom for them to use, these are quick, easy, and cost-effective ways for your shipping partners to make life easier for the drivers who serve them.
Just consider the job your drivers are doing. They make up to 10 hours to get to their destination and deliver their load. Can you imagine if they get there, and they are unable to go in and use the restroom? If one of your shippers aren’t providing basic services like these, it may be time to cut them lose. Basic personal services should be an essential part of the interaction between shipper and driver.
Let Employees Have a Say
This may seem far-fetched to some but giving your employees a greater say in how money is spent also goes a long way to making them feel valued and keeping them on the job. For example, most trucking companies have a specific budget for capital investments. But do they let their truck drivers have a say in how those investments are spent?
Management and the fleet procurement side of the business may not always know what truck drivers want. When front-line operators are empowered to help the company make financial decisions, they not only feel heard, but often this kind of collaboration results in real improvement for both your truck drivers and the company as a whole.
Whether it be improving the lighting at drop spots and areas around the fuel bay to creating a truck cleaning station with top-of-the-line equipment, these are tangible improvements. And your truck drivers will appreciate them, whether they vocalize that appreciation or not. In some cases, these suggestions may even result in cost savings across the company.
The best way to manage a program like this is to set up a council made up of a diverse array of individuals within the company. You should have members on the council that represent an array of age groups, genders, and job types. To make life easier during COVID times, you can even set up a virtual forum, over Zoom, Slack or another teleconferencing solution.
Invest in a Comprehensive Mentorship Program
When it comes to singing up with a new fleet, even the most experienced truck drivers may experience a sense of vertigo, with people coming at them from all sides. Even more, they may be faced with adapting to new technologies and policies. Trucking companies who don’t pay close enough attention to the transition process will find themselves failing in their retention efforts.
That’s why many successful fleets operate a mentorship program to help new recruits adjust to the job. When setting up your program, create a list of possible mentors who can pair up with new recruits to provide support as they transition into the job. Even better, you may want to consider combining your training program with your mentorship program.
No matter how long your initial training program is, try combining your training curriculum with your mentorship sessions. Perhaps you could have your truck drivers and mentors participate in a weekly call to cover topics? Consider the different ways you could combine programs to greater effect.
Also make sure you select the right people for the program. Your mentors should be made up of individuals who are known to be top performers on the job. They should be there to help new truck drivers, answer questions they have, and provide a shoulder to lean on should they need it. Using a buddy system in this fashion goes a long way to providing comfort and motivation to new recruits.
Fleet managers know that when they hire a new truck driver, they want them to at least know how to drive. Having prior big rig operating experience is a necessity for most trucking companies but knowing the ins and outs of a new company is not a necessity at the outset. Mentors are there to quickly help newbies comfortably transition into the job.
Evaluate the Reasons for Attrition
The fact is this, top-performing truck drivers are an invaluable asset to any motor carrier. You need to make sure your retention strategies are focused on these members of your team. Truck driver retention and the employment shortage of long been intractable concerns for fleets across the country. Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic upon us, the problem has only gotten worse.
Now, with the United States emerging from the throes of the pandemic, fleets are going to be feeling the shortage of available operators even more. High attrition is likely on the horizon for trucking companies that do not take retention seriously. The question fleet managers need to ask themselves is why do truck drivers quit? How can our fleet go from good to great?
There are a variety of reasons to explain why truck drivers leave one company for another. One big factor is retirements. Another one is the reputation a job on trucking has among younger people. As an older cohort of truck drivers retires, many are skeptical that current generations will provide enough bodies to fill the cabs that are available.
Still, pending retirements are only one part of the equation. Truck drivers quit for other reasons too, from poor pay to the amount of time away from home, to scheduling problems, poor quality equipment, or a lack of a cohesive retention program. Before you can address the problems contributing to your attrition, you first must get to the bottom of why they leave.
Tried-and-True Strategies that Stick
While it is important to have novel strategies in place, there are still time-tested methods to ensuring your truck drivers remain happy and stay with your company. First, have a look at your compensation levels. As freight capacity tightens, some companies are offering pay hikes. Pay may seem like the obvious low-hanging fruit because it is. If you aren’t paying competitive rates, expect your top performers to look elsewhere.
You must also make sure you are rewarding top performers in the organization. Of course, you cannot overlook unsafe driving practices, but you also cannot ignore top performing truck drivers. Make sure you identify those within your fleet who are doing an outstanding job and provide them with some public recognition. Whether it be through bonuses or prizes, a little incentive goes a long way.
Finally, pay extra attention to the different ways the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted your truck drivers. Remember that operating a big rig, especially on long hauls, is a physically and mentally demanding enterprise. And operating during a global pandemic only increases the levels of stress your truck drivers feel. To mitigate this, encourage your people to take some time for mental health.
Successful fleets come up with programs that encourage their truck drivers to spend time outdoors, meditate, eat better, and more. Also make sure you are adhering religiously to COVID-19 safety protocols. When your truck drivers see that you go out of your way to ensure their safety, they will be more likely to stay with you. In the end, it is important that fleet managers pay just as much attention to retention as they do to recruiting. Only this way will they set themselves up for long term success.