Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/599511
commercial carrier journal | november 2015 61 TECHNOLOGY: DRIVER TURNOVER within the past three years. David Dallas, senior vice president of the 350-truck carrier, shared these findings during a panel discussion on driver recruiting and retention at last month's McLeod Software user conference in Birmingham, Ala. Milan changed its onboarding practices after this analysis in an effort to get turnover down to 40 per- cent or less. Knowing that engaging the spouse is important to retention, the company now spends more time explaining health insurance and oth- er benefits of interest to drivers and their families, Dallas said. As for rehires, Milan now funnels them through safety, operations and human resources to get addition- al screening before making a final decision. While the company also has be- come more selective of drivers with employment gaps – particularly those who come through its driving school – enforcing this policy has been difficult. "We all have the emotion of 'how we are trying to help people?' " he said. When this policy was relaxed, "the statistics showed us again that they didn't last." The trucking industry is expected to be short nearly 50,000 drivers by the end of the year, according to the American Trucking Associations. In addition to offering improved pay packages, benefits and incentives, fleets are looking harder at their own data to uncover the reasons why drivers are leaving and to try to pre- vent turnover, whenever possible, by taking action on any detected early warning signs. Looking for trends Other fleet executives who spoke on the panel during the McLeod Software conference shared some insights into what they are seeing in their data. Interstate Distributor Co. (CCJ Top 250, No. 79), a dry van and refriger- ated truckload carrier based in Taco- ma, Wash., has noticed that drivers who are referred stick around longer, said Paul Simmons, chief operating officer. Decker Truck Line (No. 135), a 700-truck refrigerated and flatbed carrier based in Ft. Dodge, Iowa, sees higher turnover for drivers recruited from training schools. New drivers also have more accidents, said Jen- nifer Brim, director of fleet manage- ment. Decker had shifted away from recruiting drivers from schools but reverted back due to the labor situation. The company now requires that drivers have at least one year of experience and offers training to bridge the gap. Direct feedback A September survey by CCJ showed driver rewards and loyalty programs are used by 45 percent of respon- dents. The programs typically work by rewarding points for attaining periodic goals and milestones in categories such as safety, compliance, fuel savings and tenure. Drivers redeem In 2005, Lafayette, La.-based Dupre Logistics tapped FleetRisk Advisors to create predictive models to analyze complex data sets and identify drivers who were the most likely to quit. Following an internal analysis, Jackson, Tenn.-based Milan Supply Chain Solutions changed its driver hiring practices in an effort to get turnover down to 40 percent or less. Decker Truck Line, a 700-truck refrigerated and flatbed carrier based in Ft. Dodge, Iowa, sees higher turnover for drivers recruited from training schools.