Company Drivers - Do you Feel Valued?

[Satvik]

One of the things I’ve been thinking about recently is the unusually high amounts of driver turnover compared to most other industries.

I’ve heard this happens mostly because drivers find better rates at another company, so they (understandably) jump ship to better paying carriers/brokers.

For company drivers - is this true? What are the main reasons you leave a carrier?
And follow up - do you think a loyalty program from a carrier would be helpful?

For ex.
Every 10,000 miles - you get a complimentary night at a premium truck stop.
Every 3 months you stay with the company, your rate per mi increases by a few % points - so if you stay with one carrier for 5-10 years, you get paid way better than almost anyone else in the market, among other seniority/performance-based perks like:

• Scheduling preferences for time home with family,
• Discounts on groceries/food while on the road
• Higher priority for rollouts of newer equipment
• Therapy/counselling while you’re on the road

Is this something you would like to see as a company driver?

I thought it would be a nice touch since it tries to improve driver quality of life, in a fun and traceable way, instead of just paying slightly more and trying to compete in the same way everyone else is.

 

[389 Hood]

Your approach is admirable.
Driver retention is very difficult. Forced dispatch, bad lanes, low CPM, especially for the guy/gal right out of school.
I spent very little time on the road compared to most here, I was always local. But the turnover rate for the local drivers is just as bad. If you hook up with a good company right from the start it's great. But many get stuck with a common carrier that has very little in common with a good company.

The ELD has helped a bit. You can't be forced into those 15 hour days and 8 day weeks. But those carriers still exist and they try to hold the world over your head. In reality, company jumping is a waste until you know your market and/or specialty. I used to watch driver trainers that every day had someone riding with them. They were never alone. As soon as they would turn one loose, there was another sitting in the seat. And many times, that person was from a competing carrier.

The only thing that changes between carriers like this is the name on the shirt and the name on the door. Today, they all want to start at the top. They all know it all and get offended by the least little things. This is what we called, 'The New breed', years ago.

 

[Electric Chicken]

Trucking just sucks, dude. There will never be a way to get turnover down to zero.

Even when you get loaded on time, don't have to wait, management leaves you alone, the truck runs good, etc you still have shit roads and assholes to tend with in traffic. And it's worse than it's ever been, since the lunatics were let out of the asylum.

The best thing you can do for driver retention is take all the nanny shit off the truck and stop calling them to the carpet every time they get brake checked.

It didn't make me love trucking, but buying my own without all that garbage reduced my behind the wheel stress BIG time. We couldn't even use cruise with the wipers but got busted for "over speed" if we spent too much time between 60 and 63 (governor) by foot.

 

[BlackBart]

The only thing that changes between carriers like this is the name on the shirt and the name on the door. Today, they all want to start at the top. They all know it all and get offended by the least little things. This is what we called, 'The New breed', years ago.

I hear people say that a lot, but in the LTL world that aint always the case

Most of them guys slip seat, get micro managed to beat hell, and to add insult to injury outfits like Fedwrecks use job class seniority with their company seniority

Hell, Saia dont even let their guys run radios

This shit don’t happen where I work thank god