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I found it interesting the discussion of Swift Trans and the changes there. I remember hearing one of their top management people speak at a forum where trucking companies and driving schools were trying to work together, and his response was different from other trucking companies, a much more aggresive growth period was what he saw for Swift.
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This very issue is one of the biggest problems that is occuring with the intrusion of Corporate America into trucking, and an extreme pet peeve of mine.
Growth. That's all they think about. Growing a company is a fine thing, if done as it should be. The problem is, that when you have investors to answer to, and with them constantly expecting a return on their investment each and every quarter, something I feel is unrealistic to expect, over time those in charge of delivering returns spend all their energies producing profit by increasing revenue through growth, when they could produce the same thing through stabilization FIRST, then gradually growing a company while maintaining stability.
Swift has bucked all the odds. I expected them to fold two years ago. They spent five years swallowing up competition after competition, and it almost got them. They were in serious trouble for awhile, and fixed this by adopting another strategy that has almost sunk them more than once. They began to utilize inexperienced drivers to shore up profits. By hiring them cheap, and exploiting them to the maximum that is allowed by law, they have managed to survive.
Their safety management, and reputation suffers throughout the industry, but not much of this filters back to those that could most resist this. The investors seem to be oblivious, or it would seem so. With the ousting of Jerry Moyes, this company may actually have a chance to improve it's image and stability. Time will tell.
See...I toot Schneider's horn for several reasons. They took a bold step to concentrate on retention of drivers, rare for a large company, and it has worked wonders in all aspects. Their reputation has improved. Their safety ratings are currently phenominal, and they have cut turnover rates in half. I have every reason to suspect that this has trancended into a much healthier bottom line for them as well.
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Now most of the compaies I speak with want more qualified drivers and to this end I am working on a site devoted to those drivers who have more than three years of experience and would like to deal with more experienced recruiters and trucking companies willing to reward themfor their driving skills. My question is whether the site will be economically viable and whether it should be geared towards the smaller companies with a few national companies thrown in.
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I've been to your site. I was impressed with it. I can't remember how I discovered it. I think I was combing through the web site addy's that members offer sometimes when they create identities for the forum and found it.
I think you are on to something that could benefit the industry tremendously. While there always needs to be a way for people to enter the industry, there also needs to be companies that are looking for serious, safety minded drivers, that deserve to be seen for the value they can represent and add to a company.
At the same time, I'd like to see drivers take a bit more care in selecting companies and jobs that offer long term prospects, so that both employer and employee are satisfied.
I'd like to see more movement by companies, to offer flexible positions and terms to employees, in order to lock in good people, and keep them satisfied. This one size fits all approach has never worked, and the burden should be to maximize profit potential through maximum utilization of equipment AND drivers, rather than concentrating on keeping a truck rolling as constantly as can be.
OTR drivers understand, for the most part, that their job requires extensive travel and time away from home, but at the same time, most of these drivers DO have a life outside of the truck, and companies should strive to maximize use of a driver while he is available, and structure time off schedules for drivers, and honor them.
Most of all, I embrace the teamwork concept, and feel that no one position throughout a company is more valuable than another, but a sense of mutual respect for each other is essential, and it should be everyone's goal to help each other meet the demands of their job, the customer, and a little give and take should be expected by all. Dishonesty, disrespect, and egos need to be left at home. I know how hard this is to achieve some days, but without any effort to work together on a daily basis, the losses will kill a company overnight.
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SO we will see if we can make it easier for better drivers to find better jobs. Until then keep informing us about which companies to avoid and which do it better. Thanks for taking your time to make trucking better....
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And thank you for your thoughts as well. Please feel free to participate in our discussions.
12.15.2005
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