A new study may indicate that giving drivers time off when they request it isn’t just good for the drivers, but for carriers as well. The study found that drivers who get their requested home time actually show improved productivity and performance.
The researchers who performed the study at the Warrington College of Business Administration, University of Florida, examined data from 682 different drivers and found that the drivers who received the home time that they requested saw a jump in productivity and performance.
Looking at driver bonus rates, miles driven, and total bonus pay, researchers found that drivers improved in every single category.
Stay Metrics, the company that announced the findings, says it has known for a long time that the lack of home time is a factor in high driver turnover, but it is new news to many carriers that the lack of home time can actually have a negative impact on drivers even when they’re still on the job.
In fact, when drivers were given time off, each request that was granted resulted in the company generating $536 more from that driver in revenue in the following month than it otherwise would have.
“To our knowledge, no one has yet looked at the trucking industry to see if generous time-off policies and procedures are able to realize higher employee productivity and job performance,” said Amir Erez, the professor at University of Florida who ran the study.
Source: gobytrucknews, truckinginfo, staymetrics
Seriously??!! They are just now discovering this???? Most times the dispatcher will try to keep the driver out on the road because the dispatcher is trying get his/her bonus. When a driver request time off far in advance, and checks periodically to see if he/she is still on the board mainly because they are wanting to get home for a childs event…School, sports, marriage etc. When the dispatcher screws the driver in getting their time off the driver is no longer motivated, and begins to look for a company that is going to do what they say. Jim Palmer is one of those companies… Give your time off needs in advance, and they will get you home…A happy driver is a productive driver…A irritated driver is a late delivery driver with a bad attitude. Every driver knows that attitude is everything out there. A driver with a bad attitude is a dangerous driver. Dangerous and unsafe. Get that driver home as scheduled, and if he/she spends 8 weeks out there on the road…Then give him/her 8 days off!! They spent two months out there keeping your big wheels rolling, and delivering the freight on time…Happy driver…Productive driver. Pissed off driver equals late deliveries, abandoned trucks, trashed trucks, etc. Most dispatchers are good people, and do right by their drivers, but for some they could care less…Just interested in getting those bonuses.
Thanks for the input Jim Palmer dispatcher.
I agree but for the most part I haven’t found a dispatcher or company yet that does what they say, and give home time without shortening it dramatically in the start or the tail end of it acting like they have so much freight but when you go in you sit,sit,sit, and wait on loads. DISPATCHERS and COMPANIES don’t give a crap about drivers they go home every night but yet drivers are the ones getting dumped on ALL the time, wanting you to run or pull overweight loads and go around chicken houses so they can !take a dollar. I personally won’t do it cause its my license and fine if you get caught.our company has even offered to pay extra to go around scales and run illegal but turn around and tell you, we are not asking you to do anything illegal just to cover there ass.basically if a dispatcher opens his/her mouth its a LIE.
Most companies don’t give a rat’s rear end about drivers. Why do you think there is a 165% turnover rate?
YEAH! I thought it was a no brainer.
You mean that treating drivers with basic human respect will make them more productive? Only a moron (and every big carrier) would need to conduct a survey to know that.
Over the years i have learned some things about trucking and drivers. Since I have been pushing a CMV for nearly 50 years I think I learned one or two things. As far as drivers and time off it is not always the dispatchers fault it doesn’t happen. Now to draw the line. Not all dispatchers are bad,not all companies are bad but lets talk about the ones that leave a bad taste in your mouth.Over the years I have heard drivers talk to dispatchers and think they told the dispatcher that they wanted time off but really didn’t. They will say ,Hey!!Jim I need to be off Feb 21 st. OK? That became a question not a statement. When Feb 21st comes around and they aren’t home the answer was NO.
A perfect example of you should say what you mean. Mean what you say.
Don’t ask for time off – state it. Simple. Many think they have to to tell the dispatcher why they want off. NOT SO . You do what you want on your time off and it’s your business not the dispatchers.
Granted there are second class companies and lets face it so many of todays drivers are unreliable, sloppy, lazy and give dumpster divers a bad name. Many second and third class companies thrive on these kinds of drivers. Little or no vacation pay, they don’t stay long enough to earn it.Benefits are short lived due to turnover , no detention or layover pay and equipment you and I would not touch with some one else’s pole .
Not all company’s are bad, but lets talk about the ones that leave a bad taste in your mouth? So what companies would they be? That is right you never meant to talk about bad companies as your intent was to talk about what slime truck drivers are. Hey Jim I need to be off Feb 21st, Ok, isn’t asking for a day off? What part of ” I need to be off on Feb 21st” did you not get? Or do you believe if you do not respond as it was not a direct question then you are entitled to ignore a request? This would be the exact attitude of many dispatchers on a power trip, as many believe sitting behind a desk on a phone telling others where to deliver too is some how a superior occupation to those that actually do the work of delivering the product. So many of todays drivers are sloppy, lazy, and give dumpster divers a bad name, are you stereotyping? Do you happen to know all truckers, or are you just that arrogant? I question the part where you had a CMV for 50 years, as I don’t believe you used it for those 50 years, you actually sound more like a dispatcher, with a swollen head. I often said to my husband I will be glad to see the day when truck drivers finally realize the time they give up to be with their families, all the unpaid hours sitting on the side of a road, the complete and utter disregard given to them by the people that make money off of their labour, goes unappreciated. When drivers finally realize how little respect the system has for what they do, and they park their trucks on the side of a road, and walk away. Maybe then your CMV will come in handy, you can be the dumpster diver you accuse all truckers of being, your pathetic.
Here is another thought, how about the government stop telling drivers when they are in need of sleep when they are not. All this leads too is restless hours in a bunk tossing and turning for nothing, the driver still ends up driving when they are exhausted.
Wow. Holly, I think you need to check that burr under your saddle. Gordon made a really good statement not meaning to stir anyone up. I don’t believe that there was anything he said that should have created the kind of anger your are sharing. I think you need to step back and re-read his statement as someone providing a little light as to why drivers may not be getting the home time they were expecting. I think he had hit on something that other drivers need to be aware of when making sure that they do get their time off that they were expecting.
Sorry, just sounds like you are carrying a lot of anger and wanting to direct it at anyone for anything.
And for his statement of the driver being compared to a dumpster diver is hitting it really close. To the public and our shipper and receivers, they see drivers who smell bad, dress poorly (flip flops, droopy shorts, sloppy tee shirt), can’t speak without foul language flowing from their mouths, so on and so forth. A lot of the drivers that drive today want to be called a professional, but what these drivers show is a lack of professionalism. We as drivers need to clean up and show that we are responsible professionals.
As for the Government, they are only trying to make the roads safe for us all and they are not going to go away. You ride with the flow or you get off at the next exit and find you a job in another line of work.
Holly your on fire and I agree 100% the government needs to stay out!!!
I knew this crap years ago. People aren’t going to last at a job were there is nothing real to look forward to at the end of the week. Forcing people to work by forbidding requested time off. Or just kicking them to the bottom of the load list. Not wanting them to go home. Tells the drivers you really and truely don’t care about them. So trucking companies will continue to enjoy very high turnover rates.
They count on drivers quitting while others are going through orientation.
I seriously miss the old days of trucking. Where big fleets is where you started. Moved on to the small mom&pop companies where you made a good living. And then later you went on your own to have a better life for your family. And you never thought about working for a mega fleet again.