Truck driver turnover - why so high?

I haven't read that. But I know that we all have had plenty of wait time! The main reasons I tend to hear for turn-over rates being so high is money and hometime. Oh, and people saying that the company they work for either lies to them or tells them to do illegal things.

 

To succeed in trucking, You must have iniative to get down the road. You must have self respect to keep yourself healthy and clean. You must respect the customer and the value of his freight. You must respect the Company and deal with them honestly. But trucking companies are worse than credit card companies, always changing the deal. You always owe more work for less money than the original deal. Trucking is a life style, a way of life and companies are integral to that lifestyle. Companies are a necessary nuisance and truckers are always looking for a better deal..It is a vision...the "good company." There aren't any "good companies" only "less worse" ones.

 

In talking to some newbie truckers over the years, here is what a lot of them say. They lost their job, and need to make some money. They see a ton of ads in all the papers and online for trucking. They see trucks going down the road and think, heck this doesn't look so bad. I get to travel and see the country... they love travel... and they will get paid for it.

The bottom line is that to be successful in trucking, requires hard work. Really hard work. A lot harder work than most are willing to put in for a job/lifestyle. When they find this out, they are gone pretty quickly.

 

The hard part about OTR trucking is being away from home and a normal lifestyle and driving for long hours, more than most imagined ...and then we have the less than industry average pay received from the mega carriers... Most don't see a bright future in the industry

 

Even Walmart drivers think they do good. That's what trucking has become. Bad is ok and ok is great. Keep in mind the average Costco worker makes $17 an hour and the average shopper there makes $85,000. I'd bet they don't stay away from home

 

Exactly! All companies suck, you just have to find one that sucks the least.

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Most large companies recruit in a way that makes the grass seem greener there. It rarely ever is, its like cb antennas, most perform the same but they make make the packaging look great and they sell more.

 

Hello Liz:

My observations relating to high percentages of driver turnover include the following:

1) relatively low pay. A driver probably gets so many cents per mile. He only earns when he is rolling. There's a lot of sitting involved in "shipper to consignee" trucking. You wait to load-even if you are on time for your "appointment". That waiting time can take away from your available time to drive, due to the hours-of-service regulations. You have to wait at the consignee-once again even if you are on time for your appointment. They want the driver to then unload the trailer or pay some guy called a "lumper" so much per thousand pounds weight of the cargo to unload it. Lumpers seem to be encouraged by some customers. They are usually free-lancers not actually employed by the customer. Then there's the time you have to be responsible for the truck and cargo. Time spent in a truck stop sleeping. Drivers are not compensated for layover until they've been delayed for a number of hours. Sometimes there are "performance bonuses" figured into the driver's possible earnings. he criteria for making the bonus is sometimes near impossible. There are many factors that make flipping burgers more attractive, pay wise.

2) Company recruiters will tell you that you'll get home every weekend. Generally, the only way that happens is if you live along the route you will be taking. Then you may roll in on Saturday morning, try to find someplace that will let you park the truck, spend some time at home, then be rolling again on Sunday night.

3) Regulations. American truckers are-without exception-the most trained, tested, and licensed drivers on the road. Yet laws are stacked against the trucker. Consider the laws that exclude trucks from the left lane, for instance. Instead of being able to run as far away as possible from the drama that exists at entrance and exit ramps, trucks are regulated to run in the congested lanes with those cars, SUVs, pickups, vans, and other trucks entering and exiting...at differing speeds. And trucks are most efficient when they can maintain their momentum as opposed to continuously starting and stopping.

4) Schedules. As an example (it happens): sometimes the company forgets that the driver may have waited three hours the get to the dock, another two hours actually getting loaded, and then another hour doing the paperwork related to the shipment. They may want the driver to make it to a destination 10 hours away. But because the driver isn't allowed to drive after he's been on duty for 14 hours, he can't make the destination regardless of how "hot" the load is, or for any other "reason". Some guys just can't handle the pressure to tell the company no.

Possible solutions:

There has been some discussion about drivers getting paid by the hour. But the companies will fight that tooth and nail as long as they can get somebody to drive for 25-35 cents a mile. The driver might not even get 2000 miles a week. Companies should provide health care coverage for the driver and his family. They should be realistic about scheduling appointments. Appointments should be kept by everyone, not only the driver. There are a lot of "foreign" drivers on the road. Forget about Mexican trucks; Mexican trucking companies have set up shop in border towns in Texas and California and are operating as American companies. Then there are drivers from European block countries. The conditions they left behind are far worse than what they have to deal with in America. But they tend to stay clustered with companies operated by guys from their homeland. The point is that there are a lot of "outsiders" who will work for next to nothing. That makes it difficult for a new guy to demand much better.

OSHA and the Bureau of Labor need to start classifying truckers as "skilled labor".

If he can make it a year without tearing up a truck or accumulating a bunch of points on his license, he can try one of the big freight carriers, like Old Dominion, FedEx, ABF, YRC, ConWay Freight, UPS, UPS Freight. He will make a lot more money, have decent home time and benefits, and in some cases a retirement plan.

Moving up to a better opportunity creates a turnover in the statistics. The companies with the highest turnover rates are the worst to work for.

I'd like to see your report when it's ready. Thank you for your interest.

 

3) Regulations. American truckers are-without exception-the most trained, tested, and licensed drivers on the road.

since when ???? did i mis something ????

 

Wonderful question. These beautiful trucks are a magnet to most young people. The big trucking companys use that as a tool. This is a hard but rewarding job. The recruters tell the people "we have drivers making X a year". They run their behind off. I like it. I am a dispatchers worst dream. When it's not safe to drive I shut down. Affects both our pay checks. I ran into Canada a lot. Snow Cat's up, Granite out. $ is nice, safety is better. Dead people don't need $. Avg dispatcher has 2 months to 4 years behind the wheel. I got DOT'ed in Canada twice. I was singled out. May we inspect your truck? Sure, Your log book up to date? Yes Sir. Welcome to Canada.