What is your turnover?

The grass is always greener !!!!! Which means its all about money. Low wages and long hours is the cause for the high turnover. If these companys would pay a decent wage the older experienced drivers wouldnt be getting out of this business.

 

I totally agree!!! I have had 3 years of job hopping. The only thing I've finally gained is a company that treats me like a human being and understands I have a family and would like (need) to see them on a regular basis.

TRUCKING IS TRUCKING!!! We all get paid about the same amount (not cents per mile but weekly paycheck) and NONE of us are going to get rich out here. We pick up freight and deliver it. We drive in big cities. We drive in rain, snow, sleet and even a sunny day or two. Like I said, trucking is trucking. How the company treats you is about the only thing that really matters.

 

So now I wear tinfoil hats, am insane, and spew hogwash. You guys do sound like plants at times, although I know you're not.

I don't have any followers. I just stand shoulder to shoulder with people who see the industry as it really is.

I will give you this--you're probably right in one way. My hypotheses don't really hold if the company is smaller. You guys have probably worked at these smaller outfits a lot more than I have. I've been holding steering wheels at places like Swift, driven by places like C.R. England and Dick Simon, and read many a help-wanted-ad. I'm mainly talking of the big guys when I claim what I claim. The guys who have 10-20% of their trucks sitting around empty waiting on drivers to come fill their seats. The guys who have a help-wanted ad in the papers 364 days a year. The guys who have 100, 150, even 200% turnover. Those guys.

'Nuff said, gentlemen.

 

And there is the source of most of my disagreement with you. For the first time ever, you are admitting that the rules you have supported for so long as all fits one don't all fit every company. I'll agree that your claims fit the mega carriers, but you have always claimed them as hard and fast rules that apply everywhere. Driving by and seeing people gathered in the parking lot doesn't tell you if there are a gang of new students gathered there, or if you happened to drive by while the office staff was holding it's quarterly fire drill.

Looking at the trucks in the parking lot doesn't tell you if the trucks have been turned in by unsatisfied drivers, or if there is a grouping of new trucks waiting to be issued and old trucks waiting to be sold. We had 60 extra trucks in our corporate lot most of this past year, due to buying new and turning in old.

But you can't determine that from driving past on the highway. You have to get out and do the in depth investigation required to separate one company from the other. And I have always had a problem when someone presents an overly simplistic one size fits all way of evaluating a company to a group of people, (especially new ones) who don't have the knowledge and experience to know otherwise. It's a more complicated process than just making up a couple of verses in your signature line.

If you want to pass on info, then you have to make sure that it fits properly. In the past, I have felt that some of yours didn't fit.

(But I still think you look cute in a tinfoil hat!!!)

 

Theres a thousand reasons why some drivers stay and some leave. One thing to remember is,not every person is satisfied making lower wages where they live or not live,southern states drivers make less than northern or northeast drivers,mostly,I believe it takes alot more skills and bull to put up with the north,I know ,I was born in ma.,live in me.,have lived in houston area of tx, sav,ga,etc,all of us have commitments of different kinds with our wives,children,church etc. When I perform 110% I expect to be paid without kissing up and just doing my job. When these companies lie and take your shares out of your money,you need to take a stand. Therefore I have had many driving jobs,owned 3 trucks at 3 different times and if a company doesn't live up to their end of the bargain,I find one that might appreciate me. Not many drivers can say they haven't switched alot these days,if they haven't I would love for them to put the name and dates of that company so we may all see it to believe it. Kcorey was right on with munson and ob hill,I was with c&h working with ob hill guys alot in the 70's. Wish you all luck out there,try not to put that driver down that switched jobs unless you know the reasons why,I know,I have lived it all in 40 yrs,divorces,empty homes,missing my kids,animals,relatives,stuck out when promised I would be home,family deaths,all kinds of reasons,but,I only quit when the company didn't perform,never because I didn't perform, give 110%,be honest,may go a long way with an understanding company, not many like that today though.

 

You're right, B. But you're supporting my POV, my suspicion that some outfits use turnover to millk the government. From what I'm reading in your posts, you work for a smaller outfit that has very little turnover. That's no surprise. I believe you. I've seen that at a lot of small companies, especially in Salt Lake. This is because the smaller companies aren't able to do that milking like the big outfits can. They are thus more or less forced to treat their hired hands like a decent company should. If they didn't, they'd have gone the way of the Do-Do bird by now.

The big companies such as Swift, C.R. England, and JBH have turnover problems because they create those problems on purpose. If they really wanted to solve the turnover issue at their outfits, they would. But they don't have the incentive to. Somehow, they get some sort of benefit by having a terminal lot full of empty cleaned-out trucks and full orientation classes week after week after week after.....I'm just trying to get to the bottom of what that benefit is. It's probably a form of welfare/tax break. Hopefully, we'll find out soon what that sugar titty is. I don't want my tax money to fund welfare for a bunch of rich trucking companies and their stockholders. I'm sure most would feel this way if they found out about this obvious fleecing.

 

Getreal, you are probably an above average driver, and an easy man to get along with. I agree with you that many drivers are wasting their time going from bad company, to bad company. That's why I believe this site was created... to warn drivers about the bad companies, and relate our experience with certain good companies. So, the word will get out about the bad companies, and maybe the turnover rate in the trucking industry will come down a little because of this site.

Actually, I think it is both bad drivers and bad companies that create high driver turnover in the industry. But, you can be a good loyal driver... and, still eventually get tired of being frustrated day after day, because you feel the company you are working has no concept of fairness. I agree with you that some people, just don't stick with any company for one reason or another, even if they are treated fairly. We all know that the worst companies (one's nobody ever heard of) don't mind hiring drivers that average 3-4 jobs per year. They'll hire anybody, because they don't care about their turnover rates. They assume everyone will quit them anyway after they screw them a few times. They just hire more.

I don't think it's a matter of good business versus bad business, I think it's a matter of honesty versus, dishonesty, unselfishness versus, greed . But, let me ask you....without any intent to offend you...What will you do if your company started ripping you off, or teating you badly ? Wouldn't you leave, or... would you just stay and take it, because you don't want to add to the industry turnover probelm?

And, if you did decide to leave any company, because they were constantly breaking their agreements, shorting your paycheck, etc. then I don't believe any driver on this site would blame you, or accuse you of causing the company to have a high turnover problem?

Exposure of wrongdoing is, of course, the first requisite in achieving justice.

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Getreal, you are probably an above average driver, and an easy man to get along with. I agree with you that many drivers are wasting their time going from bad company, to bad company. That's why I believe this site was created... to warn drivers about the bad companies, and relate our experience with certain good companies. So, the word will get out about the bad companies, and maybe the turnover rate in the trucking industry will come down a little because of this site.

Actually, I think it is both bad drivers and bad companies that create high driver turnover in the industry. But, you can be a good loyal driver... and, still eventually get tired of being frustrated day after day, because you feel the company you are working has no concept of fairness. I agree with you that some people, just don't stick with any company for one reason or another, even if they are treated fairly. We all know that the worst companies (one's nobody ever heard of) don't mind hiring drivers that average 3-4 jobs per year. They'll hire anybody, because they don't care about their turnover rates. They assume everyone will quit them anyway after they screw them a few times. They just hire more.

I don't think it's a matter of good business versus bad business, I think it's a matter of honesty versus, dishonesty, unselfishness versus, greed . But, let me ask you....without any intent to offend you...What will you do if your company started ripping you off, or treating you badly ? Wouldn't you leave, or... would you just stay and take it, because you don't want to add to the industry turnover problem?

And, if you did decide to leave any company, because they were constantly breaking their agreements, shorting your paycheck, etc. then I don't believe any driver on this site would blame you, or accuse you of causing the company to have a high turnover problem?

Exposure of wrongdoing is, of course, the first requisite in achieving justice.