Driving schools

Driver turnover. It’s a big issue and no one wants to talk about it, nor do anything to reduce it. Carrier’s would much rather snivel and whine about a driver shortage than work on plugging the hole in their boat.

Top pay isn’t the fix either. There’s carriers out there that pay really well, but that pay hasn’t solved their turnover or hiring troubles. It’s just not enough to offset the underlying problem(s) at the company.

Carriers that scorecard the best on maintenance, management, pay, equipment, safety, culture, etc, seem to do better with retention and hiring. In my research.

 

Back when I started turduckin' they said a rough estimate of driver turnover is 2 years, but I soon found out it was more like 6 months, and now it's 2 weeks

Actually, come to think of it, a truck driving school is a golden business, you just put em through and who cares how and where they end up. No one cares at the schools, they just need them coming in through the door so they can grab their money and hussle them out the door with almost nothing. They also have bribed examiners on the cash to rubber stamp their licence at the ministry. It's a big racket. Corrupted all to hell and bent out of whack!

 

I had a nephew that went to school in Edmonton for his license. Got a few decent jobs. Did it for just over a year and gave up. Doing other things now for 15 years, never came back.
For him it was the lifestyle, there isn’t one. You just drive and sleep, no time for a life. Definitely no time for dating.
Remember when all the long haul carriers in Canada only did about three hundred mile runs, then you would meet another truck, swap trailers and go back to your own home terminal. They need to do that again. With today’s technology it would be a piece of cake.

 

May be with COVID CERB/CRB some drivers are staying home, where is a good place to look for drivers? online job posting sites are not working.....

 

Nailed it! Even the companies who do switches out of Calgary, force their guys into a 6/1 schedule (same as local). “Home Every Night” they say, yea for 8-9hrs including commute time, eat, sleep, shower, repeat.

They even tell the ABLs/Tractor service contractors like myself, “you need to be available 7 days a week to work for us!”. Many are so desperate, they bow down, it’s literal slavery imho.

UPS is 5-2 or 4/4 schedule, and don’t seem to have this problem; go figure.

 

C

CREB/CRB gave many the breathing room to find another job, most company drivers I know quit and went to work for grocery stores/Costco/7-11 and they’re making the same or more money, with no OTR expenses and free/discounted fuel/food.

Anyone who still wants to drive trucks, is driving or finds the company they want to work for directly; the endless pool is empty.