Company Turnover/ Always Hiring

I'm not a driver yet but i'm sure the turnover rate has to do with many things. I bet a lot of new drivers think you simply sit in a seat and drive A to B and find out it's much more then that. Just the driving alone hundreds of miles in a day a lot of people can't handle i bet. Add on being away from home and family and that's another problem. I read a lot of people complain about getting hometime. I never understood why people would get a job driving across the country and expect to be home frequently it doesn't make sense. I believe the pay is the last reason why most quit or don't make it.

 

awesome good luck

 

Less than an hour into orientation at Swift they told us their turnover rate is 75 drivers a day.

I just chuckled.

Hard working & determined people make it in all aspects of life. Trucking is no different.

 

There is wide variation of driver turnover rates between various companies. Newbies ignore this at their peril and then suffer the consequences. Your best chance of picking well is BEFORE you hire on to our first company. After you hire on, stick it out for a year. You aren't going to change the company, but you can change how you deal with the situation. There is no "average". You won't be treated, paid, scheduled, dispatched "average" . You will be treated how the one particular company treats their drivers. Make decisions like they are important, even if you are not sure. They are important, even if another disgruntled driver says "I wouldn't take that." He won't pay your bills or hire you for a better job. You are in charge of you.

 

As G. Gordon Liddy once said "in the FBI they call that a clue."

 

The reason schools don't teach more driving, in my experience, is because that's not what they're selling. They're selling basic knowledge and skills to pass a CDL exam. Let me ask you this - why do you think companies that hire new graduates put them in trucks with trainers/mentors for 240K miles, 240 backs? It's because on the job training is still the best way to learn how to drive a tractor-trailer rig.

CDL schools charge from $2K (a fact) to $6,500 or more, one month to 2 years. (NM Community College 5 years ago, I don't know about today) Some companies will train you and employ you afterwards, and if you stay a year, the training cost goes away. If you would consider just the added cost of teaching someone to drive, another couple of months at least, you'd agree, no one could afford that. Also, entry level drivers in a company training program are getting paid for their work. In that school? No pay for however long it would take.

So I think that's not a reasonable idea, Mike. The way it is, get the CDL, get work and learn on the job, is what the industry does, and it works. There's a number of reasons for that. Go for it!

 

Dave, don't we have to give at least some credit to companies giving a new driver a truck, loads to pull, and an income? Starting out is always the hardest time, the riskiest time for new drivers and for companies. I don't agree that the megas "will take a giant #### on you, I think they take a chance knowing they might earn a little more profit if a driver works out. But that's offset for me in the fact of their truck, their loads and customers, their insurance costs. So if someone has to, get that job, suck it up for a year, learn your trade, and move on to something better. That's what the megas are offering, no one has to take it.

I like that comment about "work ethic, or the self-discipline," that's good. And the skill set, driving for a profession isn't like driving to the convenience store for a 6 pack. Planning, maintenance, food, rest, schedules, and that's before you start the engine. Anyway, there is a lot of churn, that's for sure. I think it's down to 105%/year. Yow.

Thanks.

 

Which company keeps a student for 240K miles? Or 240 backs?
I was a trainer. Certified trainer. 3 weeks. maybe it would run into a 4th, so 23 or so days. How about 15K miles maybe. When I started I did about 15K with a trainer, then about 13K as a second seat, and I had my own truck, and figured out the first week, I would have to team in it to make any money above $500. The second week, the company sent me consistent team loads so I could make money, cause I told them I'm bring your truck back. But I will say I could back & park the truck better than the guy that was my first seat for the second 3 weeks, to say nothing of navigate.
The megas charge street urchins a fortune for a 3 or 4 week CDL school. A huge chunk of which they recoup from the government, then get more from the victim, then make more money from the freight the pull for $0.12/ mile.
That's why they have autos & e logs, because the street urchins, and millennials can't get their phone to drive the truck.

 

So as I'm sitting at home winding out month 13 with Werner.....
I'm on a leave of absence.
My issues with them aren't what most people are.
I go do whatever I'm asked to do.
I had been staying out 30 days or more.
They still couldn't get me home.
Mrs BTG got our of the truck.
So they needed drivers on dollar accounts.
Went back. Account calls for home weekly.
Was out 13 days.
That pissed me off.
Emptied truck got rental car, turned in truck to saftey rep, and went home.
I kept my end of the deal, they couldn't keep theirs.
I've made decent money with them.
However because of their size they don't give a crap.
Shame, because they have a structure I enjoy.
It is what it is.

 

Ok, so reason driver left mega company could be summed up as -- Mega took giant #### on driver, driver refused to eat it.
Next.