100%+ Turnover Rates - What do the Numbers really say?

i love how these days these people see drivers as being in the way of making money...

It DOES affect your company to treat drivers like ####. I've had quite a few customers ##### to me about werner. late loads, idiots making deliveries, etc, cause they dont treat drivers worth a ####.

Of course, i dont say much, i wouldnt wanna be responsible for losing a customer...

 

I've had the pleasure of following a complete ####### at a jobsite before...usually their load didn't get dumped where it was supposed to go...either they didn't back up close enough to the pit they were supposed to dump into or they raised the bed too fast and the hopper couldn't handle the speed at which the product came out of the trailer. Either way, it made a huge friggin mess that had to be cleaned up (and of course, the ####### driver didn't stick around to even help with that).

Usually, I make a comment along the lines of "I love working with idiots" (in a very sarcastic tone, usually while shaking my head) and try to make it sound like that ####### was the exception rather than the rule when it comes to the carrier I'm leased to. Then I do the job right, and try to leave 'em with a good impression of the carrier....which makes it more likely for them to use the carrier again, and more likely for the carrier to have work for me to do (I've even had customers ask for me by name when they place their order).

Beyond doing your job to the best of your ability, and doing your best to make the carrier look good in the customer's eyes (despite the ####### drivers also associated with the carrier), there really isn't a whole heck of a lot you can do.

 

This is a great question! It appears that it all boils down to the definition of "turnover rate" and how you calculate the numbers. I too am confused by this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnover_(employment)
The above link might shed some light on the subject, or perhaps might only muddle the waters.
The following definition comes from; turnover rate - definition of turnover rate by the Free Online ...
Noun 1. turnover rateturnover rate - the ratio of the number of workers that had to be replaced in a given time period to the average number of workers
I even found "turnover calculators" online.
Without defining a specific definition and process it is easy to confuse or mislead someone. Perhaps this is the game that's being played.
By the way I found the Wikipedia link to be very educational and informative, yet still controversial in some aspects.
Bottom line; if a company has 10 trucks that run teams (20 drivers) and they hire 100 drivers every year these figures are relevant, to say the least, in my determination of potential employment with said company. Just as if the above statement changed by the variable of only 2 drivers were hired this also has a significant impact on my decision.
So to say the numbers are irrelevant is like sticking your head in the sand, Just My Opinion. Possibly the key here is to have a standard everyone could agree on. Political correctness baffles me constantly and might have skewed our perception of "turnover rate".

 

If I remember right the numbers are based on trucks, aka a company has 300 trucks, but has had to hire 500 drivers to drive them over the last year. Isn't that a turnover of 160%?

Meanwhile maybe 150 of the trucks have had the same happy driver for that year or longer, but the other 150 have had multiple drivers come and go. For some companies 2 drivers per truck can came and go. With training companies this number is easy to reach.

Trainees come in thinking many things, and not really having a full grasp on their job. Some get washed out due to bad attitude or bad driving accidents so on. Some just find out they hate the job. Some see a 1 c pm raise and jump. So on.

With older drivers they are set in their ways and if they don't like something they will bail. Of the 8 drivers in my orientation class, we are the only ones left. One left because he didnt like running east. Two were a team, and one had a family issue and quit the other quit a bit after not wanting to solo. One I am not actually SURE Why he quit. One was fired due to stupid actions. One decided to retire after having a fifth heart bypass, and I am not sure what happened to the cowboy guy. But he doesn't work there anymore.

 

If you go to, say, a swift or werner terminal...or any company that hires the inexperienced, no matter how great the company is....you are guarnateed to find someone cleaning out a truck, on any given day. The high turnover rates dont mean that much because a lot of people think trucking is.....a glorious experience.

 

Keep in mind to that the turnover rate looks at a whole year. So these companies that have high turnover rates may just have a lot of people that only stay for a month, or two or even less. You have 10 trucks, 10 drivers and 1 quits in Jan., let's say. Each month for the rest of the year the person you hire to fill that truck quits 1 month later. Finally, the following Jan, you get a guy who stays. Guess what, your turnover rate is now 120% for that last year. At least, from what I can understand of the way they calculate it.

From my example you can see that turnover rate doesn't necessarily mean a bad company, especially with the ones that take students and such as they are more likely to quit anyway. Heck, I've been with 4 different companies in the past 3 years, and I'm looking for my 5th. Sometimes it's hard to find where ya fit in (and sometimes ex-g/fs make it hard to fit in .)

While it's definitely a consideration to take into account, I wouldn't rule a company out solely because of a high turnover rate.

 

You hit the nail on the head

Models of turnover rates

Over the years there have been thousands of research articles exploring the various aspects of turnover, and in due course several models of employee turnover have been promulgated. The first model and by far the one attaining most attention from researcher, was put forward in 1958 by March & Simon. After this model there have been several efforts to extend the concept. Since 1958 the following models of employee turnover have been published.

* March and Simon (1958) Process Model of Turnover
* Porter & Steers (1973) Met Expectations Model
* Price (1977) Causal Model of Turnover
* Mobley (1977) Intermediate Linkages Model<br
* Hom and Griffeth (1991) Alternative Linkages Model of Turnover
* Whitmore (1979) Inverse Gaussian Model for Labour Turnover
* Steers and Mowday (1981) Turnover Model
* Sheridan & Abelson (1983) Cusp Catastrophe Model of Employee Turnover
* Jackofsky (1984) Integrated Process Model
* Lee et al. (1991) Unfolding Model of Voluntary Employee Turnover
* Aquino et al. (1997) Referent Cognitions Model
* Mitchell & Lee (2001) Job Embeddedness Model

The following information was supplied by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnover_(employment)
There you have it folks since 1958 there have been 12 accepted models of "turnover rates" by the mainstream businesses of the world.

 

Regardless of what model is used to calculate turn over rate. It still speaks volumes about a company.

Tell me, who the hell actually thinks a 120% turn over rate is "bad" for a company with only 10 employees ??

A company with 500 employees who has a 300% turn over rate....is doing something seriously wrong.

8 years ago, there was a waiting list to be hired by CFI. Today (as in the past), there is a 'waiting list" to be hired by Wal-Mart. CFI/Conway truckload has evolved into a company with a higher turn over rate and weekly orientations.

Did something change with CFI/CTL? You bet. Long before Conway bought them out.

It certainly appears nothing has changed at Wal-Mart.

Turn over rates mean something. but it's up to the individual to determine what it means. And the way that individual finds out what it means, is by speaking to other drivers, happy or unhappy.