New Operation this year, working well

I agree somewhat with MN on this, but with a different spin.

You can't make someone want to make more money or longer hours, so you're right on about being more selective. That is, seeking out people that have a work ethic and are hungry. Think about this another way, would the guy with your work ethic and hunger for income be working for you? Probably not. He'd own his own truck and be your competition.

So with that in mind, I think you need to figure out how to settle for a little less than what you yourself are capable of. Find out ways to connect every good behavior you want to see directly to that person's paycheck. If your drivers are idling in truck stops too much, why is that? You sound like you're flush with available cargo, so is it a scheduling problem? Then do that for them. Take away the choice to sit and idle. Sounds to me like you expect to make opportunity available and your drivers will leap to it. Sorry but that's not reality. See the last paragraph.

Miles. Hmm.. fewer miles ought to come with substantial reduction in costs. At least that's how it works on my equipment. In my opinion there are only two operations where miles == success. One is a mega fleet where the massive averages prop up any weak spots and profit is built 1¢ at a time. The other is a smaller, but highly efficient operation where there is low schedule risk. Sounds like you could be, or at least are trying to be, in the second group. I could probably count the number of 3,000+ mile weeks my trucks have done in the past two years on one hand. That's just not the kind of business I choose to chase after.

If I were you (seemingly a mileage driven, high-revenue / thin-profit operation), I'd stare into my belly button for a while and consider how to make my operation more efficient. Consider things that would make that work. Maybe revisit your driver compensation and concoct something better than the mileage hamster wheel to share some schedule risk with them. Make high production more rewarding than it already is, while less becomes even lesser. Possibly hire a dispatcher that could eliminate a dependency for that driver, as well as get to know each of them and what buttons to push to get the most out of them. For some it might be a truckstop shower or cooked breakfast every day. Others it could be every other weekend home with their kids. You probably have a few drivers that will do just fine leaving things as is. People are not spreadsheets or robots. Find clever ways to enable a driver to hit your production targets instead of attempting to force it by placing a floor on weekly miles and just crucifying the driver if they don't hit it. You haven't given up much detail, but I'd have to guess it's not that simple. So don't get me wrong. On the other hand, the easier you make it for any employee to be successful at what they do, they will naturally be more satisfied doing it and get more work done.

 

Yes, something is obviously very wrong fundamentally if 3000 miles/week every week are needed just to be profitable. That should be super extra gravy territory, not gotta have it territory.

 

Red Foreman, your last post is the best post I've read from you, ever.

 

You don't have forced dispatch , but if a driver refuses a load then he`s fired ?? They are YOUR trucks, YOUR Insurance , YOUR fuel , YOUR Customers , YOUR reputation on the line. As long as it can be done legally, then the driver WILL haul what you give him.

 

Yes I agree with the above post - if there IS a choice between 2 loads, you have to expect your driver to pick one of them, not neither. If they complain about HOS and how they don't have enough hours, you'll have to take the time to keep track of those drivers' hours so you can determine whether or not they have time. A good driver is able to "make" time and still have the logbook look legal. If you have Electronic logs, well I guess you're SOL. And to expand on what Red Foreman said, giving your drivers a choice between 2 viable loads FROM TIME TO TIME will keep them feeling that they are "in on it" and are actually a part of the company, and not just meat.

All in all, I guess there is such a fine balance between being strict and keeping your drivers happy. I'd bet that is probably the toughest issue all fleet owners face.