Truck driver turnover - why so high?

People work for a variety of reasons: income/able to pay for your lifestyle, personal satisfaction...being part of society/doing something useful with your day, liking the job you do. Start taking away those reasons and the willingness to do the job goes away. Truckers by and large have extra burdens that come with our jobs...stress of moving a large heavy vehicle down the road, dealing with an increasingly ignorant segment of the general population, extra government scrutiny/regulation, ignorant/indifferent shippers & receivers. Add these to a stagnant and sometimes inadequate income & you begin to see the reasons experienced drivers are getting out & it becoming more difficult to attract new drivers to the industry. The "fun" or positive reasons for doing it are being taken away from experienced drivers & new drivers are finding out that trucking isn't a job or even a career as much as it's a lifestyle...one that might be too much for them.

 

I think you put it well. These mega carriers will run you like a dog and pay you like one too. At least the mega one that i run for does. I would like to see training standards increased. My training was an absolute joke. Raise the bar on training increase the cost, then they cant burn through this endless supply of trainees, retention then becomes a higher priority, pay increases apropriately. And the roads are safer in the process. BUT...joe consumer pays more at the supermarket for all the crap he stuffs down his gullet everday.

 

Joe the consumer pays more because of rising costs on tires , emissions , equipment , insurance , taxes , etc. but driver pay is an unacceptable cost increase .

 

Thats like asking why there is such a turn over in cell phone carriers, All jump and no research, It always looks better somewhere else when your upset, untill you get there and they upset you, by then you wish you were where you were but they dont want you back alot of times figureing youll just leave agian, so your looking agian to move elsewhwere. When the newbees figure out the trucking industry doesnt revalve around them, they tend to settle down somewhere. There are alot of bad companies out here, sometimes its hard to find a good one. Expessauly if you have the rep. of jumping jobs. Speaking from expereance, i finally found my good company.

 

13 May 13.

Just saw this post today. If you are still interested I will be gald to respond with articulate if mispelled responses. Been At this job off and on since 1994.

 

well stated

 

Turnover is high for the same reason its high in fast food. The employer doesn't care if its high and makes no effort to keep employees. The driver training at the "we will get your CDL in three weeks no money up front just sign a contract with us for a year" is setting people up for failure. Around 90% or more of those people don't last a year. Many of them have accidents that could easily be prevented with better training, others really aren't suited for trucking. The company figures that the survivors will be good truckers and those that don't make it- oh well. I guess government money plays a role. It's a good thing in a way because they will take anyone and if you are willing to prove yourself you can work your way into the middle class. Most of the turnover are these new people. Of course compounded with not being with family, lower than average pay, its very easy to lose your CDL or get fined etc.

 

rainman!!! You arent really a trucker are you?!?!?

 

Just my impression going through the cdl mill and starter company. They seem more interested in bringing in more new bodies every week rather than retaining the people they already have. If the companies actually wanted to retain people the turn over wouldn't be as high. Most of the turnover seems to be from these new people.

 

Why the turnover rate is a question with over a million reasons.