Between advertising, recruiting, on-boarding, and training, it costs about $5,000 to hire just one driver. So, it hurts all the more to see a driver turn around and walk out your door weeks, sometimes days, after they’re hired.

 Rampant turnover plagues companies throughout the entire transportation industry. It’s the reason that the driver problem exists today. The solution is not to increase your recruiting efforts. That’s like fixing a leak by turning the water on. That’s not to say recruiting best practices are a waste of time, but spending a little more time and resources on retention will have a bigger impact on net gains to growing your fleet.

Improving your retention might seem like a pipe-dream, but there are companies out there achieving it in this labor market, and they’re reaping the rewards.  Companies with solid driver retention run smoother operations. They save time and money otherwise spent on scrambling to fill trucks. Best of all, the drivers with the longest tenure are statistically your safest drivers. Drivers are most likely to have an accident in their first 90 days with your organization, whether they’re new to the industry or a seasoned professional. A new driver to any organization has similar questions: Will I actually get home this weekend? Is this the right way to do the paperwork so I’m paid on time? Will this customer have a restroom? I’ve never been on this route, should I stop for parking now or push it another 50 km.? Did I make the right move by signing up with this company?

There are dozens of things you could do to improve driver retention. We propose three simple changes that you can start on today:

• Utilize driver alignment forms;
• Develop a driver check-in schedule; and
• Implement regular messaging/scoring.