Drivers often quit when their expectations are not met. There’s often a moment of pointing fingers saying, “The dispatcher promised me better loads or routes,” or “The recruiter said I’d be treated fairly.”

When you meet your drivers’ expectations, you’ll be more likely to keep them at your company. However, you can’t meet their expectations if you don’t know their expectations in the first place. That’s where a driver alignment form comes into play.

A driver alignment form is a document drafted between a driver manager and a new driver upon hire. The document details mutual expectations and commitments to each other. Both parties should sign it, but it’s not a contract. It’s merely a guide for how drivers and driver managers should behave with one another. Take it a step further and give your drivers a ‘golden ticket’ that acts as an all-access pass to bring up issues to you. That way, if you fall short of the expectations on the alignment form (and you will), there will be an established avenue for conflict resolution. This means your drivers will go to you with their problems rather than,
indeed, looking for another job.