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What is the number one very best way to improve truck driver retention?

What is the number one very best way to improve truck driver retention?
 
With truck drivers being harder to find and rates staying fairly strong, truck driver retention has become more and more important in the strategies of many trucking companies. Some trucking companies have hired staff specifically to improve driver retention and might bonus them for improvements in the truck driver turnover scores. That leads to the question above, what is the single best way to lower truck driver turnover?
 
The answer is simple, to get the best you need to start with the best. So to lower driver turnover you need to hire the right drivers!

Hire the right drivers!

Of course, you still have to retain them, but you’ll never solve the retention problem if you don’t hire the right drivers. That, of course, brings more questions like who is the right driver? Does finding this driver guarantee that my retention will improve? Let’s talk about the two questions above in this article.

Who is the right driver?

The right driver (kind of sounds like the fountain of youth or a unicorn, right?) is the driver that fits everything you want in a driver. They want to drive where you have freight. They want to be out as long as you want a driver out on the road. They want to drive the equipment you have and pull the trailers you have. They want to be in a company with your culture. Quick side note, every company has a culture even if it’s not intentional. That driver is not the same person for every trucking company. Some drivers like older trucks for example. Some drivers like to go all over the USA and some like to just run the same route every time. The driver that most closely resembles your ideal driver is the one that is most likely to stay. So spend your efforts looking for that driver.
 
The driver that most closely resembles your ideal driver is the one that is most likely to stay.

Does finding this driver guarantee that your retention will improve?

So, on to question 2. Does finding this driver guarantee that your retention will improve. Of course not. You still need to treat these drivers like they are not expendable. Show the driver that you are also a good fit for them just like they are a good fit for you. Maybe they want a retirement plan, maybe they want life insurance, maybe they want home time I don’t know but you should. The only way retention improves in your trucking company is if you both are good fits for each other. It’s a two-way street. So when you find the ideal truck driver, make sure you are the ideal company for them. It is much less expensive than constantly hiring drivers.
 
The only way retention improves in your trucking company is if you both are good fits for each other.

Written by Mike Ritzema 

With over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship, management, business planning, financial analysis, software engineering, operations, and decision analysis, Mike has the breadth and depth of experience needed to quickly understand entrepreneurs’ businesses and craft the most suitable solutions.

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