The American Trucking Association provides up-to-date reports as truck driver turnover increases, saying it bodes well for the industry. The most common reason is that it is due to higher freight volumes and stricter regulations, such as the CSA, causing the need for more qualified drivers.
In an industry where driver turnover has averaged well above 100%, current fourth quarter numbers showed a drop to 88% as the economy is still trying to recover. However, this percentage is expected to increase as volume and regulatory changes continue.
The ATA and motor carriers believe that a higher rate of driver turnover is a good thing. It shows a stronger increase in freight transportation and demonstrates to the FMCSA and Washington bureaucrats that more regulations, like NAFTA, are needed to make up for the lack of qualified drivers in the United States. The national media, which doesn’t understand trucking in the real world, believes all the rhetoric and publishes it as serious trucking news.
The turnover rate among professional truckers, especially those in long-haul operations, is also said to be verifiable due to evidence of drivers leaving the employment of one motor carrier in search of a better job with another. The media is told that drivers are looking for another carrier that offers better wages, better miles, more time at home, etc., thus creating a driver shortage problem, which in turn results in a problematic driver retention rate . To the driver, this rotation is often referred to as “shake” and “work jump.” The problem, however, is that most major motor carriers operate the same way, so for the driver, the grass is rarely greener on the other side.
As an example, as required by the US Department of Labor, for the cross-border trucking initiative to come into play and for US motor carriers to apply for Foreign Labor Certification, they first had to demonstrate that there were insufficient qualified American truck drivers available and willing to perform the job at current wages. This was easily accomplished by low-wage motor carriers using students and new drivers as a source of cheap labor, causing drivers to sit unpaid waiting for cargo and drivers lost driving time. sitting for hours without pay on the docks of shippers and receivers. .
As drivers left the job, the industry could point to driver loss as confirmation of a driver shortage, and when the CSA took hold, this regulation could be used as evidence of a low driver retention rate, as many experienced drivers left the industry for good; it’s not really due to the CSA, but rather the actions of the motor carriers mentioned above. All that needed to be done was for the major trucking organization to announce to the media that America was now facing a driver shortage and retention crisis.
The trucking media, both published and online, are always eager to share the vital news within the industry regarding a crisis. The problem is that many of these outlets are controlled by the same organizations spouting the rhetoric. The media, nationally, run with the stories, having no real-world experience of the internal operations of OTR trucks. They are listening to the wrong messengers.
The truck driver retention rate has become so real to many that major news sources continue to react to what they believe to be a real problem caused by drivers. Trade articles are written to find a real solution to the problem of driver retention. An article says:
“Turnover includes both voluntary and involuntary, but the problem is primarily voluntary departure. It is important to know what is causing drivers to change jobs and then determine how trucking can stop this huge waste of effort and money.” . (Source: Business Library – Driver Retention Solutions)
For every driver who quits, there are 50 uninformed rookie drivers ready to take the job, and for every driver who quits, there are 25 veteran drivers looking for a greener turf. Due to this job change of drivers, the industry has been able to create a crisis that is constantly being verified through the media and that the real problem that has caused the driver retention rate problem is the driver.
It is true that this job change occurs among truckers, however, it is not the drivers who are to blame for the problem, but in fact, the motor carriers create and control the so-called driver shortage and, consequently, the retention of truckers. . rates
The International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management is a business magazine providing cutting-edge information and business solutions for the industry. Located in the magazine, in Volume 37 Iss: 8, pages 612 – 630, is a report entitled: “Truck Driver Turnover: What Rate Is Good Enough?”
The report, developed by Yoshinori Suzuki, PhD and motor carrier management expert, is a tool motor carriers can use to determine what truck driver shortage/retention rate their business should maintain.
The key information points of the report are:
- Use: Developing a decision tool that motor carriers can use to determine if they need to reduce their company’s truck driver turnover rate and, if so, by what percentage.
- Model – Uses statistical and mathematical equations to build a model that will determine the desirable rate needed for that particular carrier.
- Results: The report shows that it can be used by any motor carrier, regardless of the type of work skip behavior their drivers display.
- Conditions: The motor carrier may use the determined desirable rate as the rate at which to reduce churn or to decrease churn among its drivers.
- Importance: The tool will help carriers to correctly identify the “ideal” rate that the carrier wants to achieve. (Source: International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management)
The industry portrays truck driver shortages and driver retention issues as two separate major issues when, in fact, they are closely related and dependent on each other. one can say, “There is a shortage of truckers because we cannot retain drivers” while another claims, “There is a driver retention problem because there is a shortage of truck drivers.”
It is a kind of Pandora’s Box, used by the industry to push through regulations that will continue to strengthen the grip of power by the major carriers, keep drivers classified as unskilled labor, and keep the poorest drivers.
The industry and media continue to portray the professional CDL driver as a job changer who has created two serious and critical situations for the trucking industry. In reality, it is the industry itself that has measures in place to actively control both driver retention and shortage rates.