A 2023 survey by the NPTC estimates the average cost of driver turnover is $9,748.

During a freight recession, it’s vital for fleets to reduce as many operational costs as possible. You can not only reduce your recruiting advertising spend but your cost per hire by retaining your drivers.

Believe it or not, you don’t have to have an expensive retention plan or a large team to develop and manage a robust and effective retention program. This is part 1 of our 3-part series on retention.

It starts with recruiting with retention in mind. Here are some tips for recruiting with retention:

• Schedule weekly meetings between operations and the recruiting teams and discuss the following:
  • Ensure you have accurate hiring areas
  • Double check your home times per location are accurate and realistic
  • Provide average miles per week
  • Provide average length of haul
  • Provide updates on customer changes – loss of volume or increase in volume
  • New customers coming onboard – lanes, schedule, etc.
  • Current customer contracts ending
  • Ensure the recruiting team is relaying accurate and realistic driver expectations
• Provide drivers with a conditional offer letter. Offer letters should contain the following information:
  • Orientation Date
  • Pay per mile or pay package
  • Route driver will be running
  • Anticipated home time
  • Job description
  • Conditional hire details – drug test results, employment verification, etc.
  • Job expectations
• Create a driver profile form and ask drivers to return them. Ask drivers the following questions:
  • How many miles do you need to run each week?
  • How often do you need to be home?
  • What areas/states will you not drive?
  • If you have touch freight, confirm drivers are comfortable with the physicality and requirements of the job. – “This job requires lifting 50 pounds at a time in all weather conditions; are you comfortable performing these duties?”
  • Why did you leave your last job?
  • When the driver returns the profile form, ensure your company can meet the driver’s needs. For example, if the driver says they have to be home weekly but you can only offer bi-weekly for their home location, call the driver and reiterate you cannot offer weekly home time. Similarly, if your primary lanes run though Pennsylvania, but the driver lists Pennsylvania as an area they won’t drive, call the driver and rediscuss your primary lanes and operations expectations.

While it’s hard to turn away a driver prior to orientation, it’s better to save on orientation; travel; drug screen; physical; and turnover costs upfront.

EBE’s ATS can help! We offer integrated forms at no additional cost! Design and send offer letters and driver profile forms through our ATS and send to drivers directly though the ATS. Drivers can electronically fill out and countersign the forms. These forms will be added to the applicants file.

EBE’s ATS also has a built-in safety platform. On the ATS side, all applicants are scored based on your company’s hiring qualifications. Quickly identify highly-ranked applicants and prioritize their applications. On the safety and compliance side, use the dashboard to quickly identify your safest and most unsafe drivers. Work hard to retain your safe drivers and identify drivers you would not like to retain.

This is part 1 of 3 of this retention series: part 2 we will be offering some tips on building an engaged community and part 3 we will offer tips on surveys and gaining feedback.