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Show Your Drivers You Care! Put a Healthy Trucking Kiosk in Your Terminal

"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things."

-- Peter F. Drucker

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Turnover or Retention: Where is Your Focus?

By Dick Follis

Over the past 20 years I have been witness to every possible idea one can come up with when discussing the turnover and retention issue. Unfortunately, ideas only come up when turnover becomes a problem. Right now we are experiencing dramatic decreases in turnover due to the economic climate. The American Trucking Associations said the turnover at large truckload carriers -- those with more than $30 million in revenue -- fell from 103 percent in the first quarter to 85 percent, the lowest rate since the first quarter of 1998. Turnover at truckload fleets below that revenue level dropped from 80 percent to 76 percent, the lowest level since the first quarter of 1999.

After years of 100 percent-plus turnover, most carriers are feeling pretty good about themselves.

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Troop Transition, a unique career transition program designed for the exclusive use of those who are serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, introduced a new initiative called “Troops 2 Truckers” at this year’s American Trucking Associations Management Conference and Exhibition. The program targets service members who seek post-service civilian employment in the trucking industry.

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Drivers’ English-Language Skills Scrutinized

Last year, authorities issued more than 25,000 tickets nationwide to drivers with poor English-language skills, according to USA Today. Now the federal government is trying to further tighten the requirements.
Most states allow drivers to take their CDL tests in languages other than English, but the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently proposed rules requiring CDL applicants to speak English during their road test and vehicle inspection and to eliminate the use of interpreters during the test. Drivers could still take written tests in other languages, where states permit that, and they would not have to be entirely fluent during the road test.

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Wellness Program Boosts Health, Reduces Costs

Con-way Freight has launched a major expansion of a successful wellness program that is improving the health and physical fitness of its employees while reducing incidences of workplace injuries and their associated costs.

Initially rolled out at 14 company facilities across eight states, the company is expanding the initiative into an additional 52 facilities, reaching 4,100 more employees in another 13 states. By the close of 2008, the program, provided in collaboration with Wellness Coaches USA, will be available to a total of 6,400 employees at 66 facilities in 21 states.

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My Point: Time for the Industry to Get Serious About Health

Marvin Shefsky
- Publisher

Study after study confirms that the nation’s three million truck drivers, when viewed collectively, are dangerously unhealthy compared to just about any other group of workers in the country. Consider these numbers: About a thousand U.S. truck drivers die on the job each year, accounting for one-sixth of all worker deaths, according to federal statistics. The feds also found that truck driver illness was at least one of the causes in 12 percent of the accidents involving a truck and a passenger vehicle, and that doesn’t include accidents involving driver fatigue. Another study of 1,200 deceased owner-operators showed the average age at death was 55, nearly 20 years earlier than the typical American.
Other studies have found that, on average, truck drivers smoke, are obese, have high blood pressure and suffer from diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnea and other serious ailments at a far higher rate than the average American.

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Driver Sound Off

The economic slowdown has definitely also slowed down the driver turnover rate at carriers across the country, but as Dick Follis notes elsewhere in this newsletter, neither the economic slowdown nor the driver turnover slowdown will last forever.
Once the economy picks up again, look out. Drivers will once again be in short supply and looking around for new opportunities, while carriers will once again be scrambling to fill cabs. With that in mind, Over the Road and Pro Trucker magazines asked a handful of professional truckers the following question:

When changing jobs, what do you look for in a company?

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FMCSA Examines Carriers’ and Drivers’ Safety Fitness

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is developing a safety-oriented initiative that aims to identify unsafe carriers and drivers and to hold them accountable for “sustained performance by regularly determining their safety fitness.” As the term “safety fitness” implies, the FMCSA will track not only driving records but also records related to a driver’s health “to focus attention on driver physical qualifications.” Ultimately, if enough information is gathered, every carrier and driver will receive a safety rating.

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