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Cut Costs, Growth Fleet Through Retention
By Frank Stokes (left) and Tres Parker
Freight rates and driver wages are up, yet there is a driver shortage across the country. Truck companies across America are looking for good, safe, quality drivers. The cost of hiring a single driver is estimated to be between $5,000 and $8,000. Turnover rates for the industry are averaging 120 percent annually and climbing. So how does a truck company reduce the costs of hiring a driver and grow its fleet? You focus on retaining the drivers that you have now.
Anything worth doing and doing right takes time, and it will take time to see the fruits of your labor. There is no magic solution to solving the driver turnover issue; it, too, will take time, and will not be reduced overnight. But at Boyd Brothers Transportation, we believe we are on the right track. Over the last two to three years, we have focused on some areas that have brought us some success and reasons to celebrate. Our turnover rate has reduced 40 percent from 120 percent annualized to 80 percent.
Is there an area of a truck company that does not have any direct or indirect influence on driver retention? The answer is none; safety, payroll, maintenance, sales, management information systems and operations all have influence on driver turnover. That's why at Boyd Brothers, to have the success we have, it has been a total team effort. Everyone in our organization has been focused and committed to making decisions and executing them in manners that are best for Boyd Brothers and driver retention. It's a cultural thing, and it starts with our mission statement: "Boyd Brothers Transportation will lead the trucking industry by providing the absolute best service."
We will:
* Operate safely and legally.
* Value, respect and trust our people.
* Do what we say we will do.
* Require high standards.
* Continuously improve and train our people.
* Do more with less.
* Communicate, communicate, communicate.
* Work hard, work smart and enjoy life.
Within the departments at Boyd, it starts with recruiting. To help reduce our turnover, we have to hire the right driver to start with. This means we have to screen the drivers very well, checking their MVRs, verifying past work experiences and qualifications, and conducting one-on-one personal interviews with the drivers. The driver, of course, must pass the pre-employment drug test and road test. Based on the results of the above, we will make the decision whether or not to hire the driver; we will not jeopardize safety or put ourselves in a position for possible future litigation by hiring an unsafe, unqualified driver.
Another aspect of our recruiting department is that they keep in contact with qualified drivers who have left us. They are welcomed to come back to Boyd. About 20 percent of our drivers who leave come back to Boyd. This says something for your company when drivers who leave want to come back.
Another factor is driver assignment when the driver comes out of orientation. Whether a company driver or owner-operator, we try to match that driver with a driver manager who is best qualified to work with that driver in his current state at Boyd. For example, an owner-operator will work with a certain driver manager because this particular driver manager exhibits the business acumen and experience to help make both the owner-operator and company successful.
The next stop is with the driver manager within our operations department. These people have the most important job within our company. They have the day-to-day contact with the drivers, they are aware of the driver's past performance and any issues surrounding the driver, and they are that driver's link to the company. For that reason, we empower our driver managers to make decisions and solve driver issues at the front line.
We are in the people business; whether working with drivers, customers or co-workers, we are dealing with people. So our driver managers have to be skilled in areas such as communications, anger management, conflict resolution and problem-solving. To help in training our driver managers, we role play and take day-to-day scenarios, present them in weekly dispatch meetings, and see how they would resolve the issue, including communication with the driver.
Depending on the issue, we may create natural work groups of people within the department or with other departments to work and resolve it. We rely on other driver managers to contribute their thoughts and feelings based on their experience about the scenario and handling of the situation.
We currently have 19 driver managers and we believe in doing things one way instead of 19 different ways. For that reason, we created "Best Practices" to standardize what and how we do things, and promote consistent results among our drivers and driver managers. Some of the "Best Practices" topics include: Beginning of Day Routine, Getting Drivers Home, Setting Delivery Appointments, Preventing Fleet Problems, Solving Fleet Problems, Load Selection, Finding Swaps and Driver Expectation Exchange.
Boyd tries to make the driver's life at headquarters, at terminals and out on the road as easy as we can. We constantly look at ways to do things better and more efficiently. Some of the things we have initiated include: TripPak scanning for all company drivers, EZpass/Prepass, corporate chaplain associates, truck business services for owner-operators and wireless capabilities at terminal locations for drivers with laptops. We are currently working on e-mailing driver settlement sheets to drivers.
We understand the importance of home time for our drivers, and for those who want to go home every week, we work to get them there for 24 to 36 hours each weekend. We understand being a flatbed truck driver and being away from the family is a tough job, and for that we pay our drivers well. We stay competitive by offering rate-per-mile increases, not to mention paying drivers a minimum pay per load in a market with shrinking length of haul.
We recognize our drivers' accomplishments each year at our awards banquet where we recognize them for their years of service with Boyd, their accomplishment and nomination for Owner-Operator of the Year, Safe Driver of the Year, Driver of the Year and Best MPG of the Year. When a driver's mileage accomplishment changes, we recognize them as well. We have our elite fleet where our drivers receive recognition in the form of decals, company hats and shirts, and certificates when they reach different plateaus for safe miles driven: bronze (250,000-500,000), silver (500,000-750,000), gold (750,000-1 million), platinum (1 million and above).
Currently we have 80 drivers who have reached 1, 2, or 3 million safe miles; when a driver reaches this level, a luncheon is held in the driver's honor, the driver receives shirt patches and a cap distinguishing him as a 1, 2 or 3 million safe mile driver, they receive a million-mile proclamation and a trip with spending money, not to mention decals for their truck.
We are in the people business, and our job is to take care of our people. When you recognize and understand drivers earn our wages and they are people too, when you treat them with the same dignity and respect you wish to be treated with, and when you recognize them when a job is well done, you will see better results in driver retention.
Frank Stokes is the Director of Operations at Boyd Bros. in Clayton, AL. Stokes, who has a total of 15 years in the trucking industry including the past 10 with Boyd Bros., served for 17 years in the U.S. military where he rose to the rank of captain. He holds a B.S. degree in Transportation & Physical Distribution from Auburn University.
Tres Parker is the Vice President of Operations at Boyd Bros. in Clayton, AL. He's been with Boyd Bros. for 17 years, having previously held a series of posts including fleet manager, inside sales planner, inside sales manager and operations manager. He holds a B.S. degree in Marketing from Troy University.
Quote of the Day
"Pay your people the least possible and you'll get from them the same."
-- Malcolm S. Forbes
