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Volume 1 Issue 5 In
this issue: Driver
Sound Off President
Bush Acknowledges NTDAW Our
Sponsors
--------------------------------- Question
of the Day When
it comes to recruiting new drivers, what do you consider the single most
effective selling tool? •
Competitive pay and benefits. When it comes to recruiting drivers,
nothing speaks louder than money. •
Good mileage, consistent freight. Drivers aren't stupid. If the
mileage isn't there, they know the money won't be there. •
Home time. More and more drivers are concerned about
quality-of-life issues, and getting home regularly is a top priority. •
Company culture. More than anything, drivers are looking for a
solid company that keeps its promises and treats them with respect. Click Here to Vote In
our last newsletter, we asked readers the following question: Do
truck driving schools do a good job of training new truck drivers? Here
are the results: •
Yes. While some schools do a better job than others, the majority
of them turn out qualified truck drivers: 68 percent •
No. A few weeks of training doesn't cut it. I've seen very few
people come out of driver school who were ready to drive a truck: 32
percent •
Who cares? The trucking industry needs all the drivers it can get,
and we can train them right once they have their CDL: 0 percent Note:
Inside Trucking polls are
surveys of those who choose to participate and are therefore not valid
statistical samples. Is
there a question regarding driver recruitment and retention you would like
to ask the trucking industry? Send suggestions to: phorner@otrprotrucker.com --------------------------------- Quote
of the Day "You
must be the change you wish to see in the world." --------------------------------- Contact:
|
Recruiting
and safety directors can't be the only ones at your company concerned about
driver retention. Everyone who works for a carrier -- regardless of their job
description -- must realize that his or her paycheck ultimately depends on the
guy driving the truck. Companies that have high retention rates and low driver
turnover rates understand this concept, and make sure that every employee is
reminded of it every day. We
started the last issue of Inside
Trucking off by declaring that retention is "everybody's
business." What does that mean? It means that all employees -- not just
recruiting directors -- should appreciate the importance of a company-wide
retention culture and do everything within their power to foster it. Who
greets your truckers as heroes when they walk through the door following a
long, tough run? Everybody should. Does everybody at your company treat
drivers with the respect they deserve, knowing it's the driver that makes the
company go? They better. The
mission of Inside Trucking
is to help you and your company boost driver retention. You can't develop a
retention culture single-handedly. It must be a company-wide, team effort.
Since driver retention is everyone's business, and Inside Trucking is all
about driver retention, who else in your company should be receiving this
newsletter? Go ahead and sign them up at the top of this page, and we'll make
sure they receive their own copy of Inside
Trucking. Together we can help spread a driver retention culture
throughout your company. Top-of-mind awareness of driver retention is
everyone's full-time job. --
Marvin Shefsky, Publisher/CEO
By
Adam Mertz
They
say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again
expecting a different outcome. If that’s the case, we need to bring sanity
back to the hiring process as many recruiters continue to hire today as if
it were 1975. While demographics, the economy and the very nature of the
trucking industry have all changed, how we source and hire drivers has
changed very little over the past 30 years. Growing
turnover is the No. 1 sign that sourcing and recruiting strategies need to
change. For example, large truckload carriers reported a record-breaking
average annual turnover of 121 percent last year – a number that continues
to grow. Further, on the verge of a forecasted labor shortage of 111,000
drivers by 2014, carriers need to revamp their recruiting and hiring
processes in order to remain competitive. Recruiters
are often focused on finding an answer to today’s immediate need: an empty
truck needing a driver. However, by implementing a few key tactics and
strategies, recruiters can address a carrier’s long-term goals without
sacrificing in the short-run. While
we see many other areas of the business innovating in order to adapt to
changing market conditions, here are several easily implemented solutions
for carriers to innovate in the area of recruiting, bringing the practice
into the 21st century. Taking
it to the next level: Automation Historically,
HR documentation, including employment applications, has been used for
single-event decisions like who to hire, fire or promote. Valuable
information was locked away in paper files where their content was
underutilized. Simply by transferring this information from paper to the
computer allows pre-employment data analysis, unlocking a rich source of
information about the driver pool and a company’s workforce. Industry
leaders are doing just this, mining data as diverse as screening questions
and exit evaluations, allowing them to tie performance and tenure back to
hiring decisions. Continually measuring and adjusting your processes based
on this information will positively influence your driver retention. For
example, in a survey conducted at the TCA conference, it was found that
while only 21 percent of respondents had automated any portion of the hiring
process, those that had integrated screening and hiring through automation
reported an average driver turnover of 23 percent, compared to an average
turnover of 69 percent for carriers still relying on a paper-based hiring
system. Do
more than the bare minimum. Screen for quality. Although
hiring automation is just starting to gain awareness as a way to battle the
driver shortage, I often get asked how a carrier can be more strategic in
the selection of drivers. Because most drivers are simply moving from one
carrier to the next, the key to addressing the driver shortage is through
retention. One way to learn more about a driver’s propensity to stay with
your organization is through the use of advanced screening tools, such as
assessing behaviors related to retention, like dependability and work
motivation. Advanced
screening tools will help you measure not only what a driver has done in the
past, but what they can do and what they want to do. Add measures of
ability, environmental fit and safety history tailored to your business to
find candidates who exhibit behaviors you want in your organization. By
quickly identifying these potential drivers early in the hiring process, you
can easily prioritize your recruiter’s time, allowing them to focus on the
best of the best, not wasting time with candidates who would clearly not
work out. Measure,
measure, measure While
you can’t improve what you don’t measure, automation coupled with a data
repository can give carriers the tools to assess every angle of their
sourcing and hiring processes. For example, by measuring sourcing channels
by region, recruiters can determine which sources work best for which
audiences in which areas – a level of detail that was not easily accessed
before. Use your calculations to determine where your quality drivers are
coming from in order to find more like them. This is a guaranteed key to
operational improvement and will help lower turnover. In
addition to these strategies and tactics, there are many other established
best-practices to evolve recruiting. Several of these include: ·
Accepting
the workforce trends and turning them into your competitive advantage. ·
Setting
clear, quantifiable goals for finding the best-fit drivers who meet not just
the DOT minimum requirements, but the retention requirements of your
organization. ·
Using
new sourcing strategies that address changing demographics, e.g., extensive
use of the Internet, community outreach and candidate relationship
management programs. ·
Hiring
people who exhibit behaviors and interests proven to correlate to longer
retention. ·
Using
technology to deliver and prioritize the best applicants for your
recruiters. With
an industry-wide shortage, constant driver churn creates an environment
where hiring standards are at a minimum and operators are willing to hire
anyone who meets the base job requirements. As an industry, let’s work to
move beyond the “fog-the-mirror” test to find the best available talent.
After all, drivers carry the industry’s reputation on their shoulders just
as they are the front-line of your business, your brand on the road, and the
interface to your customers. Start with the right driver criteria and
recruiting processes to make sure that you are both headed in the right
direction. Adam
Mertz Sr. is manager of Transportation Workforce Solutions, Unicru. He
can be reached via e-mail at: amertz@unicru.com,
or by phone at: 503-596-3144. A
new report prepared for the American Trucking Associations by Global Insight
offers a glimpse of demographic trends that will affect trucking in the
years ahead. Among the findings of particular interest to recruiting and
safety directors: •
The white male population aged 35 to 54 will decline by more than 3 million
by 2014. This population currently provides more than half of the workers in
the industry. •
During the next decade, the trucking industry will need an extra 320,000
workers due to economic growth. •
At least another 219,000 workers must be found to replace workers over 55
who will retire and the younger workers who will leave the industry. Since
trucking considers itself a competitor with the construction industry for
labor, the report recommends that motor carriers raise salaries to above the
10 percent wage discrepancy with construction. The report also expects wage
gains in long-haul trucking to average 6 to 7 percent per year during the
next three years. Construction
has two advantages that motor carriers should be aware of when recruiting
workers. First is the quality-of-life issue. Construction workers, for the
most part, do not spend time away from home while on the job. Many trucking
companies are working on innovative ways to allow truckers to spend more
time with family. Secondly, many construction workers enter the field by age
18, whereas truckers must be at least 21 to obtain a CDL. Still, if carriers
can offer competitive wages and benefits, the lure of trucking over
construction may be more enticing to those who like more autonomy and less
heavy labor. Source:
ATA Is
the driver shortage real, imagined or just a matter of drivers hopping from
one company to another? Recruiting and safety directors certainly have their
opinion, but what do the drivers think? To find out, Over the Road
and Pro Trucker magazines
asked a random sample of drivers the following question: Do
you think there's a shortage or drivers? Here
are some of the responses: "There
might be a shortage of quality drivers. The quality of the older drivers is
pretty good, but I don't know if the new guys coming in are getting the
training they need. I wonder about some of these driving schools. I've been
driving a truck since 1957, and I'm still learning things. The people who go
through these schools think they know what it's like to be a truck driver
after six weeks. They have no idea." --
Jim Bridges, 65, Middletown, OH, Professional
driving experience: 48 years "Yes,
I do. Every company I know is advertising for more drivers. I'm not sure
where they're all supposed to come from, but everyone seems to be looking
for them." --
Heath Evans, 35, New Market, IN, Professional
driving experience: 12 years "I
think there's a shortage of good drivers. I think the drivers who are
hopping around from job to job, creating a shortage, probably aren't being
honest with themselves. In general, the grass is the same color on both
sides of the fence, but no one wants to believe that. Some drivers just get
tired of hearing the same old song and dance so they move on." --
Duane Slick, 42, Freeport, IL, Professional
driving experience: 18 years "I
don't know. If there is a driver shortage, it's because drivers are moving
from company to company so much. There might be a shortage for a company
that loses a driver that week, but I don't think there's an industry-wide
shortage. It's supply and demand." --
Ray Dunn, 56, Huntingford, IN, Professional
driving experience: 27 years "As
an owner-operator with other drivers leased on, I can say there's a shortage
of good drivers. There are lots of people behind the steering wheel who
don't realize that driving is a career. They just look at it as a moneymaker
for that week. Clearly, there aren't enough good, professional
drivers." --
Kym Yeager, 40, Stoutsville, OH, Professional
driving experience: 11 years New
England Motor Freight (NEMF) is betting that opening its own driving
school will help create “good, solid employees for the future.” In
addition to attending classes for free, students are offered a job while
they complete their training. “Whatever
it has to do with this industry, we train them,” says Thomas J.
Hartley, director of safety at NEMF. “We teach them our history, so
when these guys come out the door, they’re not just a good, safe
driver; they’re a good, safe NEMF driver.” In
return, students agree to work at NEMF for three years once they obtain
their CDL. If they do not fulfill their commitment, they must reimburse
NEMF $3,600, an amount considered less than the cost of the typical
independent truck-driver training school. NEMF
may be at the forefront of a trend, as more motor carriers start their
own driver-training schools. One trucking director said more companies
are starting their own schools because of the driver shortage – they
set up the schools “so they know they have a good and safe driver
before they offer them a job.” NEMF
has started schools at four terminals. Start-up costs at each school
were about $110,000, which went toward a trainer for each location, a
tractor, and audio-visual equipment and other materials. But NEMF
believes its investment will pay off. “We want to be able to hire
people and train them in our way of doing things. Safe and dedicated and
loyal,” Hartley says. “I just think we will be a step ahead of
everybody by producing those kinds of drivers.” Source: Roemer Report
Highway Bill to Boost Driver Training, Recruiting The
$286.4 billion highway bill recently signed into law by President Bush
failed to codify hours-of-service regulations, but it did include the
following provisions that should be of particular interest to recruiters
and safety directors: •
Driver training. To boost the number of people entering the
profession, $5 million is earmarked for truck driver training. •
Pre-employment screening. Motor carriers will be able to access a
database containing driver-related safety information, such as accident
reports and inspection reports. •
Background checks for hazmat drivers. The Transportation Security
Administration will notify carriers if hazmat drivers do not meet
security criteria. •
Medical program. The law creates a new medical oversight program to
advise the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on driver medical
standards and guidelines. (See related story on drivers and diabetes
elsewhere in this newsletter.) Legislation Removes Barrier to Diabetic Truckers The
transportation legislation passed by both the U.S. House of
Representatives and the U.S. Senate and signed into law by President
Bush contains an important provision that will help end discrimination
against people with diabetes who seek employment as commercial drivers,
claims the American Diabetes Association (ADA). The
ADA led a coalition to enable qualified individuals who must use insulin
to properly manage their diabetes to operate commercial motor vehicles
in interstate commerce. Language in the legislation eliminates a
provision in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA)
2003 Diabetes Exemption Program that made it almost impossible for
anyone with insulin-treated diabetes to even apply to drive commercially
and replaces it with a medically sound system for individual assessment.
As a result, the intent of the Diabetes Exemption Program will be
realized, and qualified people with insulin-treated diabetes will be
able to drive commercial motor vehicles. In
September of 2003, FMCSA announced a Diabetes Exemption Program to end
the 33-year-old blanket ban on operating a commercial motor vehicle in
interstate commerce for people who use insulin and replace it with a
case-by-case assessment that includes more than 50 important safety
provisions. Despite
strenuous opposition of the American Diabetes Association, Congress,
industry, labor organizations and even FMCSA's own expert medical panel
also included a "three-year rule" that prevented the vast
majority of people with diabetes from even applying under the program. This
Catch 22 provision requires applicants to have driven a commercial
vehicle while using insulin for the three years before applying for an
exemption under the program. Because of the prior federal blanket ban,
no one could fulfill this requirement through past interstate driving,
and it was virtually impossible to fulfill it through intrastate
driving. In the nearly two years since FMCSA announced this program, not
a single diabetes exemption has been issued, primarily because of the
three-year rule which has prevented most qualified drivers from
applying. "Our
nation's trucking laws should reflect our current knowledge of diabetes
and the current practice of diabetes management," says L. Hunter
Limbaugh, chair of the American Diabetes Association's National Advocacy
Committee. "This Congressional action is a win-win that will
prevent discrimination against people with insulin-treated diabetes
while also providing additional commercial truck drivers for industry.
Congress deserves credit for putting sound medical science above
politics." Diabetes
is one of this nation's most prevalent, debilitating, deadly and costly
diseases. While 18.2 million Americans live with diabetes today, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in three
Americans born in 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime. Source:
American Diabetes Association
It's the Little Things that Count When it comes to driver retention, sometimes it's the little things that count. In 2004, Carroll Fulmer Logistics celebrated its 50th year in business. On Oct. 27-30 of this year, the company will honor the people who worked hard as a team to make Carroll Fulmer Logistics successful: the company's drivers and employees. The event begins on Thursday, Oct. 27 when the company's drivers, managers and spouses begin arriving at company headquarters in Groveland, FL. The company's Groveland terminal will be open all night as volunteers start cooking on an open pit for Friday's barbecue. Friday is Driver/Employee Appreciation Day for all of the company's 300-plus drivers and owner-operators, as well as its more than 200 employees and guests. Along with serving barbecue lunch throughout the day, the company has organized informative driver safety meetings as well as smaller meetings to discuss the current and future of the company so that drivers can interact with managers and staff either on a one-and-one or small-group basis. The company will treat everyone to dinner on Friday night. For Saturday, the company has planned outings, complete with chartered buses and tickets, to either Universal Studios or City Walk. The company will also host a golf tournament. Guests will have Saturday night to themselves before Sunday's departure. OK, throwing a three-day party for 500 guests is not exactly a "little thing," but the time and expense that go into it pales in comparison to the goodwill the effort will generate. As company president Philip R. Fulmer knows, it's all part of building a company-wide driver retention culture that will pay off time and time again somewhere down the road.
President Bush Acknowledges NTDAW President
Bush joined with dozens of governors and other politicians in
congratulating truck drivers and fleets during National Truck Driver
Appreciation Week. "Across
America, professional truck drivers keep our country moving and support
our citizens as they conduct business," Bush stated. "Our
nation relies on the men and women of our transportation industry to
sustain critical networks of commerce and advance our economy. "I
applaud professional truck drivers and their motor carrier employers for
your hard work and dedication to promoting high standards of
safety," the president continued. "Your commitment to
excellence increases efficiency and production across our nation and
advances American prosperity. Your efforts also reflect the values that
make our country strong." National
Truck Driver Appreciation Week was observed Aug. 21-27. During the week,
the nation's motor carriers, state trucking associations and trucking
industry manufacturers and suppliers honored drivers in various ways --
million-mile and safety awards, cash bonuses or gifts, an extra paid day
off, a cup of coffee, even a simple windshield cleaning.
Inside Trucking is freely distributed by the publishers of Over the Road and Pro Trucker magazines as a service to help our clients strengthen their driver recruiting and retention efforts. |
