Almost all trucking entities have cited that truck driver retention is the single biggest challenge they face in managing their operations. Increments and good benefits alone cannot guarantee a driver loyalty to a given company beyond a year. If a good compensation package is not sufficient, what is the other non-financial reasons for the high truck driver turnover? One key aspect for the high turnover is how drivers are dispatched. A poorly setup dispatch process may lead to high levels of dissatisfaction when drivers are treated merely as a number without much attention given to their needs.
The most common complaints drivers have and reasons for resigning are as follows:
- Not fairly treated by the dispatch team. Schedule setup not aligned with the ELD hours they have available.
- Home time compromised by poorly planned schedule.
- Dispatch not available after hours to help resolve issues at loading or unloading facility
- Drivers lacked visibility on their schedule for the next few days making it difficult for them to plan their ELD hours.
- Dispatch team not responsive to the issues they raise, and many times feel the lost of time at both loading and unloading facility was preventable if there was better communication with the broker or shipper
The issues raised here can all be resolved by establishing a dispatch system that looks after the well being and interest of the drivers. Close communication among drivers, brokers and shippers is key to ensuring driver available hours are optimize for driving and unnecessary hours waiting at loading and unloading facility is drastically reduced.
How your assigned Freight Analytics Associate can help you manage this process better:
- Schedule loads for drivers based on their available ELD hours that incorporates sufficient time for them to take their break and offer a consistent shift for them to get their rest.
- Maintain close communication with drivers to ensure brokers and shippers can be advised of close to exact ETA thereby providing the warehouse personnel advance notice for them to prepare. Reducing wait time at the warehouse facilities will help drivers eventually gross more a week.
- Offer a good after-hours support. A lot of loads are picked and delivered before 8am and after 5pm. Carriers should offer 24/7 dispatch service that is managed full time by dedicated personnel rather than someone on standby basis. Dedicated personnel after hours will certainly help improve the quality of dispatch and ease many of the issues drivers faced after hours.
- Plan the schedule well by ensuring drivers available hours are optimized safely for the benefit of both drivers and carriers and that rest times are properly planned for drivers to take their break at their desired location.
- Keep track of issues encountered and work with drivers to see how both dispatch and drivers can improve their part ensure both parties do well in keeping brokers and shippers happy and the truck safely optimized.
Dispatch to driver’s ratio may differ depending on the nature of the loads hauled but having a systematic process that looks after the interest of the drivers will certainly help improve quality of service and reduce driver turnover. The estimated average cost of truck driver turnover is close to $8,000. If a fleet has 50 drivers resigning each year, reducing this number by 50% can lead to cost savings as much as $200,000.
