Education

The final step in this process is for the company to continue to provide an opportunity to learn and grow through ongoing training and education. This also requires a different mindset on the part of most management teams. Don't make the mistake of assuming your company already knows how to provide ongoing driver education. Many companies perform this function poorly and pay the price. This is a critical issue. Long-term success will require retaining high quality, well-trained personnel who remain informed about rules, legal issues and ever-changing technology. Those companies that succeed in this area will create a distinct competitive advantage over those that do not.

Education plays an important role before drivers begin working. In the future, it will be critical for fleets to train new drivers and trainees in quality driver schools with certified and documented curricula. In-fleet driver trainers will be required to undergo certified, documented training. This will be the only way to get insurance companies to approve the use of driving school graduates.

If the industry is going to create an expanded driver pool and attract new candidates to the career, it must present value and opportunity to prospects from high schools, trade schools, the military and colleges—including minority candidates. All will require effective, sustainable training.

It Can Be Accomplished

It will be difficult for individual companies to support the expense that will be required to fix this industry-wide problem. To accomplish these goals, we must continue to think outside the box and come up with ways to increase truck productivity and company profits. That is the only way to cover the expense as it continues to be a buyer's market as long as trucks are underutilized.

The results speak for themselves. From 2001 to 2004, the industry consolidation/shutdown rate has been eight to 10 percent annually, while the rate of miles driven per truck has improved less than five percent. The result is fewer companies operating the same number of trucks and no improved efficiencies.

This condition has been relieved somewhat by shippers willing to pay higher rates and by fuel surcharges resulting from hours-of-service rules. The driver shortages and the continued economic growth have also brought moderate relief. Truckload profits have improved to an average of two to three and a half percent net before tax; however, profits should be six percent and truly healthy companies should be growing by eight to 10 percent annually.

Obviously, filling the trucks will increase productivity. Taking parked trucks back from the driver and increasing the driver/truck ratio will also provide a productivity boost. Other measures include slip-seating and marketing services where drivers and trucks are domiciled differently in volume lanes. Truckload carriers should also get past the “one driver, one truck” mentality and begin operating like LTL, small package, railroads and airfreight companies.

In the mid 1980s, the University of Illinois conducted an extensive and very credible study on driver turnover in the truckload market. They estimated that optimum turnover would be at least 35 percent annually even if working conditions were good and the job offered future opportunities in the eyes of the employee.

Retaining employees is not easy, but the same goes for professional driving. It's hard work. One thing is certain, however; effective retention programs are winning efforts for companies, drivers and the industry as a whole. It's time to stop bailing and fix the leak. Doing so will create the much-needed boost in productivity within individual companies and throughout the industry. It will also enhance the esteem of current drivers and how the public views the driving career, allowing future recruitment of quality candidates.

This will happen in the trucking industry. The question is, will it happen in our lifetime?