Wait a minute, isn’t that backwards? Why should a driver want to retain his job with a carrier?

Somewhere in history it became the rule, rather than the exception to the rule that drivers jump from carrier to carrier looking for increased pay and a better opportunity.

At first when you look at the drivers needs verses the carrier’s needs it does appear that carriers in their effort to make money must use drivers in any way necessary. Before CSA that could have been true!

But what about now? If carriers do not throw away the habits of pre CSA then they are working against CSA and the FMCSA is working against them. The FMCSA stated early on in CSA development that they wanted the driver/ carrier relationship to be much stronger in the future. If you haven’t noticed the future, it’s here!

For drivers the trucking business appears to be that if they are willing to drive their truck to pick up carrier loads and move them from A to B and do that job within the confinements of the law then why can’t driver pay be consistent and dependable?

For carriers, it is if I can provide drivers with loads on a fairly consistent bases what is the problem? If I provide you with everything it takes to do that, what is the problem? Why is it that every now and then, when the season of the year makes it tough to get the best kind of loads, driver’s believe they must go to a different carrier to make money?

The facts are that all carriers experience shifts in demands for the shipment of goods. The difference in the carriers is dependent on the time of year the different products are in demand.

Drivers state that when problems arise that they can’t deal with the dispatchers put the squeeze on them by reducing loads the following weeks. Carriers deny that is a problem. It is also believed that 50% of driver losses are the direct result of dispatcher actions and 50% is because of driver actions.

Both sides have points only because there is no means offered by either party to work these issues out. Carriers are responsible for dealing with these issues so that in the future the same problems do not come up over and over again. The carrier’s failure to work out these disputes indicates they are taking sides with the dispatchers.

In the trucking industry it seems both parties think it is easier to fight than make any changes! It is easier to quit than make any changes! It is easier to encourage an employee to quit rather than make any improvements in the system. But who is really the looser here?

Let’s say a driver makes $750 a week at the carrier he currently works for. Some weeks more and some weeks less but the average is $750 a week. The driver’s carrier hits a slow season and the driver leaves this carrier because another carrier is giving more miles at that moment in time. Let’s say the driver, from the day he quits to the day he receives his next check from his new employer is off 14 days, just two weeks.

The driver has now lost 2 weeks of work or $1,500. The driver’s new carrier promises him a few cents more a mile and that comes up to a $25 a week raise over his previous employer pay. Our driver now must work 60 weeks, 1 year and 2 months to recover the $1,500 he missed by quitting work, finding a new job and going through the training and verification process.

If a driver, using these numbers changed carriers one time a year for ten years, they would have to work 11.53 years of their lives to just recover their losses from changing carriers so often.

Since we are now post CSA if a driver were to quit a carrier at the wrong time they may even find themselves no longer being qualified to drive under CSA. That has happened to an estimated 400,000 drivers so far.

Now drivers do not live in a fantasy world. They know that there are some carriers out there who will not give drivers respect. CSA was designed to give drivers power over carriers like this for the first time in the history of trucking. Bad carriers are not going to be in business under CSA. The FMCSA intervention process will make sure of that. Drivers just have to be careful and protect themselves from these types of carriers until the hammer falls.

The facts are that carrier monetary losses are far greater than driver’s losses when it comes to turning over employees. Turning drivers over in today’s economy is nothing more than a very bad habit that carriers refuse to change.  It is about like smoking. It seems to be the cool thing to do because everyone else always did it. Yea, it cost money, it’s not healthy for the company but it is a necessary evil and who am I to say that history was wrong for operating this way?

History says; know your history or you are doomed to repeat it. Are you listening drivers and carriers? Our industry has changed directions. You are traveling down the wrong highway now.

A driver’s number one priority should be to retain their carrier. Carrier’s number one priority should be to retain drivers. Everybody wins in this process.

CSA has changed transportation. The carriers and the drivers never believed CSA would happen. Not only has it happened but the rules that you must abide by today will be even tougher in the coming years. As of this date only 15% of carriers have been scored. When the remaining 85% of the transportation industry is dealt with the transportation industry will have a lot of holes in it to fill just because you are not listening.

Carriers who can keep their drivers and drivers who can keep their carriers stand a ten times better chance of solving their CSA issues. Drivers and carriers have to work together to protect each other and make money. The FMCSA does not give them a choice under CSA.

Both carriers and drivers were assigned a goal under CSA. They have to work together to earn income and improve safety. The problem is we have to have a major attitude adjustment and it still has not happened. It just may be that the new video of Anne Ferro posted by BigTruckTV.com can persuade both carrier and driver to adjust their thinking.

You can have it your way and buck CSA every day for the rest of your working life or you can follow the policies of CSA and work together. It is up to you but the FMCSA will continue to take money from your pockets and make the transportation trade impossible for you to survive in. Believe it!