While it is hard to find and recruit great drivers, these days it has become even tougher to retain them. With the growing shortage of drivers, raising wages, and the Covid-19 outbreak, many trucking industries are experiencing great challenges in keeping their fleet moving.
Losing your truck drivers is definitely something you don’t want to experience, as it is going to cost you thousands of dollars to recruit a new driver. So how do you prevent this from happening? Formulating a functional driver retention tactics are an effective way to avoid facing driver shortage and keep the rate of driver turnover to a minimum.
Here are three effective driver retention tactics for the trucking industry to help you retain your top truck drivers.
1. Make safety a top priority
A great way to start is by ensuring that your drivers are safe on their daily routes. Make them aware that their safety is your top priority. You can invest in safety compliance and coaching your drivers to help them develop safe behavior. You can also institute a driver retention program that can help coach drivers and identify risky behaviors. This will help your drivers improve their driving skills and also encourage them to make efforts towards safety behavior and continue working for you.
2. Acknowledge performance
Another great tactic to encourage driver retention in trucking industry is by acknowledging a job well done. Drivers who are rewarded and feel appreciated are more likely to remain in the company for a longer time. In order to incentivize your drivers, you can set certain metrics or milestones for them to reach and then offer rewards and incentives to acknowledge their hard works.
Consider a monthly or annual program to recognize the best performers and ensure that positive feedback from the customers is known by your drivers and the managers.
3. Get Feedbacks and work on it
Before thinking about making important alterations to the bonus system, you should take the time to listen and understand your driver’s needs and requirements. You can use suggestion boxes, set up meetings, or establish communication channels through which drivers can share their feedback and ideas.
By taking your time to listen and work on your driver’s suggestions, you will not only create a bonus system that they will truly love, but you will also make them feel appreciated and as active contributors to the company.
Investing time and efforts in tactics like these can help improve driver retention in the trucking industry. Want to learn more? At Get Truck Drivers, we help trucking businesses find great drivers and offer driver retention programs and strategies to help keep their business running. Contact us!
Amrit is the founder of GetTruckDrivers.com and a Trucking Consultant who has helped North America’s largest trucking businesses to grow exponentially. His area of expertise lies in driver recruitment and customer acquisition for ethical fleet owners.