2Q Truckload Driver Turnover Hits 2-Year High, ATA Reports

This story appears in the Oct. 13 print edition of Transport Topics.

Truckload driver turnover hit a two-year high on both a year-over-year and sequential basis in the second quarter, American Trucking Associations reported last week, as the migration to more attractive jobs inside and outside trucking accelerated.

The trade group’s statistics, released Oct. 6, showed driver churn rising to 103%, or 4 percentage points more than the 2013 period, at fleets with $30 million or greater revenue and an 11 percentage point sequential increase. Among smaller fleets below that revenue threshold, the reading was 94%, or a 12 percentage point year-over-year rise and 16 percentage points sequentially.

“These turnover rates show that the [driver] shortage is acute,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello, who noted that churn hasn’t been higher since the third quarter of 2012. “The sharp increase reflects a tight, competitive driver market.”

The increase also reflects more jobs swapping driven by intense recruiting, lifestyle choices and inadequate retention, several others said.

“It seems like recruiting efforts now are ruthless,” consultant Megan Younkin at Strategic Programs Inc. told Transport Topics, creating more impetus for turnover. “The efforts in that area have become much more intense.”

“Recruiters are more aggressively going after driver candidates who may switch,” particularly at smaller fleets, said Steve Prelipp, a consultant on driver retention and former executive at Schneider and Cardinal Freight Lines.

Another factor that contributed to second-quarter turnover is the move by workers to stop driving trucks in the spring and shift to alternative construction or other jobs that pay better and offer more home time, he said.

Prelipp linked increased truckload turnover to stepped-up efforts by less-than-truckload and private-fleet operators to lure drivers away.

“There is no question there is migration that is increasing,” he said. “Truckload fleets are losing people. [LTL and private carriers’] aggressiveness is creating more truckload driver turnover.”

“Historically, LTL carriers worked like selection departments,” he noted. “They would say, ‘When I get to your application, I’ll get back to you.’ Those days are ending.”

That selective “human resources department” model has been supplanted by a “sales department” approach that emphasizes recruiting to locate replacements for aging drivers who retire.

ATA’s figures, which represent annualized rates, appear to validate Prelipp’s assessment.

LTL turnover in the second quarter was just 11%. That was just one percentage point higher than the first quarter.

The National Private Truck Council trade group didn’t return Transport Topics’ calls seeking comment on turnover in that sector. 

“It’s very unfortunate that Costello’s numbers continue to reflect a poor showing of retention,” Shepard Dunn, CEO of Bestway Express, in Vincennes, Indiana, told TT on Oct. 8.

He noted that efforts to increase wages and to boost productivity haven’t enabled fleets to keep up with growing demand for drivers, dramatizing the need to do more.

“I really think that the sooner we get wages, benefits and lifestyles more in order to attract drivers to the market, the better our industry will be,” Dunn said. “We’re a long way from finding the right solution. We’ve got to continue to put pressure on the shippers for higher rates in order to pass that on in the form of wages.”

Both Dunn and Costello feared turnover could spike further.

“I’m afraid this trend will continue for some time,” Dunn said.

Costello concurred: “If the freight economy continues to grow, it will worsen very quickly,” he said.

Based on Costello’s forecast at American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition last week, that increase in freight volumes is likely.

Tighter federal regulations aren’t helping, either, Prelipp added, citing hours-of-service rule tightening and the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program.

“At some point, baby-boomer drivers say, ‘The hell with it,’ and move on. I used to have the flexibility to listen to my body and take a nap at

2 p.m. if I had to and regenerate,” he said. “Now, I can’t do that.”

Turnover also is being affected by the widespread adoption of smart phones and electronic-media advertisements, Prelipp said. They have made it easier for drivers to receive offers such as pay increases and sign-on bonuses and then switch carriers.

Younkin identified two other reasons for increased turnover.

One reason is that the overall quality of the driver pool is changing, and those who are entering the industry now are more likely to switch carriers and create turnover.

In addition, Younkin said, “With the economy doing better, drivers feel a little better about moving around.”

She added, “People are needing to expand their fleets, but there just aren’t people to fill the seats.”