2Q Truckload Driver Turnover Rates Fall
By Frederick Kiel, Staff Reporter
This story appears in the Sept. 24 print edition of Transport Topics.
Driver turnover at large truckload carriers, those with more than $30 million in annual revenue, fell 11 percentage points to an annualized rate of 116% in the second quarter, compared with the previous three months, American Trucking Associations reported.
The rate of 127% in the first quarter was the highest since the fourth quarter of 2005, when it stood at 136%. In last year’s second quarter, turnover was 110%.
ATA also said the churn rate at truckload carriers with yearly revenue of less than $30 million dropped to 90% from 102% in the first quarter. The April-June period marked the first time the rate was below 100% since the third quarter of 2005.
“Soft freight volumes and looser capacity during the quarter likely helped lower the rate of turnover,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “However, the rate still remains high and hasn’t been below 100% since the fourth quarter of 2002.”
Jay Wommack, chief executive officer of Vertical Alliance Group, which helps companies recruit and train drivers, told Transport Topics a soft employment and freight environment “definitely has had a downward effect on driver turnover, because they can no longer easily transfer to construction or other similar jobs in the same labor pool that drivers are in.”
ATA’s report also said the less-than-truckload annualized turnover rate was just 13% during the second quarter, compared with 14% in the previous three-month period. Turnover tends to be lower at LTL firms because drivers generally have more time at home.
The federation also said the number of employees at large truckload firms dropped 1.5% in the second quarter, while LTL positions fell 1.1%. Employment at small TL carriers was flat during the quarter, but small fleets increased their linehaul driver pool by 1.4%.
As freight has softened, many carriers have tried to “right size” their operations, ATA said.
Paul Gleason, vice president of operations at Suddath Cos., Jacksonville, Fla., said the company had altered its hiring policy this year.
“Our policy in the past was to accept every qualified driver without determining whether that person would fit in with our company,” Gleason said. “We wound up having to get rid of many of those drivers.”
Suddath decided to tighten its hiring requirements by raising the amount of experience needed and checking for a history of job stability.
“That resulted in a lower pool of applicants, but we got a much better retention rate and a more efficient operation,” Gleason said. “We went from using 128 drivers down to 117, but they are hauling the same amount of freight.”
Chris Brady, president of Commercial Motor Vehicle Consulting, told TT that although large fleets experience turnover rates of more than 100%, that does not mean trucking firms have entirely new teams of drivers every few years.
“Driver turnover is largely with one core of drivers within a fleet’s driver pool,” he said. “For example, ‘ABC fleet’ may have 80% of its drivers who have been with the fleet for one year or much longer, but 20% of its driver pool is constantly turning over, resulting in a high driver turnover rate for the entire fleet.”
Brady said the drop in turnover was likely temporary.
“I expect driver turnover to increase as business conditions improve for drivers, which will bring higher wages and increased recruiting by fleets to expand the driver pool to expand truck capacity.”
This story appears in the Sept. 24 print edition of Transport Topics.
Driver turnover at large truckload carriers, those with more than $30 million in annual revenue, fell 11 percentage points to an annualized rate of 116% in the second quarter, compared with the previous three months, American Trucking Associations reported.
The rate of 127% in the first quarter was the highest since the fourth quarter of 2005, when it stood at 136%. In last year’s second quarter, turnover was 110%.
ATA also said the churn rate at truckload carriers with yearly revenue of less than $30 million dropped to 90% from 102% in the first quarter. The April-June period marked the first time the rate was below 100% since the third quarter of 2005.
“Soft freight volumes and looser capacity during the quarter likely helped lower the rate of turnover,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “However, the rate still remains high and hasn’t been below 100% since the fourth quarter of 2002.”
Jay Wommack, chief executive officer of Vertical Alliance Group, which helps companies recruit and train drivers, told Transport Topics a soft employment and freight environment “definitely has had a downward effect on driver turnover, because they can no longer easily transfer to construction or other similar jobs in the same labor pool that drivers are in.”
ATA’s report also said the less-than-truckload annualized turnover rate was just 13% during the second quarter, compared with 14% in the previous three-month period. Turnover tends to be lower at LTL firms because drivers generally have more time at home.
The federation also said the number of employees at large truckload firms dropped 1.5% in the second quarter, while LTL positions fell 1.1%. Employment at small TL carriers was flat during the quarter, but small fleets increased their linehaul driver pool by 1.4%.
As freight has softened, many carriers have tried to “right size” their operations, ATA said.
Paul Gleason, vice president of operations at Suddath Cos., Jacksonville, Fla., said the company had altered its hiring policy this year.
“Our policy in the past was to accept every qualified driver without determining whether that person would fit in with our company,” Gleason said. “We wound up having to get rid of many of those drivers.”
Suddath decided to tighten its hiring requirements by raising the amount of experience needed and checking for a history of job stability.
“That resulted in a lower pool of applicants, but we got a much better retention rate and a more efficient operation,” Gleason said. “We went from using 128 drivers down to 117, but they are hauling the same amount of freight.”
Chris Brady, president of Commercial Motor Vehicle Consulting, told TT that although large fleets experience turnover rates of more than 100%, that does not mean trucking firms have entirely new teams of drivers every few years.
“Driver turnover is largely with one core of drivers within a fleet’s driver pool,” he said. “For example, ‘ABC fleet’ may have 80% of its drivers who have been with the fleet for one year or much longer, but 20% of its driver pool is constantly turning over, resulting in a high driver turnover rate for the entire fleet.”
Brady said the drop in turnover was likely temporary.
“I expect driver turnover to increase as business conditions improve for drivers, which will bring higher wages and increased recruiting by fleets to expand the driver pool to expand truck capacity.”
