Execs Say Driver Shortage Requires Multiple Solutions, Including Communication, More ‘Creature Comforts’

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Carriers are employing a variety of driver recruiting and retention strategies, but fleet executives said there is no single formula for success as the trucking industry struggles with the driver shortage.

“There’s one thing I am sure of — there is no silver bullet that’s going to fix this problem,” Steve Wadhams, president of Wadhams Enterprises, said here Aug. 20 during PeopleNet’s annual user conference.

The carrier, based in Phelps, New York, has divisions that provide truckload, less-than-truckload, petroleum and milk hauling services, and each operation has a different driver culture.

A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work across all of those units, Wadhams said.

“Sometimes we find an answer that works here but not over there,” he said.

A day earlier, PeopleNet Senior Vice President Mark Kessler said drivers are retiring from the industry at an “alarming” rate.

“We’ve got a driver-shortage problem that is the worst this industry has ever seen, and it’s not going away,” he said. “We’re going to be dealing with the driver shortage for 10, 15 years.”

Many factors play a part in the effort to attract and keep drivers, but Wadhams said the No. 1 issue is the need for companies to develop relationships with their drivers.

He said it’s a “huge benefit” to have company managers and directors in regular contact with their drivers, but he acknowledged it can be difficult to do that in some businesses.

It’s also important for the company’s other departments to remember that they are ultimately support groups for the drivers, Wadhams said.

Another carrier, Berry & Smith Trucking, strives to provide an open, family atmosphere for its drivers, said Dina Elder, the company’s driver resource coordinator.

“Drivers have full access to the office and staff,” whether its billing or management, she said. “There are no closed doors.”

The carrier, based in Penticton, British Columbia, gathers input on how to improve recruiting and retention through surveys and exit interviews, Elder said.

Berry & Smith also offers its drivers a quarterly safety bonus of 2 cents per mile and a monthly performance bonus that enables drivers to earn up to an additional $350 per month, she said.

Harv Roberts, director of health, safety and environment at Seaboard Transport, said his company is contending with a shallow pool of recruits and a “very competitive” recruiting field.

As one way to address the driver challenge, the Dartmouth, Nova Scotia-based group of carriers has established performance-based incentive programs.

But Roberts said that besides pay, drivers care about good equipment maintenance to mitigate downtime and “creature comforts” such as showers, Internet access and fitness rooms, and dispatch flexibility.

“Driver retention starts with recruiting,” Jeff Smith, director of transportation for Gold Medal Bakery, said. “If you don’t get the right driver, he or she is not going to stay.”

The company’s private fleet provides direct-store delivery throughout the Northeast. Its drivers are home every night, but they must be able to work on any Sunday and most holidays, so the company must find candidates willing to accept that work schedule.

Smith said one of the best places to find new drivers is through your current drivers. Gold Medal offers a recruiting bonus to employees who refer a new driver to the company.

Wadhams also pointed to the scarcity of millennials entering the industry as one source of the driver problem.

He said his company is in the early stages of developing a transportation curriculum with community colleges as a way to reel in 18- to 21-year-olds before they enter other careers.

He said the younger generation has had it “pounded in their heads” that they need to go to college, so it makes sense for transportation to offer more education opportunities for recent high school graduates.