Truck Driver Turnover Rate Rises for Fourth Straight Quarter

The turnover rate for truckload drivers at large fleets rose to 89% in the third quarter, from 79% in the second quarter, the fourth straight increase, American Trucking Associations reported.

The benchmark turnover rate is now at its highest level since the first quarter of 2008, ATA said.

The large fleet truckload turnover rate is an indication of increased demand and competition for drivers.

“Due to the economic recovery, as well as regulatory factors like [the federal Compliance, Safety, Accountability program], we are seeing the market for good, quality drivers tighten,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello.

“As our truck tonnage index has shown recently, demand for freight continues to rise, so we expect the need for quality drivers to become more acute going forward, particularly if regulations either force current drivers out of the industry or force fleets to put more trucks on the road,” Costello said in a statement.

Since bottoming out in the first quarter of 2010, the turnover rate has risen 50 percentage points and has averaged 81% so far this year.

The turnover rate at small truckload fleets jumped 10 points to 57%, the highest level since the third quarter of 2008, while the less-than-truckload turnover remained extremely low, at just 10%, ATA said.