Concern over a driver shortage slid for the second consecutive year, according to the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) 19th annual Top Industry Issues report, and driver retention improved 5% from 2022 to 2023, but that doesn't mean fleets can take their foot off the gas when it comes to cultivating workplace quality.
CarriersEdge President Mark Murrell, co-creator of the Best Fleets to Drive For program, led a panel discussion Monday at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference and Exhibition in Austin, Texas, reviewing the trends and best practices uncovered in the 2023 edition of the program.
Of the trends Murrell said he's noted emerging in fleets' quest to create a thriving workplace, he said the pace of change in the industry is increasing rapidly, adding the turnaround from idea to implementation has gone from about five years to "really quick."
"It means the people that are at the front of the pack are getting farther and farther ahead," he said, "and fleets need to keep moving, and keep moving quickly, in order to keep up."
Another noteworthy trend, Murrell said, is the emergence of formal human resource policies and departments. Murrell noted in the early days of the Best Fleets program, most fleets didn't have an HR department, and if they did, the department often didn't have an HR background and didn't work with drivers. "That has really changed," he said, "and they're coming in with a lot of great ideas from outside of trucking."
That infusion of organizational talent has helped fuel the evolution of compensation and benefits, and part of the evolution includes a greater emphasis on mental health.
"We've added a life coach this year. It really gets to the fact that being a driver can be hard," said Phil Wilt, president and chief operating officer at American Central Transport. "Our life coach works on the financial and the physical side, as well as just general well-being and satisfaction of living on the road."
