Low rates and low volume don't naturally lead to high employee morale, putting the emphasis on carriers to get creative and innovative to keep drivers engaged, motivated and productive through tough times.
"Because the economy is terrible, people stop thinking about (being a good workplace)," said CarriersEdge CEO Jane Jazrawy, who Monday led a panel at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference and Exhibition in Nashville on keeping drivers happy in thin times.
CarriersEdge Best Fleet to Drive For is an annual survey and contest that identifies and recognizes for-hire carriers that provide the best workplace experiences for their drivers, and Jazrawy said the economic climate is often reflected in the program itself as nominations tend to fall in tough economic times as priorities pivot more to simply keeping the business moving. However, Jazrawy noted that carriers that continue to focus on culture in bad times "come out of the gate swinging" when recovery starts.
This year, Jazrawy said nominations have shown that pay needs to be improved among company drivers.
"Pay and communication are always the big two," she said, adding that between the two, she would first address communication. "Pay is what people talk about when they're anxious."
Bradley Gottemoeller, vice president of Continental Express, said his Ohio-based fleet tries to establish consistent hours with its drivers "and make sure they are getting the 40 minimum hours per week if they're hourly" and consistent miles for mileage-pay based drivers.
Continental Express has been a Best Fleet for three consecutive years.
FTC Transportation Vice President Emory Mills said her fleet compensates its drivers for time and miles lost that are not their fault – like in the event of a breakdown or shipper/receiver delay – but treats that as time and wages lost versus offering a flat pay.
"We pay those types of things the same way we pay their vacation pay," she said. "We are compensating them fully for any mileage they may have missed in that day and any work they may have done.'
FTC Transportation, with roughly 25 drivers, was best overall small carrier winner in 2016 and joined the Best Fleet Hall of Fame in 2022.
Driver engagement
Belt tightening often leaves little financial resources for anything that's not business-critical, but Jazrawy said there are many low- or no-cost things fleets can implement, and carriers shouldn't look at starting a single program that solves all the problems, rather "take one bite at a time out of the elephant," she said. "Start looking at what you don't have, and grab some low-hanging fruit."
Job satisfaction doesn't begin and end in the driver's seat, Mills said, suggesting that establishing a good communication flow with the entire staff helps pull the entire team together. "We're having staff members show up at driver events," she said. "They brought their kids. Everybody was there."
Gottemoeller said Continental Express sends retention surveys to its drivers, but people across all departments follow up, allowing the drivers to connect with people from accounting, maintenance and other departments. While most fleets conduct follow-up calls with drivers, Jazrawy added having executives call is important.
"They want to know they are part of the company, not just a truck number," Gottemoeller said, adding that included in the surveys are questions about how the driver is doing personally.
A driver committee is not a high-cost thing to do, Jazrawy added. "What it's going to take is your brain and your time ... and that's really all (drivers) want."
Technology
More and more technology is finding its way into the cab, and driver satisfaction with its use is going up.
"Nobody is quitting over technology anymore," Mills said, adding this year her company onboarded new tech with a few drivers to test it before rolling it out. She added that a slow approach to integrating new technology is important, as is explaining how it's used and what it's for and not "just sending them out on the road" and telling them to use it.
"Find your tech champions in your driver pool, and let them help sell it," Jazrawy added. "This is the person that knows about this technology; use this resource."
Gottemoeller said Continental Express has long sought to be on the leading edge of technology, "and when you're doing change like that, you have to communicate to drivers why you're doing this," he said. "Same thing with the cameras ... getting buy in as to why we're doing this: to be better and safer."
