Driver Retention

I see things differently as far as who's market it is. But I'm not here to argue so I'll leave that alone. I'm still interested in a knowledgeable answer to my original question. But at this point its probably of most benifit to someone else since I will be staying at the next company I'm going to until I feel I'm ready to start my own.

I obviously don't agree with everything that's been said. But I'm not here to argue.

Old School and Guy I appreciate that you both took the time to comment on my post. You both have given me some things to think about.

I'm still interested in knowing what companies have a high retention rate though. But mostly just curious now. And I still think it is a valid concern for new drivers.

Myself I plan to stay at the next company until I'm ready to start my own.

I thought my second to last quote didn't get sent. That's why I kinda said the same thing twice.

Hey guys at the risk of sounding like a guy who only has one drum to beat, I'm gonna put in my two cents on "driver retention".

I don't see it as any sort of a measurement to go by for a new driver just starting out in this career. Your first year as a professional driver is gonna be a tough lesson in what it takes to not only survive in this career, but hopefully also in how to thrive as a truck driver. It is tough on everybody, I don't care how talented or skilled they are. One might could argue that the organization, or the lack of it, at some companies causes them to lose drivers, but for the most part these trucking companies are in a state of flux at any given moment. I could have given up several times while I was with my trainer, because of his crazy ridiculous methods. But then when I went in to talk to the suits in the office for my final evaluation, they basically told me only half the guys who go out with this trainer ever make it all the way through, and they figured I was tough enough for the job just for enduring my time with him.

That is the truth, and those who have been in here long enough probably remember me reporting this bizarre experience. So, does one company have a higher retention number just because they keep everybody that comes in, or does another have a lower number because they are trying like crazy to make the quitters give up at the onset? My trainer even told me at one point that he was impressed that I had hung in there so long, because as he put it, "most of the guys break down crying and want to go home on their second week out here."

I think I understand what you're looking for when you ask such a question, but more than likely it is an expectation that you have that is based on the ever present false premise on-line that some of these trucking companies are evil greedy mills, that are just trying to use inexperienced drivers who will work for peanuts, and then be discarded with a few bad marks on their DAC report.

I'm really just trying to steer you in another direction for the basis of your decision on which company you would like to work for at first. I'm finishing up my first year at Western Express, a company that is maligned on-line all the time, and very seldom if ever has any one given them a good word. Why is it that way when I have been very successful there, and have enjoyed the start to my career excessively? I personally have always believed that a man with an experience always trumps a man with an argument. My experience has been that you will be the major element in whether you are retained by the company or move on to another faltering attempt at this career. If you go into this with the attitude that I'm going to make this work no matter how crazy, or difficult, or unorganized it seems to me now; I'm going to realize that I'm just a green-horn who hasn't even had one year of safe driving under his belt yet, so I will hopefully understand how all this works better by this time next year, then you my friend will be increasing the driver retention rate at whichever company you have chosen to get started at, and you will be one less driver we have to be concerned with going on-line and blasting some well meaning trucking company with a bunch of foolish drivel.

good post Old School

James, we know very little about you or your situation because quite frankly you haven't told us much of anything to go on. But what I do know is that you're ready to quit before you even begin somewhere and you know far less than you think you do. You're not going to like much of what I'm going to say but you should read it anyhow.

You went into your first job thinking you know how things should be done by your company and how you should be treated. They didn't live up to your standards. So now you're going into your second job. But before you even get started with that you're already wondering about other companies and you're already planning to leave them soon enough to start your own company.

You have how much experience in trucking?

Yet you already know how things should be done by companies that have been around for 50+ years. You know how you should be treated even though you haven't earned your place as a proven professional with years of safe driving experience under your belt. And you know enough about the industry that soon enough you'll be running your own company successfully and competing against corporations with 50-75 years of experience.

Listen, being confident in your knowledge and abilities is critical to success at anything challenging in life. But there's something that I feel is far more important than that....you have to know what you're capable of, you have to know where you stand in the grand scheme of things, and you have to understand how much you don't know.

Listen man....you're a rookie....expect to be treated like a rookie and expect to prove yourself before you get treated like you've done something for someone. Right now you've been out there long enough to be one of the most dangerous and unproductive drivers on the American highways - a new truck driver. Nobody is in over their heads more than new drivers, and few seem to realize it. Most can't turn enough safe miles and make their appointment times often enough to even help the company turn a profit. It's not until you get some experience under your belt that you look back and go, "OMG it's a miracle I survived all that! Thank God my company stuck with me while I was learning all that my first year. I had no idea what I was doing!"

You have to prove your worth before you can make your way at any company. If your dispatcher stinks then prove you're too good of a driver to be underutilized and they'll put you on a different board. If you can't make headway with your dispatcher then go over their head and speak with some of the managers. Tell them you need more miles. Tell them you're too good of a driver to be sitting around doing nothing. But unless you've already proven that by running hard while maintaining a clean safety record and a perfect service record over a period of 6 months or more they're not going to be interested in much of anything you have to say.

And why would you want to start a company in an industry with extensive capital costs, a very high exposure to litigation, and a 3% profit margin? That doesn't sound like you understand the business world very well either.

But regardless of that, putting new employees through what is essentially Hazing is just bad business. Of course it weeds out the crybabies. But it will also weed out self respecting people who have integrity and know what they are worth. And the latter is exactly who any sensible employer wants on their team. People who demand respect tend to give it.

Have you tried running that message by the Military by chance? Because they do the exact opposite of everything you're saying is the right way to do things. And yet I've never come across a stronger, more capable human being than a proven soldier. The military would laugh at your ideas, throw mud in your face, make you run until you puke, and explain in harsh, degrading terms that you are nobody until you've proven you're somebody. You'll get respect when you've earned that respect and not a moment sooner. In the trucking industry you haven't done nearly enough yet to earn the respect you seem to feel you're entitled to.

I'm sorry for being harsh about this.....but you need to know how the trucking industry works, where you stand, and what's expected of you before the industry puts you in your place or you overestimate your abilities and drive off a cliff. It's better to hear this from me in a forum than to have a company hand you a bus ticket for home. And you probably think that I don't know you well enough to say these things so I don't know what I'm talking about. In the end you'll do what you want anyhow. And you have every right....it's your life and your career. But I just want to make sure that someone told you the way things really are and the way things are going to turn out if you keep thinking you know more than everyone else. I have a policy in life - I'll tell you what I know, you do with it what you like. So now I've told you what I know about earning your place in the trucking industry. You're free to do with it what you like.

To answer you're original question, ask your recruiter how many trucks the company currently owns and then ask them the average size of each orientation class. With some pretty simple math you can get an estimate of their retention rate. Once you have that number do with it what you will but please know that it doesn't really mean anything.

Just reading the latest 2 comments. I've been thinking alot about what Old School and Guy said and also what Brett said in another thread about new drivers thinking they can bend the industry to their will. I've decided I will take all your advice with my second company. And if I hadn't already given notice and gotten another orientation date I would stick it out where I am. I could have benefitted had I known about this forum sooner.

Having said that. I'm not planning to start my own company right away. It's a longterm goal. My original plan was to stay with my first employer for 5 years and talk to as many owner operators as possible in the meantime. I'll definetly be at my next company for at least 1 year before I start weighing my options again.

As far as the military I have total respect for men and woman that go through hell with the intention of serving and protecting their fellows and all they hold dear. At the same time I have zero respect for the military and its methods as an institution. But that's a completely different discusdion for another website. I feel that respect is not necessarily earned. I feel it is a human right to be granted until forfeited. Just like everyone has a right to life itself until they threaten or take someone elses unjustly.

The reason I didn't talk about my challenges at my current employer is because I didn't come here to complain. I came seeking solutions.

Scott. Thanks for your advice as well. I thought about your equation when I first went to orientation and realized that the company had just over 10000 trucks and is bringing in roughly 60 people per week. I didn't do the hard math. But I chalked it up to that most new drivers are beyond terrible. I felt sympayhetic towards the company at that point. I still think most new drivers are useless. But that just makes me think a company would try harder to keep the ones that aren't.

I don't think that I overestimate myself. I am fully aware from the beginning that if I make it through my first year safely with no points I am very fortunate. I feel fortunate as it is to have made it safely through my first 4 months on the road.

At my driving school they give one student per class the title honor student. Average class size is about 8 to 12. I was honor student in my class and I thought to myself. "I just barely feel almost ready for this. How are these others expected to make it?"

I have alot more on my mind but I think I've said alot of what I've been thinking up to this point.

If anyone is interested I will detail my experience at my first company as objectively as I am able to and without malice towards them. As for who I am. I was a bicycle messenger in Wash. D.C for 2 whole years no sick days despite 2 of the worst winters the east coast has experienced. Ive also been a pipe welder in Sweden up until the market crash in 2008 or so. Although none of us really have a chance of really knowing each other thouroughly just by talking here. But I'll share as much as time and conscious allow. I'm about to turn my truck in and get the bus home today. I'll check back in later to see if anyone wants more details.

I'll definetly be at my next company for at least 1 year before I start weighing my options again.

Outstanding! That's what we like to hear. It takes quite a bit of time to prove yourself to a company. Easily 6 months before anyone even recognizes your truck number. In this industry there are about the upper 10% of drivers that companies count on the most to take care of their most critical freight and most important customers. Those are the drivers that get special favor, that consistently get good miles, get home when they're supposed to, and are well taken care of overall. It takes time to prove you're at that level.

I'm not planning to start my own company right away. It's a longterm goal.

Excellent! Take all the time you need to realize that owning or leasing a truck has terrible economic prospects and really isn't a business that anyone should be pursuing. It's a commodity service where only price matters. That's a catastrophe for profit margins which are razor thin at 3%. The risk/reward ratio of owning or leasing trucks is terrible. So keep researching it until you decide, "Wow. I'd be crazy to want to start a trucking business." Then you know you've done the research.

I feel that respect is not necessarily earned. I feel it is a human right to be granted until forfeited

I'm sorry to say, but that sounds like it's coming from someone who hasn't had the experience of dedicating years of their life to learning something that is extremely dangerous and complex and becoming truly outstanding at it. If you had, you would realize that you're capable of doing something that most people either wouldn't do or couldn't do even if they tried. Then you wouldn't just hand out respect to rookies and wannabies like chocolate chip cookies at a PTA meeting. You would expect others to prove themselves the way you had to before you'll recognize them as one of your peers.

Now I'm not saying people shouldn't treat each other with kindness and consideration. We should indeed. In fact, the way you treat people has a lot to do with the amount of respect you deserve. But what I'm talking about is the respect you'll earn in the trucking industry from other drivers and especially from dispatch once you've proven yourself to be a top tier driver. If you want to be given consistently good miles, a mix of nice runs, good equipment, home time when you're due for it, and special favors when you request them then you're going to have to earn that. Nobody in this industry is going to hand you anything. They'll hopefully treat you with kindness and consideration, but when it comes to business, you'll be given what you've earned.

And as far as getting help from more experienced drivers....the most important thing you can do is be humble and appreciative. When I hear someone who is new to something immediately start talking about their own perceived self-worth and the respect they "deserve" before they've ever even done anything worth doing it throws up a huge red flag in my book. Immediately I give that person half the chance at success I would give someone who is excited about the opportunity of starting at the bottom and working their way up until they can pull their own weight. Because if you want to be successful at anything in life that's really difficult you're going to have to prove yourself over and over again, make sacrifices, take risks, and grind it out for years before you can even begin to understand what the proven veterans have done to get where they are. If you're not willing to grind away, sacrifice, and struggle in order to make it to the top you'll likely quit before you've hardly even gotten off the ground.

I'll give you an example. A number of years ago I did a little stock car racing at the local track I grew up going to. In the driver's meeting before my first race I introduced myself and told everyone I would be voluntarily starting dead last in every heat race and feature race until I was capable of working my way up through the pack. Once I had shown I could start in the back, work my way up, and run with the big dogs then I would feel like I've earned the opportunity to be up there with them. But I wouldn't be starting anywhere except dead last until I had proven I could drive that thing. For what it's worth it turned out I really could drive that thing! It also turned out I could demolish it beyond recognition, and so my short-lived racing career was put on hold indefinitely shortly after it began.