As the demands of the freight industry continue to grow, the driver shortage remains a key issue. Are you prepared and set up to keep your high performing drivers? While competitive compensation is important in retaining drivers, it’s not the only thing that keeps good drivers around.

Studies show that healthy drivers are more productive drivers. So how do you keep drivers healthy and happy in the modern era? Below we’ll unveil new and important ways you can maintain a satisfied and flourishing fleet of drivers.

 

1. Make drivers feel valued

Everyone wants a sense of accomplishment at their job. Celebrating your driver and giving positive feedback can be crucial to job satisfaction. Here are a few ways to make sure your drivers feel valued:

  • Some drivers leave good companies because they feel no upward mobility. Give drivers the opportunity to move up in your company. This doesn’t have to be a corner office with a view of central park. Small moves can have a big impact. Many fleets are giving long-time drivers additional jobs such as lead recruiter or top driver trainer. This additional responsibility fulfills the need for new challenges and advancement within the company. Plus, with all that experience they probably know a thing or two about what a driver wants and needs.
  • Incentive programs are a great way to generate motivation and create some healthy competition. Make driver safety fun with a tool like the EROAD Driver Leaderboard. The Leaderboard ranks your drivers, benchmarks their performance against other drivers and highlights key risk areas. It’s a great way to incentivize and promote healthy competition amongst your drivers to be the safest in your fleet. Share the results at your next safety meeting, or post it on the break room bulletin board for easy viewing and additional acknowledgment.
  • Develop a Driver of the Year program with prizes and recognition for outstanding drivers. This is a great way to celebrate the sometimes-monotonous work drivers do and remind them of their big impact on communities around the nation counting on them.
 
2. Benefits beyond compensation

It’s no secret that when you feel better mentally and physically you are going to perform better and have higher general satisfaction. According to UrgentCareTravel, 48% of professional drivers have a chronic condition such as diabetes, hypertension or obesity. This also means they are more susceptible to catching COVID-9 and at increased risk for hospitalization. Giving your drivers an easy way to access health benefits and receive regular check-ups on the road is a great addition to your compensation package. UrgentCareTravel partnered with Pilot Flying J to deliver a network of medical clinics at truck stops, making it easy for drivers to get the care they need out on the road. The membership allows drivers to stop into clinics all around the country or receive telehealth with no co-pay, all for just a small monthly fee. Bonus – if you’re an EROAD customer you get a discount on membership.

 
3. Give them the tools they need to succeed

Drivers have enough to worry about. Make sure you’re adding tools to make their jobs easier, not more difficult. When you’re picking a technology solution make sure it’s easy to use. Have drivers test it out before purchase to make sure it’s something they will get behind. In the current pandemic it’s critical to provide tools that allow drivers to minimize interaction at pick-ups and drop offs. Using a mobile workflow application with truck-friendly navigation reduces paperwork and helps drivers to get their deliveries done safely and professionally, all while socially distanced. Adding dashcams to your suite of tech can protect both you and your drivers – helpful for litigation situations, accident/incident investigation and understanding how to coach drivers.

 
4. Develop a compensation philosophy

We know that compensation isn’t everything, but we would be remiss to leave it out of this article. One thing that is bound to create high turnover is not having understood expectations between the company and driver upon hiring. A way to solve this is to develop a compensation philosophy for your business and share that with new hires in your interviews and again in onboarding. This would include both monetary and non-monetary benefits your driver will receive. Listing these out for the driver helps understand the full value of the position you are offering as well as performance expectations.

 

Investing in your drivers is investing in the future of your fleet. While compensation is important, it isn’t the only way to retain and attract drivers. There are new ways and new technologies to keep drivers healthy, safe and happy. If you want to learn more about modern methods for retaining drivers, listen in to our webinar with EROAD Training Manager, Susan Reszczynski, UrgentCareTravel, and Voice of the Highway, Dan Johnson. 

Brittany Wooten

Content Marketing Manager
Brittany is a content marketing professional with a passion for sharing innovative technologies with the world. Her goal is to empower both individuals and companies by harnessing the power of data. With over seven years’ experience in telematics and the transportation industry, Brittany continues to find compelling ways to connect with customers.

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Modern Methods to Retain Drivers

by | Nov 23, 2020 |

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