SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE Ray J. Haight
Reveal the Ugly Here is a tip on retention; reveal the ugly. Before I get too far into the weeds in my reveal process, I have observed that driver turnover usually originates in an offshoot of some extenuating factors of the past. The company may have experienced rapid growth, or the company might have been sold or amalgamated with another company. The company’s primary customer base or lanes may have switched from short-haul to long-haul. The company ownership might have been passed on to the next generation or the primary funding source may have changed, bringing new outside influences.
The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. – Samuel Johnson 1709 – 1784
For us, in trucking, I relate this phrase to the unending variables we deal with and the proportionately low returns we receive. You simply cannot take your eyes off the ball in any department if you are 14 • OVER THE ROAD
running a trucking company; things are just too tight. Johnson said the trouble is you do not see them coming. Habits start so small they can go unnoticed until they are “too strong to be broken.” Turnover is creeping up? Don’t worry about it. It will come back down as soon as this or that happens. Next thing you know, your numbers are out of line and you can’t seem to bring them back down as things continue to deteriorate. Most of the work I have done with carriers starts with a general conversation that paints a picture for me. It is not unlike peeling the layers of an onion. To name a few: what’s the fleet size? What type of trucking does the company do? Flatbed, van etc.? What’s the safety record of the business? What are the current driver turnover numbers and does that answer come with a lot of conjecture? How many unseated units do they have? What does the corporate structure look like and does it reveal a boss or a leader? Finally, the all-important question of; “What do you think the issue is”? FEBRUARY 2021
