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The five best low cost tactics to retain your truck drivers

We all want to retain our great truck drivers.  You have worked so hard to find them and hire them so when they leave, well, it hurts.  We also live in a world where money is finite so we have to make decisions on where to spend it.  With that, let’s talk about the five best low cost truck driver retention methods.  We are limiting this list to actionable things, not behavioral issues like being nice to the truck driver.

 

  1. Retirement plans
  2. Pulse Surveys
  3. Rewards for behaviors that help the company
  4. Public praise
  5. Personalized apparel

Offering retirement plans

may not be as difficult or as expensive as you may think.  For a small trucking company, say under ten employees, you can probably find a SIMPLE IRA through your financial advisor or bank that can set this up.  Your costs are the employer match for everyone that contributes to the IRA and a small annual fee of less than $100 per participating employee.  For a larger trucking company, the administrative fees and audit required by a 401k plan may be more but since you can require vesting on the employer match, those costs can be reduced.

The benefits of offering and employer sponsored retirement plan can be substantial.  Having a plan will help both your recruiting and your retention.  If the truck driver wants a retirement plan, you will have an edge over the other trucking companies wanting to hire them away from you.  Also a person that wants a retirement plan is usually a long term planner and less likely to be a job hopper.  They are also more likely to be better managers of money so hopefully they need less advances.  The savings of not having to administrate as many advances might pay for the plan.

Pulse Surveys

are very short surveys (think one question and yes or no) you can use to engage your truck drivers.  A good example is “Are you happy with your miles?”  You can use survey monkey to send it out and you can see the answers in real time.  The drivers that reply with a “no” need to be called and talked to so they don’t leave.  The “yes” replies will be happy you asked.  It’s a great no cost way to keep your truck drivers engaged.

Rewards

Yes, this costs a little but it is more about getting the reward than the value of the reward itself.  Say $50 for a clean DOT inspection or $25 gift cards for customer compliments.  It’s an easy investment in keeping the drivers that do good things and encourages other drivers to do the same.

4

Public praise is free and powerful

However you choose to communicate with the whole team, (mass email, bulletin board, Facebook, etc..) share the love when a driver does something well.  The rewards form the paragraph above are a good start.  Also share a driver of the month picture or a thank you for having great fuel economy.  A well-dressed driver could be worth a shout out.  The more you praise the driver to actions you like to see, the more they will do them.  They also will enjoy the recognition and begin to crave it.

Personalized swag

shows the truck driver that they belong with you.  A carhart jacket with your logo and their name embroidered on it shows them the love and they will wear it with pride.  Or, putting their name on the truck by the door if you don’t slip seat is another low cost way to show the drivers that they belong with you.  Never underestimate the power of belonging.

These ideas may not all be a great fit for your trucking company but some of them should be.  What tips do you have to share about this?  Please comment below.

Written By Harley VanDyke

Harley joined Superior Trucking Payroll Service (STPS) in early 2019. With nine years of customer service experience, she truly understands what it takes to make our clients happy. She loves working at STPS because of the family-like atmosphere. Harley’s favorite place to be is Traverse City, Michigan or anywhere that has hippos.

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