Speaking to a ballroom full of fleet executives, both men listed detention time as a top challenge they and other drivers face on the job. Although this is hardly a new issue, so often I hear fleet owners talk about detention time in terms of productivity and profitability losses. But to hear Smith and Green tell it from the driver’s perspective, “You’re sitting there worrying about, ‘I have a mortgage payment and insurance payment to make, and I’m sitting here not making any money,’ ” said Smith.
“It wears on you,” added Green.
A recent survey of 482 company drivers and leased owner-operators by Randall-Reilly’s Overdrive and Truckers News shed some light on another problem: fleet respect for drivers, or more specifically, the lack thereof. Unlike truck parking and detention time, this fortunately is an issue that fleet managers and executives can directly control.
In the 2016 What Drivers Want survey, respondents were asked what one thing drivers most disliked about their jobs. The No. 2 response was “it’s a thankless job – nobody respects truckers or appreciates what we do” at 19.5 percent, behind only “regulations make it harder to work and make a living” at 45.0 percent. Further down the list was “I’m not making enough money,” “my family life is strained because I’m never home” and “I’m not getting enough miles/loads.”
Survey respondents also cited lack of respect as a top-three response as reasons fleets are having a hard time finding and retaining drivers, or reasons they or others would consider changing jobs.
“Working for a guy who has never been a driver, it does make the job a hell of a lot more frustrating,” said one respondent. Said another: “All the fleets that I’ve driven for, I’ve felt somewhat like I was merely a warm soul in the seat.”
