CLICK to enlarge: Despite a slowdown in freight, the updated Stay Days Table from Stay Metrics shows that early-stage driver turnover is creeping up in 2019.A recently updated index by Stay Metrics shows early-stage driver turnover is increasing in the trucking industry.
Stay Metrics provides driver retention tools for motor carriers, and its recently updated Stay Days Table for the first half of 2019 shows drivers hired by carriers in 2019 are leaving at a faster rate compared to the same period in 2018.
In 2019, 84.9% of drivers hired from March through May made it a full 30 days with their carriers, compared to 86.3% over the same period in 2018. The shift is even more pronounced at the three-month mark. Among drivers hired in the first quarter of 2019, only 64.9% made it 90 days. This is almost a 5% decrease from 69.3% during the same period of 2018.
The Stay Days Table tracks early-stage driver retention across a broad range of carrier clients of Stay Metrics that represent dry van, tanker, reefer, flatbed, and other segments. The current iteration of the table includes data for 47,283 drivers and 93 carriers.
This downward trend on the average driver retention rate is consistent with recent ATA turnover measurements. The ATA recently reported turnover at large carriers increased 5% in the first quarter of 2019.
“Getting the early driver onboarding experience right should be a critical focus for every carrier,” said Stay Metrics CEO Tim Hindes.
Dr. Bradley Fulton, director of research and analytics at Stay Metrics adds, “These data point to a need to better understand what drives early-stage turnover. The key to doing this is a well-designed, comprehensive set of measures that can identify these factors and how they fluctuate over time.”
Stay Metrics offers an Onboarding Survey program for carriers to track drivers’ levels of satisfaction during the crucial first year on the job. Stay Metrics assesses drivers’ thoughts right after orientation to determine their expectations, how well orientation went, and their starting level of satisfaction at a carrier.
A second survey is delivered at one or several key time points in the first year that determines how well drivers think the carrier is doing meeting their initial expectations and preparing them for the job.
Along the way, Stay Metrics alerts carriers when an opportunity arises to step in, reach out to a driver, and solve an issue before it becomes a cause for turnover. Possible triggers could include a sharp drop in overall satisfaction, a driver’s nonresponse to a survey, or a driver specifically asking a question on the survey.
