Driver's Seat View

Greetings to all who drive trucks for a living. In spite of the fact that there is a lot of "hate & discontent" going on out here on any given day, I believe there are many more drivers who go about daily doing their job and waiting for things to get better.

I am one of those drivers! There are many things within the industry that I see as inequitable or just plain wrong, and I do not subscribe to the foolish myth that, "you can't get two drivers to agree on anything." I'm actually suspicious that the myth itself was created and has been furthered by those whose interests are better served by a lack of unity among drivers. No! I'm not a conspiracy buff either.

I just see certain things that could be done differently to create a more productive workforce in our end of the industry. I am convinced that it takes a driver to understand a driver and there are those who may not see the difference between a driver and a person aspiring to become one. Do I say this as a way of making fun of those who have recently entered the driving profession? Not unless I want to pretend I already knew about trucking when I first began. That was not the case. But this is not my bio, so suffice to say that I was as green as a cactus back then. We all began somewhere and grew in experience up to where we are now.

Here are the facts:
1. America's needs are served by truck.
2. Trucks that drive themselves have not yet been invented.
3. Any company whose business is trucking cannot make a dime
without drivers.
4. Drivers are a trucking company's most key asset.
5. Drivers are still relegated by most trucking companies to the
bottom of the totem pole in terms of input and importance.

In the field of Human Resources Management, it is a given that key employees are any company's direct connection to success or failure. Yet, our industry had 130% turn over last year and will probably average about the same this year if not more. Most owners, directors, and managers look to pay issues when trying to stop the bleeding. In doing research on the retention issue five years ago, I found it cost the average company from $5,000 to $12,000 per new driver hired on average when all associated costs were figured in. At the time, I was recruiting for a small Indiana-based trucking firm. Retention was not a priority issue for the company at the time. The research was dismissed and the company is paying more today for new ways of getting the message out that it needs drivers.

Is there a genuine answer to this dilemna? I very much think so. However, I don't think it will be found within the "inside" personnel at most companies. As much as the thought may appall some company owners, directors, and managers, there is going to have to be a paradigm shift, if not a complete overhaul, concerning the part drivers play in the decision-making process. The industry is at war with itself and certain victors will emerge triumphant when the smoke clears. Unless we drivers assert our rightful place within the industry, we may end up waiting still longer for things to get better. No one is going to give us anything. We must claim that which is rightfully ours as key elements in this industry, and as long as we do so in all fairness, who can object or keep us from attaining our objective?

We have the power to achieve our goal if we can just stop thinking in "old school" terms and realize who we are and what we have. To the nay-sayers who cannot fathom this reality, let me just say, "get out of the way and let those of us who know we can do so."
I'm just adhering to what that old trucking adage says: "Either lead, follow, or get out of the way."

Next time: Rolling Stress Mills

Happy Trails!
otr@cdldriver.net
[www.cdldriver.net]

Category: General