How to Use Your Training Program to Reduce Driver Turnover
Driver turnover is a significant issue in the trucking industry, with levels of turnover at 80% or higher across the industry. For many reasons, drivers are leaving companies or leaving the industry all together. Even high-paying companies struggle to keep drivers.
The reasons for drivers leaving range from poor communication to not feeling valued. The decision to stay or go can come down to a single make-or-break type problem, to a build up of frustrations over time.
There are tools you can put in place to reduce your company turnover though. Infinit-I Workforce Solutions can help you put those tools in place so you can go from playing defense to being proactive in gaining crucial insight into driver dissatisfaction.
Infinit-I also has the tools you need to implement real change immediately. This starts with six ways you can reduce driver turnover.
1. Make Use of Exit Interviews
Do you know why drivers are leaving your company to go somewhere else? Getting the answers you need is as simple as asking. Asking these questions during exit interviews is an important first step to making real changes.
Share the information you get from these interviews with Infinit-I’s client success team to get help turning those issues around. You can use the system to host custom management training based on the issues that come up the most with drivers.
You can set up training solutions based on your reports to provide material based on driver questions and concerns. Take the guess work out of it. Get solutions immediately instead of waiting until you’ve lost twenty more drivers over these same issues.
2. Take Advantage of Custom Content
While ready to use training material is useful, you will get more out of your training if you speak directly to the drivers in your company too. You can try individual or group meetings with drivers, but that means parked trucks and drivers unavailable for those meetings. To understand their needs, you must have real access to the drivers.
Infinit-I can work with you to develop custom content so you can speak directly to your drivers. With online communication and training tools, you can reach 100% of your drivers, no matter where they are, without disrupting their work schedules.
Using the information you gather to reduce driver turnover, you can develop content based on the issues important to your company, layout a timeframe to make changes, provide practical steps to meet these goals, and share what is needed from drivers and management.
With the tracking tools available, you can keep documentation of all training and communications provided. You can also access reports to show completion of employee training, so you know your message is getting to everyone.
3. Provide Solutions for Effective Communication
Your dispatchers will have more interaction with drivers than anyone else in the company. This means it’s important to have positive communication between dispatchers and drivers to keep drivers happy and reduce driver turnover.
Your drivers come from diverse backgrounds, including a range from baby boomers to millennials. Dispatchers need to understand how to communicate across these diverse backgrounds, and Infinit-I allows you to provide the training necessary to improve those skills.
We can help you teach them the skills they need with practical tips, important dos and don’ts, and increasing their awareness of what drivers need to thrive.
4. Increase Driver Confidence
Taking advantage of the communication and training tools provided through Infinit-I gives you better access and cross-communication between drivers, dispatchers, and management. Providing solutions that speak to real needs also shows that you:
- Pay attention to driver concerns
- Take the time to meet drivers where they are
- Want to ensure drivers don’t feel alone and disconnected
Drivers who feel taken care of are drivers who will stay. Making it your goal for 100% of drivers to receive clear, effective communication will help reduce driver turnover. You show them your company is listening to your drivers and can meet their needs.
5. Get as Specific as You Need
Training is never one size fits all. Every company has issues specific to them, and you need the tools to address these issues and needs. Many Infinit-I clients use our system address these specific needs.
For example, what do you do about delivery points at difficult locations?
Imagine you’ve got a driver making a delivery in downtown Manhattan. If you leave it up to the GPS, your driver may find themselves in difficult situations. If you end up needing to call the police and the city to help turn a truck around, you’ve got a stressed driver, wasted time on the road, and extra expenses.
If you know this can be a concern, you can create or source content to help navigate entering and exiting delivery points. This is one of many examples on how you can make the training specific. If you’re giving drivers tough jobs, you need to give them relevant training.
6. Prescreen Drivers During Onboarding
A good onboarding process gives you the best opportunity to determine which drivers will be a good fit for your company. While you can never guarantee every driver who pre-qualifies will work out, you can put some screening tools in place to help you and applicants determine if the employment is a good fit.
You can use the Infinit-I system in several ways to help you recruit the right fit:
Send training material to test preliminary knowledge and weed out those who aren’t serious. Some applicants may fail this test. Others may not even bother to complete the training.
Either way, you know ahead of time this isn’t the person you want. This step shows you’re serious about finding the right person. Getting the right fit in the beginning will reduce overall driver turnover.
Provide “A Day in the Life” videos or documents. This glimpse into your company will give potential drivers a realistic idea of what they can expect working for you. It reduces surprises and helps drivers determine if they will be up to completing the tasks specific to your company.
Just because a person has a CDL doesn’t mean they are going to fit in with the job you are providing. Keep driver turnover down by letting drivers come in prepared for what the job will look like.
Put Together a Training Program that Meets Your Goals
Recruiting and nurturing drivers that are the right fit for your company from the beginning is the best way to reduce driver turnover and meet your goals. Infinit-I Workforce Solutions can provide the tools you need to ensure you get well-matched drivers.
Your drivers need support and connection. Strengthen this connection to your company by keeping everyone on the same page and working towards the same goals. Make the changes your trucking company needs.
To learn more about how Infinit-I can help you meet those goals, request a free demo. Get started getting the results you need.
