During TCA’s Essential Driver Event 2021, Idelic hosted the session, “The Full Driver Lifecycle: Retaining Drivers at Every Stage of Employment,” where our presenters discussed how fleets can retain and engage drivers throughout their full tenure, from pre-hire, to onboarding, and beyond.
During the presentation, which you can watch a full recording of here, our presenters highlighted three things every fleet should understand about engaging and retaining drivers:
#1: Onboarding and Orientation Are Not the Same Thing
“Onboarding” a driver is a process that takes anywhere from 90 days to a year, spanning from a driver’s first day, to their first paycheck, to their first incident, and beyond. “Orientation” is the much shorter process of bringing a driver into the office, giving them an overview of the fleet, and explaining their new role to them.
Orientation ensures a driver has the information they need to succeed during their first route, while onboarding ensures they’ll stick around for the long haul.
#2: Fleets Should Log and Track Their Driver Interactions
The key to retaining drivers is consistent engagement, but it’s impossible to know how often managers are interacting with drivers if they aren’t logging their engagement events. With a system in place for logging each driver interaction, leadership can make sure even their safest drivers are kept in touch with their fleet’s culture.
#3: Fleets Should Discuss Their Culture During Their Pre-Hire Process
Fleets sometimes shy away from discussing the culture and expectations of a job with a driver before they have signed on, out of fear of turning them off, but this is a recipe for quick turnover. If a driver wouldn’t mesh with a fleet’s culture, the fleet should be aware of that before they extend an employment offer.
“Getting a driver in the truck is not the same as keeping a driver in the truck.”
– Jeff McKinney, CDS
How to Retain Drivers at All Stages of Employment
Implementing the advice above can seem difficult, but it doesn’t have to be with the right tools.
The Idelic Safety Suite® is the most comprehensive driver management platform in the trucking industry and is the premier tool for retaining drivers. With Safety Suite’s AI-powered Watch List, fleets can truly understand their driver data and use it to assign training, have personalized conversations with drivers, and enhance their retention by prevention strategies.
If you’d like to learn more about how Safety Suite helps fleets retain drivers for the long haul, watch a 2-minute demo or sign up for a deep dive here.