Unlocking the road to driver happiness

In an discussion with NTI’s Leah Shaver on FreightWaves’ Taking the Hire Road show, Drive My Way’s Beth Potratz offered a sneak peak into the company’s Driver Happiness Survey and the takeaways your fleet can use in your driver recruiting and retention programs. Watch or listen to the episode here.
Struggling with driver productivity and quit rates in a tough freight cycle? Here are 3 ways to communicate with drivers and raise the bar of expectations

Between recent pay raises, how the driver job has evolved over the past few years, and changes in expectations of both the workforce and employers, fleets are finding it hard to keep their people incentivized and productive absent continued aggressive pay raises, which just aren’t happening in today’s freight market. So, as a fleet leader, how do you get there? How do you resolve these challenges at your company?
Thriving driver recruiting programs start with thriving communication: Kameel Gaines talks an evolving recruiting and retention landscape with NTI

NTI’s Leah Shaver talks with Kameel Gaines of driver recruiting service Rig On Wheels about how carriers should approach driver recruiting in the current market, the vital role that communication plays in all aspects of running a thriving business, and how the industry can recruit younger people and more women into trucking.
Has your fleet mulled freezing driver pay in the current market? Consider these points first

If your fleet has evaluated pausing driver pay raises or implementing a pay freeze, here are a few considerations to make internally before making that critical decision — because it will have ramifications.
5 ways your fleet can make driver appreciation a year-around focal point

For 2023’s National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, NTI’s team assembled a few tips, strategies, and approaches your fleet can use to carry the focus on driver appreciation through the entire year, every year, and to continue to make your opportunities a secure and rewarding career choices for drivers.
‘Promoting the truck driver as a well-respected, well-compensated career’: TCA’s Jim Ward talks regulatory policies, improving the driver job, and much more with NTI

NTI’s Leah Shaver talked one on one with TCA President Jim Ward last week on the Taking the Hire Road Show on FreightWaves, where the two discussed what TCA carrier members are saying are their top issues and priorities currently, what regulatory and policy changes TCA is working on at the state and federal level, Ward’s outlook for trucking changes that will take place in the coming years, and how the industry can grow interest in trucking careers in younger generations.
Is guaranteed pay for drivers the right move for your fleet?

Guaranteed pay has been a growing incentive for recruiting and retention. But is it right for your fleet?
Driver pay finds a new pattern: 3 trends from the latest driver wages data

After four full economic quarters of a downward trending freight cycle, driver pay has settled into a pattern of incremental upward movement both quarter to quarter and year over year, finding a more historically routine rate of growth after two years highlighted by surges. Here are three key trends in the latest driver pay data.
Driver pay strategies for the current market — plus a glance at 2023’s driver compensation trends

What are the top 2023 driver pay trends that should be on your fleet’s radar? How can fleets navigate the current sluggish freight market from a personnel and compensation standpoint? What are driver seeing and experiencing with their paychecks this year? NTI’s Leah Shaver joined the Taking the Hire Road podcast last week, hosted by DriverReach’s Jeremy Reymer, to discuss those point sand more. See the full episode here.
Be a guide not a boss: How to avoid legal troubles when working with independent contractor truck drivers in slower freight markets

How can your fleet support your independent contractors without wading into legally murky territory around driver classification? NTI recently spoke with attorney Doug Grawe about what fleets can do and the ptifalls to avoid in helping your ICs navigate the current slower freight cycle. Here’s his advice to motor carriers.