Our drivers often quit with no notice. How can we address this when it happens?
This is a question we receive often at NTI in our work with motor carriers and private fleets.
Whether a driver gives a proper two-week notice, no notice at all, or simply stops showing up — driver churn has been and remains a preeminent issue fleets face in trying to achieve and maintain their desired headcount.
For the sake of this discussion, let’s address it purely from an HR and retention stance, rather than the “my driver left their truck and a live load stranded alongside I-35,” situation.
What should you do when a driver quits — whether they walk off the job in a huff or whether they handed you a well-worded two-week notice? And how can you work internally to prevent this from happening in the first place?
Some drivers will simply be a lost cause. Terminal managers, driver managers, or others who work closely in your organization may simply say, “Let them move on.”
However, for those drivers you want to keep and who were dependable and safe drivers, here are three strategies to employ at your fleet:
➡️ Designate someone at your company to intervene as soon as a driver quits to see if you can address their issues and convince them to stay at your company. Have someone specifically assigned to this task, whether it’s a recruiter or designated retention manager, or even terminal managers or driver managers. Whoever it is, have them immediately contact drivers who have quit and work to find out the root issue of why that driver is leaving.
Often, drivers may not give a reason when they quit or turn in their notice, or they may cite something that frustrated them that day or week. Yet in reality, they may have lingering frustration about other issues. Let them know you’re listening and hearing their concerns and are going to do your best to address them, and then re-sell your company, why they chose you, what they love about you, and why they should stay. These conversations are paramount to long-term retention and identifying areas where your fleet can improve the driver experience.
➡️ Develop a re-hire campaign. For drivers that have left the company, the grass often isn’t greener in their newly chosen job. Equip your recruiting team to do outreach and check in with them as part of a rehire campaign. This is a low-cost option for receiving high-value candidates that you know are qualified for the job and could be re-hired. Test different re-hire strategies to find the messaging and approaches that work for your company.
➡️ Refine your exit coding process. Many fleets use exit codes to try to find the common underlying reasons drivers leave so they can fix those issues internally. However, many exit codes are too vague, incorrect, not coded properly, or not coded at all. So even if you can’t convince a driver to stay with you, do your best to truly uncover the reason or reasons they’re leaving and record them properly. Then, make sure that data is actionable. Have clear and consistent departure codes, lump them into categories or buckets, make them actionable, and implement strategies to improve retention.
Have a question your fleet needs answered? Reach out to NTI’s team of experts today for guidance.
