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Driver turnover rates may have stabilized according to Bob Costello, Chief Economist at American Trucking Associations, but the numbers remain high — 87% for carriers over $30 million in annual revenue, and 74% for smaller carriers.

Since turnover costs can exceed $20,000 per driver, carriers have a fiscal obligation to investigate strategies for recruiting and retaining good drivers. Technology can help improve driver retention, although a closer look at the issue shows the importance of disseminating technology in the right way to drivers.

As a means to combat the driver shortage issue, the trucking industry is identifying the most intriguing incentives to draw new employees. There’s an understanding of why there is a shortage -- it’s partially due to the aging out and retirement of current drivers and a decrease in safe driving abilities. The other piece to the puzzle is the recruitment and retention of the next generation of drivers. And, where there is a constant push for students to leave high school and go straight to college, training schools and companies are hard pressed when recruiting new candidates to enter the industry.

When it comes to recruiting and hiring new drivers, the first thing recruits most likely look at is the pay rate. But, what happens when multiple companies have competing offers? At that point, secondary perks become more important. These are perks that will improve drivers’ quality of life, such as better in-cab conditions, good equipment and comfort items.

We all know some of the challenges that the transportation and logistics industry is facing such as the capacity crunch and the driver shortage. Both factor into each other and make it seem like there’s an endless list of available jobs with only a few available candidates in the talent pool. Part of the revolving door is that drivers feel like because there are so many available jobs that if one company isn’t treating them right, then they can jump to the next one.

There is much reason for the trucking industry to be optimistic as we enter 2018. For one, freight levels have improved significantly for the industry. In addition, the combination of better freight volumes and for-hire fleets not adding to truck counts in 2017 absorbed much of the excess capacity that plagued the industry over the previous couple of years. With both the main drivers of truck freight demand doing well and the use of electronic logging devices now required, 2018 could be the best year the industry has experienced in the post deregulation era. Indeed, two of the biggest challenges for motor carriers this year will be finding enough qualified drivers and covering all their loads.

For more than a decade, three disparate industries -- banking, nursing, and trucking -- have grappled with labor shortages driven by the challenges of replacing an aging workforce.

“The closer that America comes to fully employing the talents of all its citizens, the greater the output of goods and services will be.”--Warren Buffett

If you’re reading this you already know the problem: the driver shortage will remain an ongoing challenge for those operating fleets over the next decade. And, industry demographics don’t offer any sign of relief.

If industry volumes have been on the rebound for more than five years, why are so many fleet businesses still struggling with truck driver retention and creating successful driver retention strategies?