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Dive Brief:
- Only for Half the drivers are happy with their jobs and satisfaction has fallen significantly since 2019 among female drivers, younger drivers and those with eight or fewer years of experience, according to a survey of hundreds of drivers.
- Failing to invest in satisfaction can be costly, the research found, and employee needs are complex, with even happy drivers looking for new jobs. In 2019, only about a quarter of happy drivers reported looking for work in the past three months, but now this affects 44% of those drivers.
- An increase in basic compensation is the main factor in improving driver satisfaction. But “for some, a raise may not be enough,” said Drive My Way, the truck driver recruitment platform that conducted the survey. “While pay is still most important, good listening and communication are vital to improving driver happiness.”
Dive Insight:
Motivations for seeking better opportunities in the industry may stem from a variety of sourcessuch as fees, routes and benefits, according to the American Trucking Associations.
Truckers noted this variety in the Drive My Way survey, reporting that while payment is the top solution, the second most common response was better communication and listening from management. Survey responses came from more than 500 CDL drivers in late 2022 and early 2023.
Fleets have come to similar conclusions, aiming to improve communication with the workforce through measures such as weekly pulse checks. To improve retention, more carriers have worked to provide guaranteed pay and improve information provided to drivers, the survey noted.
Apart from an increase in base pay, the next main reason for improved job happiness was better communication and listening from management, according to the survey.
“Driver wages, despite significant gains, remain quite complex,” Leah Shaver, president and CEO of the National Transportation Institute, whose agency helped with the research, said in a news release. base wages,” noting that “lack of productivity (aka fewer miles, hours, and loads) reduces their take-home pay.”
The survey included over 500 CDL drivers.
Younger drivers, particularly those with one to two years of experience, reported significantly lower happiness than their peers at other experience levels and also reported lower levels of receiving the information they need to be successful.
Drivers with one to two years of experience reported significantly lower happiness than those more experienced workers as well as those just starting out, and their team also ranked lowest in reporting receiving the information they need to succeed.
Those drivers with two years’ experience or less are also most likely to change jobs, the report said, finding that three out of four workers looked for new employment in the past three months.
“The biggest culprit? I feel set up to fail,” the report said. “Just 40% of drivers at this stage reported getting the information they need to be successful.”