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I could see alot of drivers sitting around truckstops and such while on the clock. I do like the idea, I just don't think it would work. |
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Productivity is not rewarded effectively. For instance, a carrier may pay a measly 3 cents a mile bonus for getting good fuel mileage. No heavy duty incentive there. Now lets look at our previous two drivers. The second one is saving 15 cents a mile in fuel. So pay him half of that, 7 or 8 cents a mile extra. The carrier is still 4-5 cents a mile ahead compared to the first driver. You know, you can always establish base line standards. If you want the truck at Rialto, CA at 0800, then specify that! Is that so difficult? You actually can specify when a driver has to be somewhere at a minimum. They can still manage their time without having to nanny them. Instead, by your method, there is not standards set, the costs per mile are higher, and you have no minimum standard in which to terminate or reward a driver. And we all wonder why trucking has such a hard time getting and retaining good drivers. What incentive is there to be a more productive driver that also has a concern for the carrier's operating costs when there is just a one size fits all per mile pay package? I know that it is not the prevailing thought among trucking owners and executives, but to have professional drivers, you have to make them feel like professionals, in that they need to feel more like they have a vested interest in things. And rewarding them for how profitable they are to the carrier is the best way to fit that. Instead, carriers set up a standard per mile pay package that forces the drivers who would be great drivers to carry the dead wood of those that are mediocre at best. And those best drivers suffer also when they have to take an extra day off to go to the doctor or something. Whereas if they were compensated properly, it would not have a detrimental effect and you would have a more motivated driver. I has been shown in business, that a salaried employee, rewarded for going above and beyond, is a more motivated and profitable employee. Trucking, in general, could learn a few things from other businesses. And maybe a few classes in micro economics would help. But you are right about one thing, Drivers who don't like their pay will go elsewhere. |
I don't know about the whole loosing and retaining drivers part. Out of 23 drivers that we retain I have only lost 2 this year. One that was layed off at YRC and got called back. The other fell in love with a girl from another state and decided to chase after her. Here they are paid milage plus a safety bonus plus a performance bonus. They all do very well as far as pay goes and do not gripe about it. They have very well maintained equipment and can get ahold of me with any problems they have. They also know I am in their corner. I am a very up front person sometimes I am called a butthole for lack of better words. Yet my drivers never have to worry about what I am thinking. If its on my mind I will say it. If I have a problem I will say it if I am appreciative I will say it. There is no guessing with me and they all like it.
All of our trucks are governed. So there really is no burning up the road with us. There is staying in the saddle and getting the miles done. The majority of the trucks are automatics now and I can put any driver I have in any of those and the same fuel milage is achieved. It takes the driver out of the equation. I can't say the same for the manual trucks as the speed is the same but the rpm changes aren't when they shift the gears. I have teams that can routinely arrive before others and the speed is not the factor. The factor is the amount of stops and the length of stops. One husband and wide team drives pretty much the speed limit everywhere they go (unless the governed speed is less than the speed limit) they will arrive before almost every other team that I have. It is because they don't stop all the time. They keep the doors shut and roll down the road. They plan their stops. I can call them at the beginning of a shift and they know where they are stopping and when. They don't stop at truck stops that are always packed and hard to get in and out of. They preplan their trip for optimal timing. So why should this team make less money than a slower team when they are doing their job to the fullest capability. |
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