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Home » Driver turnover at large TL fleets hit 89 percent in Q3
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Driver turnover at large TL fleets hit 89 percent in Q3

December 13, 2011
Mark B. Solomon
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Truck driver turnover at the nation's large trucking fleets hit 89 percent in the third quarter, the highest level of driver turnover since the first quarter of 2008, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) said Monday.

The third-quarter number represents a 10-percentage-point increase over the prior quarter's 79-percent turnover rate, according to ATA. Since bottoming out at 39 percent in the first quarter of 2010, turnover at large truckload fleets has risen by 50 percentage points, an unprecedented increase, according to Bob Costello, the trade group's chief economist. The driver turnover rate at large truckload fleets has averaged 81 percent so far this year.

The turnover rate at small truckload fleets, defined by ATA as carriers with under $30 million in annual revenue, jumped 10 points to 57 percent, the highest level since the third quarter of 2008, ATA said. Turnover in the less-than-truckload (LTL) segment remained relatively low at 10 percent, a reflection of the generally shorter hauls in this sector of the industry, which allows drivers to achieve a better work-life balance than their truckload counterparts.

In addition, LTL drivers are generally better paid than truckload drivers. According to recent data from consultancy FTR Associates, the median LTL driver's salary is about $58,000 a year, compared with $48,000 a year, on average, for truckload drivers.

For large truckload fleets, the highest turnover level on record was 134 percent, set in the fourth quarter of 2005, which was the tail end of the last great driver shortage cycle and the dawn of what would become a four-year freight recession that devastated the trucking industry. The subsequent decrease in driver turnover from late 2005 to early 2010 was also unprecedented, according to Costello.

In a statement, Costello reiterated ATA's long-held warning that an increase in freight tonnage, combined with the impact of federal safety regulations that will force marginal drivers off the road, will make it even harder for trucking companies to attract and retain high-quality drivers. Proposed changes in driver hours-of-service regulations, which could have the effect of putting more trucks on the road, will further increase demand for good drivers, Costello said.

Transportation Trucking Truckload Less-than-Truckload
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Marksolomon
Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.

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