How to keep truck drivers happy - Optym

Truck drivers are worth their weight in gold these days. And while driver retention has been a more-or-less constant issue for many truckload carriers over the years, the pandemic and resulting capacity crunch mean it’s more important than ever to retain valuable driver assets.

So how do you keep your truck drivers happy and keep them trucking over the miles? By giving them the tools and perks they need to smooth the way for your freight—and improve your earnings in the process.

Here are a few tips to get you started!

Stay connected with your drivers

With long-distance truckers being away from home for long periods, it’s essential to stay connected beyond regular dispatches. Keep in touch via phone, text, email, or video conferencing every few weeks, asking drivers to provide insights into their well-being and any operational issues or concerns.

Provide truck drivers with tools to do their job well

Consider making your drivers’ lives easier by providing reliable, properly maintained trucks to help them avoid breakdowns.

You should also consider a tool that improves driver satisfaction and retention, so they never miss a request.

Take a look at tools that enable communication with the back office, the ability to scan and share documents, speed time-off requests, streamline driver settlement, and provide load-sharing details, payments review, load history authentication, and real-time trip planning.

The LoadOps mobile app is a “drivers assistant” that lets drivers:

• Access their truck routes on a map directly.
  With access to trip plans, drivers can improve customer service quality by reviewing accurate ETAs for each load stop and remaining on track for loads’ on-time service. The app also provides contacts with information in one place, including payments of past loads, shipper/consignee contacts, and more.
• Upload critical load documents such as a bill of lading and proof of delivery, which are instantly viewable in the LoadOps TMS.
  Digital document management reduces the risk of missing critical documents and improves invoicing and driver settlement workflows.
• Upload pictures of loads and additional documents for any accessorial charges.
• Manage their preferences.
  Preferences can include sleeper berth, preferred truck stops, and routes to avoid when the driver calculates their trip plan.
• Input their time-off directly in the app.
  This feature aids consideration in load planning.

A full-featured app will also automate track and trace to track load and driver locations in real-time through GPS with the help of augmented intelligence. This feature enables easy updates like load arrival, departure, completion, and more. Users can see the date and time a load is picked up, where it is, if delivered, and all the ETAs for the remaining stops.

Keep your truck drivers happy by incentivizing them

Retain your truck drivers. Let them earn miles and money. But, you may boost goodwill by engaging truck drivers in simple contests and awarding gift cards—contents like maxing out their fuel economy or driving the most miles. While offering bonuses and competitive wages may make sense, just acknowledging drivers for their hard work via text or email helps keep them engaged when far from home.

Give your truckload drivers some peace of mind

Truckload drivers are a special crew who are away from home for longer periods. Consider sticking to a schedule and giving them regularly scheduled home time. Time at home can help give their lives more structure. A driver with a clear notion of how much “off-time” they have is a much happier driver.

As tighter truckload capacity continues to drive truck drivers’ demand, it is more important than ever to give your drivers the tools they need and help reduce “points of contact” during the Covid-19 pandemic. The LoadOps mobile app enables you to retain drivers.