The Driver Experience and the Future of Trucking

There is no doubt that the trucking industry has changed tremendously over the past decade. Even in the past few years, legislation, technology, and the way people do business have pushed the trucking industry to make drastic changes.

Ultimately, every time there is a new change, it impacts truckers, and the driver experience is going to greatly influence the direction the trucking industry takes over the next few years.

Reducing High Turnover

While analysts continue to debate the veracity of an industry-wide driver shortage, high turnover rates cannot be ignored.

While truckers are retiring, it is becoming increasingly difficult to retain younger employees. For an industry that moves over 70 percent of the products in the United States, focusing on the driver experience to retain qualified drivers and encouraging them to become career truckers is going to be essential moving forward.

Scheduling Is a Key Component

To retain truckers, many companies are offering flexible or self-scheduling. This gives truckers a better driving experience by giving them more control and offering a better balance between work and their personal lives.

One of the major pain points among newer drivers over the past two years has been the demand to fulfill delivery requests during a driver shortage.

By implementing new workforce management systems, carriers can build schedules that are compliant, keep deliveries on track, and provide for the needs of the drivers.

New Compensation Models

The ELD mandate has forced the trucking industry at large to rethink certain compensation models to improve the driver experience and increase trucker retention.

Hourly rates may not appeal to drivers in the long run, as hours are capped by the ELD mandate. Switching to pay scales based on weight or miles may help to improve the driver experience and motivate truckers to stick around, thereby reducing the turnover rate.

The Rise of Independent Drivers

The trucking industry is still growing, and there is an influx of owner-operators acting as contractors for larger carriers or working directly for shippers.

This helps to offset the current shortage of drivers directly employed by fleets. However, independent drivers are also running into cash flow walls, just like larger trucking companies.

Everyone needs to be able to have access to revenue at a faster rate to keep things moving. Express Freight Finance provides fast freight factoring services to eliminate staggered payment schedules by converting receivables to cash within 24 hours. Contact our offices today to get started.