Assessing Causes of Driver Job Dissatisfaction in the Flatbed Motor Carrier Industry

Trucking companies play a critical role in the U.S. economy but face many challenges. The trucking industry’s greatest challenge may be the persistent driver turnover problem. Trucking companies regularly report turnover rates exceeding 100%. Each driver costs between $2200–$21,000 to replace and ne...

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Main Authors: Ashley Wygal, Douglas Voss, Michael B. Hargis, Scott Nadler
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-06-01
Series:Logistics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6290/5/2/34
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author Ashley Wygal
Douglas Voss
Michael B. Hargis
Scott Nadler
author_facet Ashley Wygal
Douglas Voss
Michael B. Hargis
Scott Nadler
author_sort Ashley Wygal
collection DOAJ
description Trucking companies play a critical role in the U.S. economy but face many challenges. The trucking industry’s greatest challenge may be the persistent driver turnover problem. Trucking companies regularly report turnover rates exceeding 100%. Each driver costs between $2200–$21,000 to replace and new drivers often impact carrier customer service and safety performance. The purpose of this article is to qualitatively explore the challenges drivers face with hopes of uncovering unique methods to improve job satisfaction and ameliorate turnover and retention issues. Results indicate that driver job satisfaction is related to compensation, management quality, equipment quality, home time, and wait time. Proactive managerial actions in the form of pre-planning loads are proposed as a method for carriers to resolve many driver concerns and possibly provide carriers with a competitive advantage in driver retention.
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series Logistics
spelling doaj-art-5616248df69e46d0a16c3fb5f09bc49b2025-08-20T03:56:19ZengMDPI AGLogistics2305-62902021-06-01523410.3390/logistics5020034Assessing Causes of Driver Job Dissatisfaction in the Flatbed Motor Carrier IndustryAshley Wygal0Douglas Voss1Michael B. Hargis2Scott Nadler3FIS, Jacksonville, FL 02142, USADepartment of Marketing and Management, University of Central Arkansas, 312 Business Administration Building, Conway, AR 72035, USADepartment of Marketing and Management, University of Central Arkansas, 312 Business Administration Building, Conway, AR 72035, USADepartment of Marketing and Management, University of Central Arkansas, 312 Business Administration Building, Conway, AR 72035, USATrucking companies play a critical role in the U.S. economy but face many challenges. The trucking industry’s greatest challenge may be the persistent driver turnover problem. Trucking companies regularly report turnover rates exceeding 100%. Each driver costs between $2200–$21,000 to replace and new drivers often impact carrier customer service and safety performance. The purpose of this article is to qualitatively explore the challenges drivers face with hopes of uncovering unique methods to improve job satisfaction and ameliorate turnover and retention issues. Results indicate that driver job satisfaction is related to compensation, management quality, equipment quality, home time, and wait time. Proactive managerial actions in the form of pre-planning loads are proposed as a method for carriers to resolve many driver concerns and possibly provide carriers with a competitive advantage in driver retention.https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6290/5/2/34truckingdriversdriver turnoverdriver retention
spellingShingle Ashley Wygal
Douglas Voss
Michael B. Hargis
Scott Nadler
Assessing Causes of Driver Job Dissatisfaction in the Flatbed Motor Carrier Industry
Logistics
trucking
drivers
driver turnover
driver retention
title Assessing Causes of Driver Job Dissatisfaction in the Flatbed Motor Carrier Industry
title_full Assessing Causes of Driver Job Dissatisfaction in the Flatbed Motor Carrier Industry
title_fullStr Assessing Causes of Driver Job Dissatisfaction in the Flatbed Motor Carrier Industry
title_full_unstemmed Assessing Causes of Driver Job Dissatisfaction in the Flatbed Motor Carrier Industry
title_short Assessing Causes of Driver Job Dissatisfaction in the Flatbed Motor Carrier Industry
title_sort assessing causes of driver job dissatisfaction in the flatbed motor carrier industry
topic trucking
drivers
driver turnover
driver retention
url https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6290/5/2/34
work_keys_str_mv AT ashleywygal assessingcausesofdriverjobdissatisfactionintheflatbedmotorcarrierindustry
AT douglasvoss assessingcausesofdriverjobdissatisfactionintheflatbedmotorcarrierindustry
AT michaelbhargis assessingcausesofdriverjobdissatisfactionintheflatbedmotorcarrierindustry
AT scottnadler assessingcausesofdriverjobdissatisfactionintheflatbedmotorcarrierindustry