seen since the third quarter of 2012. Turnover at small fleets also reached its highest level in nearly two years at 94 percent, a full 12 percent higher than Q2 2013. Furnell says, “I know a driver who
works for ABF, and he’s been there for 25 years. You don’t hear that often. He’s there because the quality of life and pay. He gets paid a lot of money, and he can’t go to just an average trucking company and make that kind of money.” While some companies are raising
pay to lower turnover, C.R. England has announced they are raising pay for the driver trainers to avoid some of the trouble with fighting over drivers in the pre-existing pool of licenses. They are investing, instead, in the ones respon- sible for helping to add new drivers to the pool.
WAGE WAR? Furnell says, “A lot of our clients
have been in that retention fight. We’ve got to do something to keep them from
“THE BIGGEST ISSUE WE HAVE IS THE HOLE IN THE BUCKET. WE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH COMING IN THE FUNNEL—NEW PEOPLE INTO THE INDUSTRY TO OFFSET THE PEOPLE WHO ARE RETIRING.”
—LORI FURNELL,
VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AT ACS ADVERTISING
looking at another industry or going to a private fleet. If private fleets are hir- ing again, that’s where they are going to want to go because they do have a higher rate.” With so many carriers choosing
to raise wages in an effort to keep the best drivers in their trucks, we can only wonder if we are on the brink of a wage war. It seems inevitable that the more large fleets raise pay, the more small fleets will have to follow to compete,
DIGITAL MAGAZINE NOW AVAILABLE!
dragging the industry to a place, once again, where compensation matches the life we ask drivers to live. “Change costs money, and change
costs an investment of something whether it’s time, resources or chang- ing of processes. So it doesn’t happen as quickly as we would all like, but I think we are beginning to see people are understanding the role they have in the driver population and growing the population,” Furnell says. While a turnover rate of above
100 percent is unique to trucking, the need to increase and offer competitive wages is a trend spreading across all industries, thanks in large part to state legislatures. Since the beginning of 2015, the
laws of 29 states and the District of Columbia require minimum wages in private employment that are higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Voters in Alaska, Arkansas,
You may view Arkansas Trucking Report—complete with sound effects—online within a week of distribution.
Another awesome feature of this great new technology is that websites in the digital magazine are “live.” So, viewers may click on a site featured in an ad and be transported directly to an advertiser’s website.
Check it out:
www.arkansastrucking.com This is just one more service that we’re happy to offer on behalf of our ATR advertisers.
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Nebraska and South Dakota approved minimum wage increases through ballot measures in the 2014 general election. In eleven states, the state minimum wage was raised by legislation in 2014; and in nine states, the state minimum wage automatically increased on January 1, 2015 because the mini- mum wage is indexed to cost of living statistics. So to appeal to potential employ-
ees, not only does a carrier have to stay ahead of its competition, but also its state legislature. ATR
ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 1 2015
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