{"id":2992,"date":"2019-06-29T17:00:15","date_gmt":"2019-06-29T15:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/?p=2992"},"modified":"2019-06-29T17:00:15","modified_gmt":"2019-06-29T15:00:15","slug":"tcas-best-fleets-honorees-building-a-driver-centric-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2019\/06\/29\/tcas-best-fleets-honorees-building-a-driver-centric-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"TCA’s Best Fleets Honorees: Building a Driver-Centric Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Three<\/p>\n

Three of TCA’s Best Fleets to Drive For,\u00a0Challenger Motor Freight, Transpro Freight Systems and Erb Transport (pictured), share how they built a driver-centric culture within their fleets. Photo via Erb Transport<\/p>\n

TCA’s Best Fleets Honorees: Building a Driver-Centric Culture<\/h2>\n

Their numbers are enviable. Less than 30% in driver turnover \u2013 almost unheard of for over-the-road fleets who cover the U.S. and Canada.<\/p>\n

The fleets? Challenger Motor Freight, Transpro Freight Systems, and Erb Transport \u2013 each on the top 20 list of the 2018 Best Fleets to Drive For. Representatives from each company recently shared some of their strategies to achieve these low numbers with CarriersEdge, which partners with the Truckload Carriers Association in the Best Fleets to Drive For program, focusing on building a driver-centric culture through the process of gathering feedback from employees, and engaging office staff and drivers in common goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese three fleets are some of the best in North America when it comes to how they deal with, and engage drivers,\u201d said Jane Jazrawy, co-founder of CarriersEdge. \u201cThey\u2019re ahead of the curve and have come up with innovative programs that create an inviting atmosphere where drivers feel they truly belong. Evidence of that is in their low driver turnover rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

CarriersEdge shared the following write-up with HDT with highlights of the panel discussion exploring some of the keys to these fleets success:<\/p>\n

Getting on the Same Page<\/h2>\n

According to Jazrawy, involvement and buy-in from drivers is a key in developing a top driver pool that will be as committed to you as you are to them. \u201cWhat Challenger did with its drivers and office personnel is a prime example,\u201d she said. \u201cTheir \u2018Good to Great\u2019 program really stands out. It was a major undertaking \u2013 Challenger has 1,200 drivers — and it took them five months to gather information from them, as well as the rest of the company\u2019s staff, in order to put together a comprehensive program.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Geoff Topping, Challenger\u2019s VP of HR, its program with all employees (including drivers) consisted of one-on-one interviews, coupled with 26 focus groups across the country, and online surveys. \u201cIt was a long journey but well worth the effort,\u201d he said. \u201cWe asked the hard questions and wanted our drivers to be candid. We told them your thoughts will be recorded, your names will not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Topping said the main goal of the program was to be in-tune with Challenger\u2019s employee ideas and recommendations \u2013 \u201cto take our company from Good to Great,\u201d he explained. \u201cMany of our initiatives from their feedback were put in place to improve the work environment. It included a review of compensation, benefit plans as well as policies and procedures to support our \u2018people-first\u2019 initiatives.<\/p>\n

\"Transpro
Transpro Freight Systems’ Mikhail Tchistakov recieving a 10 Years of Service Recognition award. Photo courtesy Transpro Freight Systems<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first set of interviews were followed by more trips around the country where everyone was trained on \u2018the big picture, which was a presentation that contained all of the themed information shared during the discovery process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Key changes included weekly driver round table meetings; a revamped 3-day orientation process that included more hands-on training in trip planning and satellite usage; and the use of \u201cStay Interviews\u201d where dedicated HR teams, follow up with new drivers to ensure they\u2019re doing well and know who to contact should they have any questions.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, drivers need to be listened to, said Topping. \u201cYou have to get back to people and follow up on their concerns,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing honest and explain why you can, or can\u2019t do something about their request \u2013 or why you can\u2019t do it at this time \u2013 is important. You need to let the driver know, \u2018here are the steps we\u2019re working on.\u2019 Everyone wants to know they\u2019re being heard and there is nothing worse than getting an email or other communication from a driver and have nothing happen. That\u2019s a recipe for disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Challenger, Erb Transport is a large company \u2013 with 900 drivers \u2013 making communication a high priority. \u201cIt\u2019s a challenge to listen and hear everyone,\u201d said Dave Dietrich, Erb\u2019s VP of HR. \u201cWe have a town hall meeting each year at each of our eight terminals. We look at financial aspects of our company, discuss operations and customers, and review HR and safety initiatives. It\u2019s an open forum so our employees are able to talk with all of our executives. What\u2019s more, we list all our executives\u2019 names with contact information at each of our terminals. Our goal is to have open communication with all our drivers. We also have what we call \u2018management by walking around.\u2019 And, that\u2019s from the very top down. Our president, Wendell Erb, might not know everyone\u2019s name, but he knows a lot of them \u2013 he\u2019s constantly walking the yard and the shop talking with people.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Dietrich, that resonates with drivers. \u201cOur culture is the personality of the company,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s still a family business and the family leads by example. If there is ever an overload, everyone pitches in…and most of our people in management have their CDLs. They\u2019re out on the road at least once a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Eric Carusi, general manager of Transpro Freight, communication is called \u201cGreen Light Thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have empathy and unity, mutual benefits will result,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have 110 drivers and we not only survey our drivers, but all employees. It started by interviewing each of our drivers to learn how we could be better. We wanted to take it a step further, so in the spirit of collaboration and always striving to improve, we did 360-degree interviews with our management team and the entire office. Everyone did a direct survey on their manager…and indirect survey with others. This gave us some themes on areas where we could improve \u2013 green light thinking. Everyone was heard and it was a collaborative effort. It\u2019s something we continue to do \u2013 we see where we\u2019re at, and where we can improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

When dealing with drivers, Carusi said one word keeps the company grounded. \u201cIt\u2019s transparency,\u201d he said \u201cThere should be no gray areas when responding to a driver\u2019s question. Nothing should be hidden \u2013 that way the driver can walk away with justification.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Challenger
Challenger Motor Freight driver John Weston was named the TCA 2017 Highway Angel of the Year.Photo courtesy Challenger Motor Freight<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Keeping Drivers Engaged <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Once you have a consistent line of communication going with drivers, Jazrawy said the next step is to keep them engaged, connected, and wanting to stay. \u201cA simple example of being connected is through food,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is a scientific study that if you feed people and eat together, you help bind people. It sounds simple enough but what you\u2019re doing is inviting people to sit down, break bread, and interact with one another. You\u2019re developing friendships and camaraderie. That\u2019s why barbeques for drivers, and other social events where spouses are invited, work so well. People get connected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Transpro\u2019s Carusi said connecting doesn\u2019t have to be that hard. \u201cIn September it was back to school time, so we asked our employees to bring in a childhood photo of themselves,\u201d he said. \u201cThen we had everyone try to guess who the employee was. Everyone had a lot of fun with that \u2013 it created a lot of buzz and we had a potluck around it. We had some prizes….there were a lot of smiles and laughter. It lightened everything up.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd during our safety driver awards banquet, we invited law enforcement officers,\u201d continued Carusi. \u201cIt broke down barriers and created an unpressured platform between our drivers and enforcement. Our drivers felt they could ask any question — they felt it was a once in a lifetime experience. This shared communication opportunity provided a lot of \u2018ah-ha\u2019 moments for both groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jazrawy said another example of engaging drivers is what Challenger is doing to recognize driver \u201cgood deeds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re recognizing drivers who go beyond the call of duty in their \u2018Challenger Angel Program,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do our million-mile awards and honors, but we also have a Wall of Fame near our cafeteria,\u201d explained Topping. \u201cDrivers can be nominated by anyone in our organization, and we post our Challenger Angel on the wall for everyone to see. We\u2019ll then go ahead and send that information to the TCA, who can consider our driver for their Highway Angel program.\u201d<\/p>\n

All told, Jazrawy said trucking companies need to continue to evolve and keep a driver-first mentality. \u201cIt\u2019s a challenge to recruit and retain drivers,\u201d she said. \u201cThe ultimate winners and losers will be determined by a lot of factors, but none more important than communication and engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was authored and edited under the guidance, style, and standards of HDT\u2019s editors to provide useful information to our readers.<\/em><\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.truckinginfo.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\"JMF\"I\u00b4m\u00a0a Fleet Management expert, and the manager of\u00a0Advanced Fleet Management Consulting<\/a><\/strong>, that provides Fleet Management Consultancy Services.<\/p>\n

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Advanced Fleet Management Consulting, en colaboraci\u00f3n con Jaltest, GantaBI, Optimatics y Transporte Profesional, organizan el \u201cCurso para la Gesti\u00f3n de flotas de veh\u00edculos\u201d con el fin de formar a los profesionales en gesti\u00f3n de flotas a tomar una visi\u00f3n global y conocer todas las actividades y factores clave involucrados en la gesti\u00f3n de una flota de veh\u00edculos. El curso es \u00fanico en Espa\u00f1a y presenta un enfoque innovador al desarrollar una metodolog\u00eda propia para la gesti\u00f3n de flotas de veh\u00edculos.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three of TCA’s Best Fleets to Drive For,\u00a0Challenger Motor Freight, Transpro Freight Systems and Erb Transport (pictured), share how they built a driver-centric culture within their fleets. Photo via Erb Transport TCA’s Best Fleets Honorees: Building a Driver-Centric Culture Their numbers are enviable. Less than 30% in driver turnover \u2013 almost unheard of for over-the-road…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[133],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2992"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2992\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}