Could a Little Bit of Turkey Help With Driver Retention?
For most people across the country, Thanksgiving is a time to gather together with friends and family to share good food and create happy memories, but for a great many truck drivers, the holiday season is one that is spent alone and on the road. In an effort to assist truckers in enjoying Thanksgiving while away from home, Meals for 18 Wheels is planning to deliver hot meals this year during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Last year, the organization was able to provide food for over 300 truckers.
How Do You Reward Your Drivers?
As a fleet owner, this should give you pause to think about how you assist your drivers during the holidays. While many trucking companies offer additional pay for working during the holiday season, it may be time to rethink this strategy. While everyone likes receiving more money, sometimes, no amount of extra cash can replace the emotional discomfort that truckers feel when away from home during special occasions.
“Meals for 18 Wheels sprang up last Thanksgiving when Crystal Schoonmaker, a trucker’s wife from Chattanooga, Tenn., ‘delivered 31 meals to drivers over a 23-hour period in a one-woman marathon,’ writes [author David] Hollis. ‘Schoonmaker said that by Christmas, she recruited some helpers and 289 drivers – and five lucky pets – had meals on Christmas. Aside from the home-cooked meals, Schoonmaker said six pizzas were delivered to drivers and one volunteer handed out bags of cookies to 40 drivers.’” –Overdriveonline.com
Do you do anything special for your drivers during the holidays? Do you think adding personal incentives during the holidays will help in recruiting and driver retention? Leave your comments below to sound off.
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About the Author
Chuck Melton
Chuck Melton is a pioneer in the transportation technology field. Founder of one of the early PC-Based trucking software companies – Integrated Transportation Software in 1984, he developed one of the first links to satellite-based onboard systems including Qualcomm’s (at the time) OmniTracs system. He sold the assets to Qualcomm and has managed a successful software company for over 30 years serving trucking companies across the nation.
Chuck continues to see plenty of pioneering opportunities to create value for trucking companies. With the advent of web-based database systems, low-cost EOBRs, tablets, and smartphones, the 21st-century trucking company can become a seamless part of the supply chain… anywhere, anytime on any device! READ MORE
