DC Velocity - August 2013

newsworthy

Broken promises

TURNOVER AMONG TRUCK DRIVERS HAS BECOME AS BIG
a problem as finding qualified ones.

In the first quarter, turnover at large truckload fleets hit 97 percent, up from an annualized rate of 90 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to the American Trucking Associations (ATA). Turnover at less-than-truckload (LTL) fleets—historically much lower than in the truckload sector because the shorter driving distances result in a better work-life balance—has reached the highest level in more than seven years, increasing to 15 percent in the first quarter from 10 percent in the prior quarter. Most of the truckload and LTL turnover is caused by driver “churn,” the practice of jumping from one fleet to another.

Now, a new driver satisfaction study has found that driver defections are not due to any one specific factor such as pay, benefits, The study was conducted by Stay Metrics, a South Bend, Ind.-based firm that helps fleets with driver retention. Stay Metrics interviewed 1,000 drivers at 10 truckload and expedited truckers. The responses were then analyzed by researchers led by Dr. Gitta Lubke at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. The study concluded that new drivers felt a major disconnect between what they were told during recruitment and orientation and what they experienced once behind the wheel.

These unmet expectations surfaced quickly, according to the study. Half of the drivers surveyed left within nine months of being hired. Of those who quit within that nine-month period, most left within six months, even before they could be fully integrated into the corporate culture, according to the report.

“Somehow drivers feel as if what they are experiencing isn’t what
they signed up for,” said Tim Hindes, CEO of Stay Metrics.
Hindes said there isn’t a single inflection point for the angst. It
could be that a driver was promised a new rig and instead got a
used one. Or that a driver was told he’d drive a certain route and
was dispatched on another, less-attractive route, Hindes said.
Hindes said the respondents comprised drivers normal- p. 18

Genco, a provider of lifecycle logistics services, said its wholly owned subsidiary, Genco Infrastructure Solutions (GIS), won a one-year contract with the Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to support U.S. Navy operations in Bahrain and the U.S. Central Command (CentCom) theater. CentCom’s area of responsibility consists of 20 countries in the Middle East and Central Asia.

The one-year fixed-price contract has four one-year options. If all four of those options are used, the contract will equal $38.8 million.

The 330,000-square-foot operation in Bahrain consists of two side-by-side facilities that will process over 100,000 transactions per year for all service branches, GIS said. The division will also manage a Navy materials processing center for naval fleet support. Full operations are scheduled to begin in September, GIS said.

GIS, which has operated in Kuwait, brings regional experience, fully trained teams, and knowledge in managing local nationals and “third-country nationals” (or individuals who are neither citizens of the United States nor Bahrain), it said in a statement.

“As our first overseas prime contract, the DLA distribution operation in Bahrain builds on our previous success and provides an opportunity to support the Navy’s 5th Fleet, a long-standing, forward-deployed, strategic capability and other Army and Air Force units in the region,” John McGonigle, president, Genco Infrastructure Solutions, said in the statement.

GIS’s customers have included the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, the General Services Administration, and the U.S. Transportation Command. Genco is headquartered in Pittsburgh. ;