blog home Truck Accidents High Trucker Turnover Endangers Everyone on the Road

High Trucker Turnover Endangers Everyone on the Road

By Jason Bottlinger on December 14, 2022

Experience matters in any job. And it makes a huge difference in the trucking industry. Inexperienced drivers make more mistakes, and those mistakes cost people their lives.

In recent years, several factors have combined to cause a surge in the number of people who are leaving the trucking industry. Poor working conditions, low pay, and long hours are some of the reasons why so many truckers are looking for new career opportunities.

What’s Causing the High Turnover Rate?

Truck driver turnover is the percentage of new drivers that trucking companies must hire every year. Churn is the number of employees who leave a company in a given period of time. Truck driver turnover is especially high for larger carriers, reaching 90 to 100 percent. That means every year companies are replacing almost as many drivers as they have working for them.

Truck driving has always been a difficult job, and it’s gotten tougher in recent years due to supply chain problems resulting from the Covid 19 epidemic. Truckers work long shifts and they may drive as many as 3000 miles per week. Big companies frequently avoid compensating drivers as regular employees by designating them to be independent contractors.

Trucking is one of the most dangerous jobs in America, with injuries caused by collisions, loading and unloading cargo, chemical exposure, and sitting for long periods of time. It’s no wonder that burnout causes so many drivers to exit the field. Factors contributing to the high churn rate for truck drivers include:

  • Long, unpaid wait times to receive cargo
  • An aging workforce
  • Low wages
  • Loneliness
  • High stress levels
  • Poor job satisfaction
  • Time spent away from friends and family
  • Lack of benefits

Inexperienced Drivers Make Us All Less Safe

It just makes sense that the longer you do something, the better you get at it. That’s why high driver turnover causes truck crashes. Overall, trucking companies with the highest turnover rates have drivers with substantially lower Compliance, Safety, and Accountability (CSA) scores.

Drivers who are new to the industry have higher crash rates and more moving violations. And drivers who frequently change jobs within the industry are also less safe. Each time a driver switches jobs, they have to adjust to new routes, new vehicles, new types of cargo, and different procedures.

Because the current demand for truckers is so high, companies will often hire unqualified drivers, and that puts everyone on the road at risk. And these companies often fail to keep tabs on new drivers and provide them with sufficient onboarding.

Hazards that lead to truck crashes are much more common for new drivers. Inexperienced drivers are particularly susceptible to collisions caused by the following circumstances:

Were You Harmed by a Negligent Truck Driver in Omaha?

You shouldn’t have to pay for your own medical expenses if you were hurt by someone else’s careless behavior. If a reckless driver or a negligent trucking company caused your injuries, our Omaha truck accident lawyer will investigate the accident and file a claim to help you get the money you need to pay your medical bills and other expenses caused by the accident.

Bottlinger Law, L.L.C. has a perfect A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau of Nebraska. Call (402) 505-8234 to schedule a FREE consultation today. Remember: you won’t have to pay us anything unless we win your case.

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Posted in: Truck Accidents

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