The driver turnover rate among large-truckload carriers experienced its largest quarterly decrease in 10 years during the 2006 first quarter, the American Trucking Associations reported.
ATA, which began collecting driver turnover statistics in 1995, reported that turnover for large-truckload carriers was at a 116% annual rate for the first three months of the year. This figure was 20 percentage points below the 2005 fourth quarter rate of 136%.
“Softer freight volumes and looser capacity during the quarter likely helped lower the rate of turnover,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “However, the rate still remains high and hasn't been below 100% since the fourth quarter of 2002.”
Small-truckload carriers saw the average turnover rate increase slightly to 111%, marking the highest annualized rate on record. Reports from carriers indicate that a number of large truckload fleets are reducing some of their long-haul freight to accommodate drivers' preferences to spend more time at home.
The less-than-truckload linehaul driver annualized turnover rate was 13% during the 2006 first quarter, compared with 17% in the previous three-month period. Both small-truckload and less-than-truckload fleets experienced reductions in total employment during the first quarter of this year. Despite a contraction in the local driver pool, the employee base of large truckload carriers increased by 1.9% during the same period. The number of linehaul drivers rose 1.8% for this group, ATA said.