Hiring new tow truck drivers is not an easy task and comes with a huge price. The recruiting process can be very lengthy and tedious resulting in lots of time and energy on your part. For example, you have to screen all your applicants for driving violations and criminal records. Once they pass the screening you hold interviews and the ones who are hired go onto training.
As you can see, constantly hiring new drivers isn’t very cost-effective for your towing business. So, if you want to cut costs and reduce your efforts, you should focus on driver retention.
Therefore, here are a few ways you can retain your tow truck drivers.
Retaining Your Tow Truck Drivers
1. Pay More and Offer Benefits
Pay is often a major factor in driver retention. As you know, being a tow truck driver is a physically demanding job. It’s also very risky considering a tow truck driver is killed once every 6 days according to AAA.
Therefore, if you want to improve your retention rate, you should offer a higher salary, good benefits, and yearly bonuses.
2. Value Your Drivers
You can increase the loyalty among your tow truck drivers by showing them you care. This goes far beyond just stating your company values drivers, your actions must match this.
Did you know respect was one of the main reasons many tow truck drivers leave? Many report feeling unappreciated considering the difficulty and risks involved with being a tow truck driver. If your drivers feel unappreciated they’ll start to resent you and find work elsewhere.
To combat this issue, there are several ways you can show your drivers you appreciate them:
- Prioritize work/life balance
- Ask your drivers for feedback
- Have an employee of the month program with rewards
- Set up a mentorship program for new hires
- Be understanding of time-off requests
3. Upgrade Your Trucks
You can simplify your drivers daily tasks by upgrading their trucks and equipment. Such as, purchasing newer trucks with more comfortable seating or adding up-to-date equipment that’ll make the towing process much easier.
So, upgrades can make a huge difference in the satisfaction levels of your drivers. Not only does it put less strain on them physically, but it allows them to perform their duties more efficiently.
4. Revamp Your Training
Through continued training, you can keep your drivers’ knowledge and safety procedures up-to-date. Tow truck drivers want to feel like their safety is of top priority, so having regularly scheduled training with your drivers can help.
Also, instilling the importance of safety into your training can create an overall healthy and safe work environment.
5. Provide Them with the Equipment They Need
Providing your tow truck drivers with the personal protection equipment they need is crucial. For example, when operating their equipment to load the vehicle onto their truck they need heavy-duty gloves to protect their hands. They also need reflective jackets and protective eyewear.
Loading and unloading a disabled vehicle is not an easy job. That means there’s a wide range of risks involved so tow truck drivers want to feel like they’re protected.
Conclusion
If you want to retain your tow truck drivers, you have to value them, pay them fairly, and offer quality benefits. Also, you should provide them with the means to be successful by upgrading their equipment, providing them with PPE, and require regular training.
Source
https://www.amgdriverrecruitment.com/4-effective-ways-to-retain-truck-drivers-and-keep-them-happier/
