In the midst of an ever-changing trucking industry, trucking companies are finding new ways to rectruit, retain, and train truck drivers.

Driver Series Articles from the Print Issue

Part 1: Driver Pay - Making the Grade

Throwing money at a problem isn’t always the solution. But if you need to find and keep long-haul truck drivers in today’s competitive job market, how much to increase their pay — in one form or another — has to be a key tactical consideration.

Part 2: With Driver Training, Talk is Not Cheap

How you communicate with and train drivers can pay dividends in safe and efficient operations and in lower turnover.

Part 3: How to Prevent Truck Driver Fatigue

Don’t focus so much on hours of service compliance and electronic logging devices that you fail to address the underlying causes of truck driver fatigue.

Additional Articles:

Fleet Survey Shows Business is Great, Drivers are Scarce

The driver shortage is still affecting two-thirds of survey respondents, with a number commenting that if they could find the qualified drivers, there’s plenty of business for them to add trucks to put them in.

DOT Digs into Data on Driver Detention

A DOT audit report finds that the FMCSA’s current plan to collect data on driver detention is insufficient to the point that any such data collected “may not accurately describe how the diverse trucking industry experiences driver detention, which would limit any further analysis of [detention’s] impacts.”

Uber: Self-Driving Trucks Could Help Alleviate Driver Shortage

Mixed fleets with self-driving long-haul trucks and traditional human-driven regional routes could help the trucking industry address the problem of an aging driver workforce.

Fleets are Chasing Drivers with Better Pay and Quality of Life

In the past few months, many fleets have increased wages in an attempt to find and keep new drivers. Facing high turnover and fewer entrants to the industry, these companies are competing for a pool of talent that is only thinning out each year. But the life of a truck driver can be difficult, and improving pay is only one way to reach them. As a result, fleets are introducing innovative pay packages to help improve quality of life as well.

A Look Behind Baylor Trucking's Driver Pay Raise and Driver Appreciation

“We’re not going to do gimmicks, we’re not going to do asterisks. That’s not who we are. We’ve never had a sign-on bonus and we’re never going to have one. We want you to come here because you believe in us and believe in what we’re doing here, and you trust us to treat you right.”

Commentary: Money Is Not the Only Thing That Speaks to Truck Drivers

The past couple of months have seen a flurry of announcements from fleets raising driver pay. But some are trying something a little different than the usual per-mile increases by also addressing some of the personal and human factors behind driver satisfaction.

Commentary: Why You Should Care About Driver Wellness

Trucking companies care about driver turnover rates and safety, but most have yet to make the connection between these concerns and driver wellness, says HDT's new driver wellness columnist.