Since the beginning of 2020, WorkHound has been collecting driver feedback on everything from pay to COVID-19, safety and logistics. Drivers were sent open-ended questions via text message to their phones weekly, garnering responses from more than 7,000 drivers in the six-month period. 

Of the more than 18,000 responses, a total of 1,614 were related to COVID-19. Feedback on this topic peaked in April, with approximately 23% of responses related to the outbreak, which coincided with the nation-wide lockdown beginning a few weeks previously.

The drivers included those that:

• work with fleets as small as 61 trucks to more than 2,000 trucks

• consist of a mix of dry van, reefer, tanker, intermodal, flatbed, and expedited freight fleets

• 77% of which are company drivers

• 23% of which are owner operators

On average, WorkHound received 3,066 responses a month, with March and April being the highest months. When looking at comments by sentiment, 30.3% were positive, 34.6% were negative, and 35.1% were considered neutral.

The top five topics revolved around (in order) logistics, equipment, pay, people and praise. And while comments about safety had one of the lowest volumes, they we marked with the highest urgency by drivers. Surprisingly, comments about COVID-19 had the lowest rates of urgency.

Included in the recent WorkHound report on these finding were themes for each of the top five topics, which included:

• Logistics

  • Load availability/preplanning

  • Wait times

  • Load information

  • Fuel planning

• Equipment

  • Drivers are dissatisfied with their trucks

  • Technology continues to be a source of frustration

  • Tension with technicians

  • Lack of trailers

  • Focus on facilities

• Pay

  • Hazard pay

  • Reimbursements for time spent sitting and waiting

  • Making efficient use of driver time

  • Payment accuracy

• People

  • Recognizing supportive staff

  • Trucking as a people business

  • Accountability

  • Value high levels of open communication

• Communication

  • Dispatch missing or not returning calls

  • Feedback not being listened to or acted on

  • Unprofessional or rude style of communication

  • Dishonesty

  • General lack of transparency