Unicru Inc., Portland, Ore., has released the results of a survey conducted by at the Truckload Carrier Assn. March convention in Las Vegas.

According to Unicru, a provider of human resources technology and services, carriers plan to address safety performance in 2005 through increased driver screening. Screening followed closely by improved driver retention, and the integration of safety in hiring, firing and benefits compensation.
In a presentation entitled Building a Safety-Conscious Driver Organization, Adam Mertz, senior manager of transportation workforce solutions at Unicru, said, "Hiring practices directly affect safety performance, yet many carriers take what they can get from their recruiting process.”
A $25,000 accident to a carrier with a two percent profit margin results in the operator needing to generate an additional $1.25 million in revenue to pay for the losses, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Moving beyond the DOT-required background checks is a step in the right direction, but only 35 percent of those surveyed indicated they coupled background checks with other screening tools, such as job-fit screening questions.
Unicru results also found that only 21 percent of respondents indicated they had automated any portion of the hiring process. Those that that had integrated screening and hiring through automation reported an average driver turnover of 23 percent, compared to an average turnover of 69 percent for carriers still relying on a paper-based hiring system.
For more information, visit www.unicru.com.