Turnover Rates

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Landstar posted on Twitter that driver turnover at truckload carriers is now at 90 percent (see this) and that Landstar's is under 30 percent. Landstar Express America's (Landstar's expedite component) turnover rate is about 10 percent. Not bad, 'eh?
 

BigCat

Expert Expediter
They must be doing something right. Turnover IMHO is due to recruiters promising the world and once they are in it is not how it was portrayed.

I have heard great about LEA from drivers out on the road. More happy drivers than disgruntled I've noticed.


Mayfield Express

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Monty

Expert Expediter
Last count I had ... about 250 ..... May be different now.

One of the important things to mention, Landstar has no "drivers", they have folks who wish to run a business. And that is a mindset, more than a physical fact.

No one holds your hand and wipes your butt when things are not going your way, you are expected to put ya big boy boots on and wade in.

Was chatting yesterday with the lady who is going to buy my van, about my last load, where the shipper, logistics company and several folks got "involved" in the customs paperwork. It was a fricking mess! As they bantered back and forth over who was responsible for what, I was sitting .. so I just took care of it myself! Problem solved, and I was rolling.

If you have such a drive and ability, then you will be one of the successful one's at Landstar. If not, you may find yourself one of those 10% turnover numbers.
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
Last count I had ... about 250 ..... May be different now.

One of the important things to mention, Landstar has no "drivers", they have folks who wish to run a business. And that is a mindset, more than a physical fact.

No one holds your hand and wipes your butt when things are not going your way, you are expected to put ya big boy boots on and wade in.

Was chatting yesterday with the lady who is going to buy my van, about my last load, where the shipper, logistics company and several folks got "involved" in the customs paperwork. It was a fricking mess! As they bantered back and forth over who was responsible for what, I was sitting .. so I just took care of it myself! Problem solved, and I was rolling.

If you have such a drive and ability, then you will be one of the successful one's at Landstar. If not, you may find yourself one of those 10% turnover numbers.

If you have problems with a customer or consignee does not your agent help you out IF needed?
 

moose

Veteran Expediter
Under CSA BASIC scores, frequent DRIVER turn over have been recognized as a safety hazard.
& rightly so.
yet the FMCSA will NOT collect nor report CARRIER turn over rate.

without doing so, the OP will be buried in basements away from drivers/shippers/insurance/ambulance chasers/ DoT & the general public knowledge.

without a unified collection system, such Data can easily be manipulated, & probably is.
 

DannyD

Veteran Expediter
I don't keep exact counts, but I'd say the last 10 Landstar drivers I've ran into at the docks were happy as pigs in mud w/ em. That says quite a bit IMO. No other company is even close. Did you know that Landstar also has local routes in various cities? Or at least in Detroit they do. Not 100% sure about other cities, but I'm guessing if they've got em around here they've got em in other cities also. I've ran into a few of those type drivers around here too.
 

Dynamite 1

Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
i dont know about the " no one else is even close " i bet our turnover rate is close to that !!!!!

i also bet 9 out of 10 load one contractors are happy as pigs in mudd.
 

Moot

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Landstar posted on Twitter that driver turnover at truckload carriers is now at 90 percent (see this) and that Landstar's is under 30 percent. Landstar Express America's (Landstar's expedite component) turnover rate is about 10 percent. Not bad, 'eh?
Not bad compared to what? I believe Landstar's TL divisions are 100% O/O and fleet owners. 30% turnover looks good next to an industry wide average of 90%. But, no distinction was made between O/O carriers and carriers with mostly company drivers like Swift. How does 30% turnover compare to other all O/O TL carriers?

LEAM with a 10% turnover rate is very impressive and I'm sure they have one of the lowest turnover rates in expedite along with Load One. I think I know what expedite carrier probably has the highest turnover rate.
 

Brisco

Expert Expediter
One of the important things to mention, Landstar has no "drivers", they have folks who wish to run a business. And that is a mindset, more than a physical fact.

Exact same thing came to my mind too........

Phil took an article that covers "Trucking" in general and compared it to an Industry (Expediting) that only makes up maybe 1% of the Truckers out there overall.

Didn't he do a LOT of this stuff too (post articles like this) when he was Cheerleading for the Fed all those years? :)

i dont know about the " no one else is even close " i bet our turnover rate is close to that !!!!!

i also bet 9 out of 10 load one contractors are happy as pigs in mudd.

I know of a driver that wasn't happy at Load One. Something to do with Non-Forced Dispatching....or something like.........:p
 

xmudman

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Something to do with Non-Forced Dispatching....or something like.........:p

Shows how little I know. I thought "forced dispatch" meant being sent from the Bronx to Boston. On a rainy Friday. Deadheading from Elkton, MD. With crappy pay and nothing extra for tolls. :(
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Not bad compared to what? I believe Landstar's TL divisions are 100% O/O and fleet owners. 30% turnover looks good next to an industry wide average of 90%. But, no distinction was made between O/O carriers and carriers with mostly company drivers like Swift. How does 30% turnover compare to other all O/O TL carriers?

You said it yourself. Thirty percent is not bad when compared to 90 percent.

I have never seen turnover statistics published that drill further down and distinguish between owner-operators (self-employed) and company drivers (employees). That information may be publicly available somewhere but I do not know where.

Guessing now, I would think that if the turnover rate among a carrier's company drivers (employees) is 90 percent, the turnover rate among owner-operators would be that much or greater. Owner-operators do not receive employee benefits like company drivers do and they value and often exercise their freedom. Can you imagine a real-world scenario in which owner-operator turnover at a carrier would be less than company driver turnover? If things are bad enough at a company (or that much better elsewhere) that company drivers are turning over at a 90 percent rate, I can't imagine owner-operators hanging around for long.

I do not know anything about this ATA statistic beyond its face value. It may be that owner-operator turnover is much higher than that of employee drivers and that owner-operators contribute a disproportional amount to the overall stat. I don't know. Just thinking out loud here.

The turnover stat cited in the ATA's monthly Trucking Activity Report has been regularly published for years and is used by many as one of several indicators that helps gauge the status of the trucking industry.

You ask a good and interesting question, Moot, but without data, it will remain unanswered. Even without an answer, the fact remains that among truckload drivers of all types, a 30 percent turnover rate is better than 90 percent; and 10% (approximate) is excellent in and of itself.
 

Dynamite 1

Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
Exact same thing came to my mind too........

Phil took an article that covers "Trucking" in general and compared it to an Industry (Expediting) that only makes up maybe 1% of the Truckers out there overall.

Didn't he do a LOT of this stuff too (post articles like this) when he was Cheerleading for the Fed all those years? :)



I know of a driver that wasn't happy at Load One. Something to do with Non-Forced Dispatching....or something like.........:p

he would be the one outta ten.
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
Turnover numbers have little value unless you know what the number represents. As mentioned, are you talking contractors, independents, or something different. Then it gets more complicated if you are trying to blend or compare the truckload industry to that of the expedite industry.
Even on expedite, are you talking regulated drivers only, all drivers, only fleet drivers, or O/O's.
Adding van drivers will drive that number up regardless of the carrier because you are talking a more inexperienced transient crowd. Sorry vanners.:cool:
But to be fair to the vanners, the regulated drivers do have a few that are in search of that "non forced dispatch carrier" that they can't seem to find.
For carriers that do experience high turnover, the answer is usually staring right at them. Some figure it out, and others throw piles of cash into a recruiting department to keep up when it wasn't necessary to begin with.
 

purgoose10

Veteran Expediter
Last count I had ... about 250 ..... May be different now.

One of the important things to mention, Landstar has no "drivers", they have folks who wish to run a business. And that is a mindset, more than a physical fact.

No one holds your hand and wipes your butt when things are not going your way, you are expected to put ya big boy boots on and wade in.

Was chatting yesterday with the lady who is going to buy my van, about my last load, where the shipper, logistics company and several folks got "involved" in the customs paperwork. It was a fricking mess! As they bantered back and forth over who was responsible for what, I was sitting .. so I just took care of it myself! Problem solved, and I was rolling.

If you have such a drive and ability, then you will be one of the successful one's at Landstar. If not, you may find yourself one of those 10% turnover numbers.

I remember in 2003 when I was there it was 750 BCO Expediters. Wonder where they went??
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
No need to complicate the simple. If a carrier had 1000 trucks and 900 left, you have no turnover if you haven't replaced the 900. You are now a carrier with 100 trucks with no turnover.
My phone is now ringing with a new recruiting opportunity.;)
 
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