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.