Motor carriers turning over more than third of their drivers every year, new research shows

Canada’s trucking industry faces a national average turnover rated of 35.8 percent amongst its drivers, according to Cerno Research Inc., which has just published an updated report focusing on the compensations practices of Canadian trucking operations.

Turnover rates amongst other employees were lower, but well ahead of the rates reported in Cerno Research’s national manufacturing study.

"High turnover rates cost money," comments Stephen Harrington, special projects director with Cerno Research. "Aside from the obvious costs there are costs involving training, managers assigned to turnover, and the new employee learning curve that can hurt earnings. Turnover is often caused when employees feel that the company has fallen behind the competition. It helps to have figures in black and white to back up your relative competitiveness."

With trucking companies looking at the possibility that they will need to weather an economic slow down before realizing more growth, this is an important time to take a close look at the human costs affecting the bottom line. Payroll costs are important to examine closely because they fluctuate according to the pressures on the employment market, much like product or service prices fluctuate according to pressures on the consumer market."

Cerno’s 2001 Trucking Operations Compensation & Benefits Reports are the only annual reports covering the trucking industry in Canada featuring both national and regional results. Produced in partnership with the Canadian Trucking Alliance and associated provincial trucking organizations, including the original sponsoring trucking organization the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA), the 2001 trucking report is based upon survey data collected from more than 294 Canadian trucking operations. The wage levels of more than 90,000 employees are represented in 94 different job descriptions ranging from junior employees to senior executives. The study also covers over 30 topics regarding employment policies and benefits.

Cerno Research has extensive experience in the publication of compensation and benefit reports. For the past six years Cerno has published the annual wage and salary report in partnership with the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (formerly the Canadian Manufacturers Assoc.) and also publishes regional data for executives, middle management, salaried and hourly employees.

For more information about this report contact Stephen Harrington, Cerno Research at 416-204-7855 or toll free at 1-877-28-CERNO