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Free Spirits and the Pursuit of Happiness
What would Thomas Jefferson do today if he were a truck driver? Most likely, if
he wasn’t happy in his job he’d quit and look for something better. After all, he
wrote that we live in a country with the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness. When we—all of us, drivers and non-drivers alike—don’t “feel” our job
satisfies our life, our liberty, or our happiness…we move on. But here’s the rub;
it’s easy for some to move on and impossible for others. Just look around, most
employees are fixed in their job. For the most part, most employees stay put in
their job, their home, their community, and their dreams. Why? Because most
employees are connected to the people, places, and things around them.
Change isn’t easy. Most employees don’t have the opportunity for change, or
tremble at the risk change could entail. But…truck drivers are not cut from the
same cloth as most employees. They are different. And that difference is what
makes driver turnover so challenging.
Driver turnover rates reaching 100 percent and higher make one think there is
something wrong with the drivers when it comes to carrier retention efforts. But is
that the case? Maybe the drivers are not the problem. Maybe trucking is an
industry where the essence or spirit of the work revolves around mobility,
handling change, and a pursuit of happiness. Maybe understanding the free spirit
of the drivers and helping them in their pursuit of their happiness could impact
turnover; or at least take the focus off turnover and put the concept of turnover to
rest as a permanent cost of doing business in the trucking industry. Really, when
you roll your fleet of drivers over at least once a year, one must assume a) this is
normal and b) we don’t understand the driver’s pursuit of happiness well enough.
Also, let’s just assume that drivers are free spirits. How can we begin to
understand the nature of these individuals and high turnover rates?
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What comes to mind are movies from the past, the westerns. Remember the
cowboys? If you ever saw a western, it’s a good bet you’d think of the cowboy as
one of the original free spirits. They embodied Jefferson’s belief in life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness. They rode the wide open range. Traveled alone
most of the time from town to town. Dealt with unknown and unexpected events
at almost every turn of the trail. They were placed in peril by the weather,
strangers, or distrust. They rode alone with much time to think…to ponder their
life. Their families, if they had a family, shared only a fraction of their time. They
ate when they could. Slept when they could. Washed up when they could.
Sometimes we called them good guys. Sometimes we called them bad guys. But
they were free. They saw more of the world than most of their counterparts. And
they had great stories to tell. Finally, at least in the movies, they always had a
dream of a great future that pulled them along. Now, let's move from the Wild
West to today's wild workplace. Where are the cowboys? They are still here. But
now they're riding iron horses and passing us on our roads 24/7 while taking our
goods to the marketplace. The spirits of these individuals, the drivers and the
cowboys, are transparent. It’s a different time but the free spirits are the same.
That said, how do you rein in today’s free spirits? Or can you? Here are a few
thoughts on these matters.
Mobility is at the heart of a truck driver’s lifestyle. It’s no argument that these
individuals are in constant motion. They travel from coast to coast seeing
different sunrises and sunsets almost daily. From the moment they entered the
business, their role has been to “move” freight. Even though they may sit for long
hours in the cab of their truck, they are in motion. With that thought in mind, the
driver is in constant motion and must remain in motion to earn his or her living.
Mobility becomes the soul of these individuals and a requirement for survival.
Much like a shark needs to keep moving to prevent from drowning, a driver must
continue to move to keep from drowning in debt. Carriers should know this. But
can they attend to this need and balance the driver’s pursuit of happiness with it?
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Constant change and decision making follows the driver’s state of mobility. Just
think about all of the variables encountered on the road. For lack of a better way
to phrase this, what would you do to “be happy” or “avoid pain” when you’re on
the road and encounter bad weather, accidents, route changes, poor health,
become hungry or thirsty, need a bathroom break, experience violence and road
rage, have mechanical breakdowns, have a lack of support, or experience family
problems when you’re on the road? We don’t want to seem negative but
sometimes these situations drive us more than the desire to see pleasant
sunsets or sunrises. Change and decision-making for personal benefit engrains
itself in a driver’s life. It would be easy to say it is their survival gene that takes
over in many cases. After all, in most cases, they are physically, mentally, and
emotionally “on their own” almost all of the time they drive.
The Pursuit of Happiness is part of the nature of all individuals. We seek to grow,
to evolve, to be better, and have a better life. It is a part of our makeup. But the
question becomes, do we all pursue happiness? In most cases, because of our
“fixed status” in life we don’t. We said this earlier. However, here is where the
drivers really shine as being different. They have the ability to pursue happiness.
These individuals are beholding to themselves, even if they are part of an
organization. The industry trains drivers to survive on their own. The industry
gives them freedom and autonomy. The industry also gives them opportunity to
change carriers simply because of the vacancies and shortages of drivers which
abound as well as the demand for high volume in freight hauling. Consider this,
when you 1) create independent confident drivers, 2) have an industry where a
strong demand for their knowledge, skills, and abilities exits, 3) know that they
have a inner desire to always do better, 4) then stifle them in even the most trivial
way, and 5) know someone else will hire them; you have the 5 step recipe for
losing drivers. It’s not rocket science.
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But the true problem appears to be: will drivers stay even when carriers are
attempting to satisfy their needs? Burn this next statement into your mind. Most
of us have the nature to seek or purse a better life and whatever that entails if we
aren’t happy and have the opportunity to change. Drivers are no different. Also,
note that our place of work may change but our roles rarely do. Accountants stay
accountants; machinists stay machinists; and drivers stay drivers. Career change
happens but for drivers, not as frequently. Just remember, people stay where
they are happy and find their needs met.
Just stop and think about that interesting fact: drivers don’t stop driving. They just
ride a horse from a different ranch. Most don’t leave the industry. They love the
lifestyle for what ever reasons. They are the cowboys and if they don’t like what’s
happening…they “move” on. That’s the kicker. They have the opportunity to
move on and they do. They have the confidence and identity of a survivor and
thriver. When they are on the road, despite the rules, regulations,
communications, and economics, they are in control of their lives and their
pursuit of happiness. Rein them in and they are gone. Treat them unfairly and
they are gone. Give them no respect or support and they are gone. The drivers—
cowboys—are at home on the range, anywhere. So, what’s a carrier to do?
The answer is simple. A carrier is to do the best they can! And that would be to
understand the nature of the driver and try to relate to each and every driver as
an individual. Why? Because little problems grow into big reasons to quit. Drivers
have a lot of “alone” time to think, feel, and do something when they have a
problem. Carriers can nurture the need of drivers for mobility and change. But
along with this nurturing is walking a fine line defining control or autonomy. Think
of it like this, if a carrier views turnover as the loss of control of a driver, carriers
will lose drivers. Remember, drivers are beholding to themselves, just like the
cowboys. All these folks want is support in the terms of fair wages, decent
working conditions, and personal freedom. Like the saying goes, anybody can
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drive a truck, but not everybody can make it as a truck driver. Knowing and
respecting this will keep everyone happy in the long haul.
Jim DePillo has 18 years of experience within the transportation and logistics
field and is the president of RTE Associates. RTE specializes in organization
development and process consulting for the transportation industry.
Stan Poduch is a doctoral candidate in Workforce Education and Development
at Penn State University. He is an independent researcher, writer, and educator
focusing upon workplace knowledge, employee self-development, and rules-ofthumb.
Jim DePillo and Stan Poduch are the co-authors of True Stories of Driver
Turnover: Translating the Driver’s Perspective. For more information on True
Stories of Driver Turnover (ISBN# 1-4180-1104-5, $35.95) please call 1-800-4773692, visit www.trainingbay.com/truck, or send an email to
jennifer.stall@thomson.com.
The authors may be contacted at RTEASSOCIATES.COM