Author: rayhaight

Throughout my consulting years, I have helped dozens of companies that were struggling with retention and profitability.  I often ask a pivotal question during the process, especially in the context of the Carriers Edge “Best Fleets to Drive For” and TCA’s “Safest Fleets in North America” contests. What is it that distinguishes those fleets standing on stage accepting accolades from your own company? From an outsider’s perspective, the answer is not obvious. After all, every fleet—including yours—has trucks, drivers, and a support system striving to ensure timely pick-up and delivery. So, why aren’t you and your team up there in the limelight?

Looking Beyond the Obvious.

It would be fair to say that these recognized fleets have the same fundamental elements as any other company in the industry. But the difference goes deeper. Award-winning companies have a set of core values that are steadfast and non-negotiable. They are committed to performance, always striving to improve every aspect of their operation day after day.

The Importance of Culture

If you can nurture this kind of culture within your business, you’ll find yourself regularly standing on stage, accepting awards. If that’s not your current reality, you’re likely wondering what it takes to make it happen. The journey begins by acknowledging and taking responsibility for your present situation—the positives, the negatives, and everything in between. Without this ownership, you can’t move forward or build the high-performance culture you desire.

Accountability and Ownership

If your CSA scores are lacking, own it—you played a role in getting there. If turnover is higher than it should be, accept that your current setup produced those numbers. If profitability is declining and the path to recovery is unclear, recognise that as your responsibility. Too many unseated trucks putting pressure on your cash flow? That’s on you too. Before you can address these issues and steer your business in a new direction, you must accept that you created the environment that enabled subpar performance.

The Danger of the Blame Game

Allowing the blame game to take hold almost guarantees a cycle of excuses and deflected responsibility. Ultimately, the responsibility rests with you and your team. Poor CSA scores likely indicate that safety does not hold a strong enough position in your management structure. Safety is a moral obligation—both to the communities you serve and everyone within your company. Does your team have the authority needed to attain best-in-class performance?

Turnover is often a reflection of your company’s commitment to a driver-centric culture. What actions are you taking to improve retention? Are frontline workers engaged and empowered to contribute to these efforts? How do you encourage that engagement? If profitability is an issue, perhaps it’s because you’re too absorbed in day-to-day operations to focus on long-term improvements. Stability in daily operations, discipline, structure, and a collective commitment to higher standards are crucial for turning things around.

Building Community and Meaning

Just as we choose our communities and relationships for comfort and mutual support, a successful company stands apart by fostering a positive sense of community within its walls. Employees need to feel autonomy and believe their work contributes to overall success—work that is fulfilling and meaningful.

Self-Reflection

Ask yourself this: If you were a driver or Owner Operator seeking a carrier, would you choose your own company? If not, why? That’s an important starting point. Also consider: Would a carrier’s record of winning awards influence your decision on where to build your career?

Breaking Out of the Comfort Zone

So, why aren’t you representing your company on stage, collecting these awards? Only you can answer that. Is it possible that you’ve become comfortable with the status quo, settling for second best because it feels “good enough”? Breaking out of the mold of accepting less-than-optimal results isn’t easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is. Sometimes, “good” can be the enemy of “great.” The leaders of award-winning companies weren’t afraid to risk good performance for the chance at greatness. Achieving this requires a strong team, a solid plan, and leadership relentlessly focused on being the best. It’s never too late to start. If you’d like to discuss these ideas further, please reach out.

Regards

Rjh

In recent years, I’ve spent my time working alongside senior leadership in the truckload sector, helping them navigate the complex path toward their personal and corporate goals.

Like all of you, I’ve had many mentors. Some were formal guides; others were people I simply “parroted” because I admired their character or business acumen. I still look back on those influences with deep appreciation. However, it was a performance coach who truly shifted the trajectory of my life.

The Shift from Mentee to Leader

Entering a coaching relationship is a vulnerable step. You quickly realize you aren’t alone in your struggles; others have been there and found a way through. A great coach walks a delicate line: they guide and encourage you to find your own solutions, without “one-upping” your challenges or minimizing your experience.

My own journey into coaching was born out of necessity. My personal weakness was a feeling of subservience. I dropped out of school at 16 and began driving for my father at 18. By 23, both my parents were gone, and I was left with three trucks and a lot of questions. I wasn’t looking for sympathy—I was looking for a way forward.

Fast-forward 15 years: I was a partner, President, and COO of a 250-truck fleet. The strain of managing those “moving parts” was immense. It was around that time that I took on a coach who guided me through two life-changing epiphanies.

Epiphany #1: Owning the Room

My coach realized that while I believed in my eventual success, my self-confidence was low. I felt out of place among the “suits.” He helped me see that my common sense was my greatest driver and inner strength.

He pointed out that the bankers and insurance executives I dealt with were often risk-averse—unlike the entrepreneur running the business. This paradigm shift changed everything. I stopped being defensive. I began approaching high-stakes interactions with confidence rather than dread.

Epiphany #2: The Power of Personal Responsibility

The second breakthrough came through a course my coach recommended: Management by Responsibility (also known as PRIDE—Personal Responsibility in Developing Excellence) by Dr. Michael Durst.

The core concept is simple but radical: Taking total responsibility for every exchange in your life is the only way to move forward. I have often told leaders: If your company has high turnover, you must “own” it. You created the environment that led to that result. When you allow the “blame game” to take over—blaming operations, safety, or recruiting—you get stuck in a cycle of drama.

A company only reaches its potential when senior management has the maturity to grasp this. In a “Responsible Level” culture, no one looks for a “bad guy” when things go wrong. Instead, the team is laser-focused on the solution to ensure the problem does not repeat itself.

Do You Need a Coach?

Many people bristle at the idea of needing help. I can only speak from my own experience: having a safe space to discuss challenges and receive honest feedback was life-changing.

If you are feeling the strain of leadership or find your company stuck in the “blame game,” a coaching resource might be the catalyst you need to secure your future objectives.

Safe Trucking,

Ray Haight rayhaight.com

Some will make the point that the history of driver training might be better articulated by someone who has spent their entire life in the training industry rather than me. I cannot claim to understand or recount all the subtle nuances that have shaped driver training into what it is today. That said, I can speak to what I have personally experienced.

I recall, at a very young age, becoming aware of a new company in our area that was dedicated to the training of drivers in the late 1960s and early 1970s. At the time, this new service was intended to fill a growing need in trucking for new drivers, serving an industry that was expanding exponentially. Consumer demand for goods and services was no longer confined to local markets; it now included products and raw materials from across North America. Rail transportation could not keep pace with this surge in demand, and trucking was well positioned to fill the gap.

In local network operations, the demand for drivers was supplied primarily by rural communities—people who grew up on farms and in agricultural regions. These individuals generally had a solid understanding of mechanical equipment and possessed a work ethic rooted in seeing a job through to completion. This mindset was simply a daily norm of their lives.

I offer this snapshot of the past to set the stage for my own firsthand interaction with driver training. Fast forward a decade and a half. I had driven long-haul professionally for over a million accident-free miles across more than ten years and, through circumstances I won’t detail here, inherited a small trucking company consisting of three trucks. What mattered was that I suddenly found myself responsible for maintaining and occasionally hiring drivers. That was a real eye-opener for someone who had never employed anyone before. One quickly learns how a single hiring mistake can result in a mountain of pain.

Fast forward another decade. The company had grown to several hundred trucks and had developed a strong relationship with a local school offering a PTDI-certified course (Professional Truck Driver Institute). We hired both experienced drivers and new entrants, finishing the new drivers in our own training trucks with seasoned company drivers. The company was also actively involved with several transportation associations. I served as our liaison to the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA), based in Washington, D.C. In that capacity, I was later asked to chair TCA’s affiliate organization, PTDI, a role I held for six years.

At the time, PTDI had approximately 50-member training schools across the U.S. and Canada. Collectively, these schools assisted between 9,000 and 11,000 drivers annually in obtaining their tractor-trailer licenses through accredited training programs. The PTDI curriculum was rigid, thorough, and fully documented, with every element open to audit. It was time-based training, requiring a minimum of 160 hours, with explicit requirements for how much time was spent on every aspect of the job. PTDI employed independent auditors, and failure to adhere strictly to the standard resulted in a school losing its certification.

Here’s the rub.

If you’re a school that wants to place the best-qualified drivers into the industry, you are competing against a government minimum standard for entry-level drivers that amounts to little more than passing a short-written exam and a very limited road test. That road test was often administered by individuals who themselves lacked the qualifications necessary to properly evaluate a driver’s true capabilities behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer.

A licensing system originally designed for a time when demand for drivers was limited was allowed to persist far too long. It has lagged behind industry needs ever since. This reality—combined with the trucking industry’s lack of meaningful oversight and collaboration with the very system that supplies its labor force—has created the driver issues we continue to experience and read about daily.

For schools committed to producing the best drivers possible, the challenge has always been how to compete with schools whose sole mission is to train students to the bare minimum required to pass a road test. The cost differential between these two approaches runs into the many thousands of dollars. As a result, even schools that followed the PTDI curriculum or similarly rigorous programs were often forced to offer a lesser tier of training simply to remain financially viable.

Compounding the problem, I am not aware of any federal trucking association that has consistently championed minimum hours-based training standards before the FMCSA. I have stood on more than one bully pulpit attempting to convince my fellow trucking professionals that by failing to insist on high-quality training, we were guaranteeing our own future as substandard carriers with less-than-optimal returns.

Outrageously high turnover, nuclear verdicts, and a persistent image problem—one many have tried to rebrand from “job of last resort” to something aspirational—are just a few of the issues the industry has faced for decades due to its own short-sightedness. What a shame. Lives disrupted. Potential unrealized. All sacrificed to expediency and an inability to look beyond next month’s balance sheet.

Of course, there are companies that take a different path—those that engage in genuine strategic planning and place human capital at the center of their long-term vision. These companies are perennial winners of safety awards and “best fleets to drive for” recognitions. They often fly under the radar, seeking attention only through industry awards that showcase their people’s talents and efforts. They understand that investing in their workforce, supported by a thoughtful strategy and budget, is what truly differentiates them from the competition.

Regards

Rjh

Here’s a tip on retention, reveal the ugly. Before I get too far into the weeds in my reveal process, I observe that where driver turnover usually originates is an offshoot of some extenuating factors in the past. The company may have experienced rapid growth. The company might have been sold or amalgamated with another company. The company’s primary customer base or lanes may have switched, short-haul to long-haul. The company ownership might have passed on to the next generation; the primary funding source may have changed, bringing new outside influences. 

Here is a phrase I borrowed from Samuel Johnson for the Driver Retention Project Plan:

The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken

– Samuel Johnson 1709 – 1784

For us, in trucking, I relate this phrase to the unending variables we deal with, and the unproportionately low returns we receive. You simply cannot take your eyes off the ball in any department if you are running a trucking company; things are just too tight. Johnson said the trouble is you do not see them coming. Habits start so small they can go unnoticed until they are “too strong to be broken.” Turnover is creeping up, don’t worry about it. It will come back down as soon as this or that happens. Next thing you know, your numbers are out of line, and you can’t seem to bring them back down as they continue to deteriorate.

Most of my work done with carriers starts with a general conversation, which paints a picture for me. It is not unlike peeling the layers of an onion. To name a few they would be, what’s the fleet size? What type of trucking does the company do, flatbed, van, etc? What’s the safety record of the business? What are the current driver turnover numbers, and does that answer come with a lot of conjecture? How many unseated units do they have? What does the corporate structure look like and does it reveal a boss or a leader? Along with the all-important question of “What do you think the issue is”?

There is more, of course, but this can easily get a conversation started about the possible issues that cause the turnover. From here, I have a link to a survey that will reveal what people within the company perceive or certain aspects that are vital to retention. These would include safety, communication, culture, operational training and empathy, systems proficiency, consistency in driver contact, employee opportunity, etc. Once I have all the above, I can reasonably ascertain the gaps in company performance that are likely the significant factors contributing to its turnover.

Here is a tip for those companies that are worried about becoming victims of the above scenario. On your income statement, put a line item for turnover, monthly and year to date, if you lose ten drivers a month at 7k per driver, $70,000 a month, $840,000 in any given year. My thinking tells me that this number would be acted on much quicker than if it did not reveal this clearly, especially if it started to creep up with any momentum. Treat this as your ‘effective’ income. Drill this into your tea. Every time a driver leaves, they are taking a bag of cash with $7,000 with them. Now add gross margins from unseated units. All of this is, of course, is accounted for in other areas of your financials. Reveal them and see the eyes in the room roll. We know we can’t hire our way out of the current situation and if you believe as I do that standing still will make you a target. Time is a wasting folks. If you would like to have a general conversation on your company’s turnover, please reach out to me. Let’s see what we can see.

Regards and safe trucking,

Rjh

Over the last couple of years, I have talked to many trucking industry colleagues and have been fortunate enough to play a business coach’s role to a number of leaders. For me, and not to oversimplify the process, these folks all fall into one of two categories: bosses or leaders. Determining which is necessary as it dictates my approach to our future discussions. One way of finding out is simply to ask for an organizational chart. The conclusions revealed are influenced by the size of the business and through experience gained over the years. A boss will have far more lines coming off their names than a leader. The one to watch out for is an organizational chart that appears to be a leader, but in reality, the boss’s instinct is to be a fixer, and they will circumvent their senior managers’ authority and go right around them to get at the issue. Bosses just can’t help themselves and will continually circumvent the managers’ authority and minimize their roles. This is usually not a productive environment for anyone working under this type of structure. 

Definition: A boss is an individual who believes that the success of every effort in their business needs their direction and stamp of approval for it to be successful. They may require input from others, but rarely and when they do, it is usually taken in a cursory manner, and often it is asked only to support a decision they have already made. They determine their self-worth by the direction they give others. They look at themselves as THE problem solvers in the business and beware to any individual below them that were to make a decision on their own, successful or not, to move ahead without approval can be disastrous for the individual. Usually, these folks are not malicious in any way. They may have just not been exposed to anything that might vary from their version of what they see as leadership. I believe that most people’s natural inclination would be to be a boss, to take charge and get ‘er done!

When facing these individuals, my approach begins with trying to open them [RH1] to the value that others will bring to the table if they’re allowed. A leader looks at the organization from a different paradigm; they see their people as the key to success, not the obstacles to success. The difference leads to a workforce who checks their brains at the door and follows as best they can the role they were hired to do. I say as best they can because many companies run by bosses do not even have detailed role descriptions for their employees. The leader’s workforce not only gets a detailed role description; they are encouraged to think outside the box, express ideas, and challenge the norm. 

Definition: A Leader is an individual who sees delegation as their best friend. Leaders think long term whereas bosses think short term, leaders put people first where bosses put results first. Leaders understand that they must dedicate a significant amount of time working on their business, where a boss spends almost all of their time working in the business. In other words, leaders think and act strategically instead of spending all of their time bouncing between putting out fires that happen regularly. A leader will surround themselves with competent senior managers and then allow them to take action and manage with a considerable measure of autonomy to get the most out of their staff, coaching and encouraging the best from them while supporting their development. I have seen some relatively large companies, run by bosses, work very hard at trying to attract bright young minds into their companies only to lose them in short order. These new folks become frustrated very quickly if they are in an environment that does not allow them the autonomy to try new things and to learn. Being restrained from coloring outside the lines will have them looking at new opportunities as soon as they perceive a roadblock to advancement by a boss. 

I was a boss for too many years, and it almost cost me everything I had. I believe I came by it honestly. Coming directly out of the driver’s seat into running a small trucking company left me no knowledge of the difference between the two leadership styles. Through executive coaching and a ferocious appetite to read business books and biographies about successful leaders, I began to distance myself from the boss role into a leadership role.

It might sound cliché,’ but it began to become fun again when it started to be about the people rather than about me. It also began to be much more profitable. Suddenly, there was a real thrill in challenging people to take on new projects, giving them the tools to be successful and watching them as they gained confidence and looked for the next project to tackle. We posted every new job that came up to everyone in the company before we went outside our business, including our driving force. Every department had a budget for its people’s education, and they were encouraged to spend it. 

My mantra to my senior managers was to work towards making themselves obsolete. Their objective was to mold their department and their people into becoming self-sustaining. They were told to become coaches to their people, with the underlying principle being to ask what obstacles can I remove for you to become more efficient at your job. I was not impressed with managers who might spend an excessive amount of time in the office. This behavior meant they had no balance in their lives or could not coach and support their staff to become a high-functioning team. 

I felt successful when I was able to walk through our office and see clusters of people standing in group kibitzing, laughing, and having a good time. I could do this because I knew they were dedicated, knowledgeable people who were in line with what our company was trying to achieve. A boss could never do this; they would have nightmares over the loss of control this would represent.

Happy New Year and Safe Trucking.

Regards,

Rjh

One of many thoughts rolling around in my skull these days is a lesson many of us hear in our younger years. “Two ears, one mouth,” or maybe this one — “You will never learn a thing with your mouth open.” Although I still cherish the sentiment, there are many times I have added value to an effort as I tried to explain the essence of the project, either to an industry colleague or more likely, to my better half, Connie, and ideas have been enhanced through conversation.   

There were many times I felt inadequate as I sat in board rooms and listened to professional talking heads as they explained what was going on in my trucking company and what I should do next. After all, they had the credentials, they must have something figured out, and on top of that, they don’t stop talking. It took me years, and an outstanding business coach, to finally listen to my inner voice.  My coach repeatedly drilled into me that I needed to trust my instinct, that inner voice that many of us ignore in favor of cursory advice from so-called uninvested professionals. 

My thought process has advanced to the point where I value the principle that the accumulation of a single lesson learned every day is the secret. It is that small accumulation of ideas and experiences that add up to a person’s principles or standards of behavior — one’s judgment of what is essential in life and business. The accumulation of the victories, failures, and scars in and of themselves do not bring value unless we learn something from them. This wisdom comes from experience, not a classroom. I don’t have anything against formal education, far from it, but it can be limiting without hands-on experience. 

I feel extraordinarily lucky to be doing the many things I am now involved in. Holding the title of Truckload Carriers Association Profitability Program’s Retention Coach has allowed me into the inner workings of many companies. We talk about bettering a company’s driver retention, which, as my title suggests, is the primary goal, but what we’re talking about is the client’s company culture, which is at the core of the issue with almost all of the companies I talk to. 

Changing a company’s culture from where it began has precipitated changing the high driver turnover of the business into a place where people want to work and stay. It is monumental, no? Of course, not; I tell folks that during our work together, they will do the same things they are doing today but just in a different, more driver-centric, way. I call on ten years of experience driving long-haul. I call on running a successful trucking company as well as almost running a company into bankruptcy. I call on holding leadership roles in national trucking associations. Recently I have been able to call on the experience of working with dozens of trucking companies and seeing what has and has not worked in their efforts to improve their culture. Have no doubt that the culture at your company either brings drivers in and makes them feel valued and supported or drives them away without a second thought.

I am often asked for endorsements on my work, and I am fortunate to have several success stories that have been very generous with their support. I have also had companies that have not seen the success they should have, and I will take ownership of those experiences. How can one take ownership of the wins without addressing the ones that didn’t get what they expected? Changing company culture can be like trying to turn the Titanic — they don’t turn on a dime. It is the commitment component where things can wane. Just like the accumulation of one good thought a day that can mold a person into a valued resource, these things take time and patience that is just not as prevalent in many companies in our industry as we wish it were. 

I have recently become a virtual colleague with Brian Fielkow, the author of Making Safety Happen. His teachings mirror many of my own, but he goes at it through a different lens, and I love it. Brian owned Jetco and was faced with changing the culture from where it was into an industry leader in their safety culture, and he did it. Like my own, his offering is nothing more than a strategic plan predicated on learned experience and trial and error that resulted in success. You can find Brian’s offering at www.brianfielkow.com.  

The other common element that draws us together is legacy. Both Brian and I would like you to buy our products, after all we are and will always be entrepreneurs. But what drives our passion for what we do comes from our core values. I feel that if I can help a company drive its turnover down, I have helped numerous drivers from having to deal with the personal failure that comes with looking for new employment—that interruption in household income along with the family stress associated with turnover. In Brian’s case, if his program can help companies act in a manner that is dedicated to safety as a moral imperative, he has saved lives and the carnage that comes from heavy-vehicle accidents, workplace injuries, etc.

These days I am enjoying regular coaching calls with many good trucking company executives about turnover through the TCA.  If you’d like to learn more, they have a landing page for me that is located at www.truckload.org/about-tpp/tpp-retention-project.

Take Good Care and Safe Trucking.

Regards,

Rjh