Recruiting & Hiring
Driver Turnover Rate
Driver turnover rate measures the share of a carrier's driver workforce that leaves over a given period, usually expressed as an annualized percentage. Trucking is widely known for comparatively high turnover relative to many other industries, which keeps recruiting running continuously just to maintain current headcount, not only to grow it.
Driver turnover rate is typically calculated as the number of drivers who separate from a carrier during a period divided by the average number of drivers employed during that period, annualized for comparison across fleets of different sizes. Turnover can be broken down by tenure (first 30/60/90 days versus long-tenured drivers), by terminal, by fleet type (OTR versus regional versus dedicated), and by voluntary versus involuntary separations. Because replacing a driver involves recruiting, screening, and onboarding costs, a high turnover rate compounds recruiting workload: a fleet with significant turnover may need to source and seat several drivers a year just to hold a single truck's headcount steady.
Why it matters for recruiting and operations
Turnover rate is the clearest signal of whether a carrier has a hiring problem or a retention problem — a fleet that hires well but loses drivers in the first 90 days needs to fix onboarding and early support, not just generate more leads. Many carriers track 30/60/90-day retention specifically because early departures are usually the most preventable and the most expensive to keep replacing.
Related terms
Where this shows up in Fleegital
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