Driver turnover cost calculator

    Driver turnover is expensive well beyond the cost of recruiting a replacement. Every day a truck sits unseated after a driver leaves, it isn't earning revenue. This calculator combines recruiting cost, onboarding/training cost, and lost revenue from unseated days to show the full cost of each departure, multiplied across how many drivers you lose in a year.

    Enter your numbers

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    Cost per departure

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    Total annual turnover cost

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    How it's calculated

    Cost per departure = recruiting cost per hire + onboarding/training cost + (unseated days × daily revenue per truck)
Total annual turnover cost = cost per departure × drivers who left per year

    Frequently asked questions

    The number of days a truck sits without a driver between the departure and the next driver being seated and running loads — not just hired, but actually on the road.

    Divide a typical truck's weekly gross revenue by 5–7 operating days, or use your own fleet average. It's your assumption, so the result is only as accurate as that number.

    Include that in 'onboarding/training cost' — it should cover orientation, any paid training time, and ride-along or mentor pay for the new driver.

    Cost per hire measures what it costs to fill a seat. This calculator measures what it costs every time a seat empties — recruiting the replacement plus the revenue lost while the truck sat idle.

    Turnover varies widely by fleet type and lane, and no single industry figure applies to every carrier, so this calculator intentionally doesn't assume one — use your own historical driver turnover rate.

    Want help fixing the number, not just seeing it?

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