Transport Resource Systems (TRS), a carrier support services company based in the Tampa Bay area in Florida is making an impact on the trucking industry by helping carriers reduce turnover ratios across the country. With annual driver turnover ratios at most U.S. based truck load carriers averaging in excess of 100% (one hundred percent) per year, Transport Resource Systems has developed a number of services provided to both carriers and drivers designed to bring that number down and according to many industry experts it’s working.

During the initial launch of Transport Resource Systems in the spring of 2009 the company set out to make a difference in the industry by offering carriers various support services including some that target driver turnover. One such program offered by TRS is billed as the company’s “driver retention service”. There are several levels of driver retention services provided to trucking company’s by TRS that carriers can purchase ranging from TRS making phone calls to drivers on behalf of the company to do things such as conduct surveys with drivers on a regular basis that are designed to allow the carrier to gain an understanding of how their drivers are feeling about their employer as a whole and at the same time the TRS service helps carriers to identify those individual drivers that may be considering leaving the company before it’s too late to do anything about it.

Many carriers have reported that having access to the data TRS produces from these types of services in real time has allowed carriers to quickly and effectively take the appropriate action to solve driver/carrier problems before they progress to the point the driver decides to leave the company resulting in many drivers establishing longer tenure with their employers which equates to the bottom line of the carrier. In addition to the driver retention services offered to carriers by Transport Resource Systems, TRS also offers services to individual experienced drivers who are actively looking for a job as well as those individuals seeking the best method of entering the industry by obtaining a class A CDL to start a new driving career.

For a small fee TRS interviews individual drivers to find out exactly what’s most important to them in a driving job. In addition TRS asks each driver interviewed to complete a fourteen point questionnaire on the company’s website. This process allows TRS to glean information about what’s most important to each individual driver ranging from issues such as maximizing earning potential, to the importance of time at home, to the drivers desire (or lack thereof) to load/unload trailers themselves, to the drivers emphasis on finding a carrier with the best benefits package available along with many other areas that are important to most drivers looking for a job. The outcome according to many industry experts is experienced drivers finding the carrier that best fits them without going from company to company to figure it out on their own for themselves.

The Transport Resource Systems business unit that appears to be the company’s fastest growing division this year according to company executives is the “New Driver Division” where the company uses many of the same principles involved in the experienced driver division to help individuals looking to start a new career as a professional heavy truck driver find the right company for them, right out of the gate.

As with the company’s experienced driver division TRS utilizes it’s fourteen point questionnaire along with a personal interview with a Transport Resource Systems representative to help new drivers identify the carrier that will best match the new drivers needs and in addition the program is designed to help new drivers get into the industry without having to make the type of up-front investment usually required to get a class A CDL and a job as a professional driver. TRS is able to do this through the company’s long standing relationship with its carrier clients by making arrangements with carriers to pay what’s typically the up front, “out of pocket” expenses associated with attending a truck driving School.

With truck School tuition fee’s exploding to between $5000 to $7000 over the past decade the TRS new driver program has allowed many new drivers to break into the industry that otherwise would have been unable to do so by the TRS new driver program getting carriers to write the check up front for drivers to attend a truck School to get their CDL, and get hired. There are a few catches to the up-front cost being paid by the employer as there are no free lunches but many new drivers are more than willing to accept the terms. For instance in most cases a driver participating in the TRS new driver program will need to pay a small service fee and must be willing to commit to working for the carrier for about a year.

During that time most drivers pay their employer back around $45 a week, but with the average new driver coming out of the TRS program earning an average of $800 - $900 per week in their first year it’s typically not a problem according to industry analysts. In addition, once a new driver completes his first year with the company he owes the carrier nothing and is able to work wherever he chooses. When compared to the cost and obligation of attending a truck driver School through traditional means of the driver paying the tuition up front the result is what most consider to be much better for the driver given drivers paying their tuition up front themselves normally do so by getting a high interest loan with finance charges running into the thousands due to interest rates on such loans ranging from 15% - 20%. Drivers going that route are usually saddled with $300 a month payments for about 48 months (four years) compared to owing nothing at the end of a year by enrolling in the Transport Resource Systems New Driver Program.