Going extra mile earns loyalty from workers

11:04 PM CDT on Saturday, July 21, 2007

When asked what's more important, the chicken or the egg, the right answer is both. And so it is with an enterprise's customers and workforce - you can't have one without the other. Yet many companies invest more in attracting and maintaining good customers and little in their No. 1 asset - the workforce.

Not so at Dallas trucking company Greatwide Logistics Services, where chief commercial officer Dick Metzler says the greatest challenge is to "find, win and keep the hearts and minds of the drivers." Mr. Metzler is head of sales, marketing, mergers and acquisitions, all of which is meaningless if he doesn't have wheels turning.

Unfortunately for Greatwide and other long-haulers, the trucking industry faces a dire shortage of future truckers - by the hundreds of thousands. Driving a big rig is tough, demanding work. Today's generation doesn't share baby boomers' fascination with the open road. So it's no surprise that research shows that experienced drivers are retiring without younger replacements.

It's what Mr. Metzler refers to as the "pig in the python," meaning that trucking companies have enjoyed great prosperity on the backs of baby boomers, but that meal is coming to an end.

Independent owner-operators make up 85 percent of Greatwide's drivers. They're essentially entrepreneurs, who - like lawyers, doctors, accountants and other mobile professionals - can vote to leave with their wheels. As Greatwide advertises, they choose their own road.

Paving the future

Mr. Metzler knows that workers don't leave companies, they leave management. And this management group is determined to avoid this. To win the hearts of drivers, Mr. Metzler and his team have developed ingenious loyalty-building programs.

Just as an enterprise might survey its customers or conduct focus groups, Greatwide asked its truckers what they love - and hate - about driving. After listening carefully, Mr. Metzler responded with programs focused on the truckers' concerns:

• Affordable health care insurance. For a workforce that historically is not a strong underwriting risk, the company offers twice the coverage at half the cost.
• Cementing relationships. The company implemented the Greatstart program, which facilitates advantageous financing to buy a rig.
• Business advice for entrepreneurs. Greatwide arranged for individualized business advice about bookkeeping, taxes and small-business issues, including tips for saving thousands of dollars by driving smarter.
• Choose your road. For drivers who want to sleep in their own bed at least every other night, Greatwide promises them short-haul work. There's little to no forced dispatch.
<>Saving a buck. With growing regulations, higher diesel fuel prices and more restrictive emissions standards, the cost of independent trucking is climbing. Greatwide offers cheaper fuel-buying programs, discounted tires and even low-cost pet insurance.

It's lonely out there

Each driver is matched with a driver relationship manager.

The DRM is more than just a mentor - he is the driver's emotional and professional lifeline to the outside world.

On a daily basis, the DRM checks on each trucker on his team - bonding, problem-solving and congratulating him on milestones such as first load, first paycheck and birthdays.

The DRMs assign loads and cajole drivers to occasionally accept difficult assignments, remind them of safety practices, answer questions and essentially provide a sense of family.

To the trucker, the DRM is Greatwide.

To fill the DRM role, Greatwide searches for people who have a strong customer service mindset, then trains them to persuade with finesse rather than giving orders.

They receive ongoing training in total quality management and relationship building.

The DRMs get bonuses based on retention and low turnover.

As a result of its trucker-loyalty programs, Greatwide's turnover rate is half the industry average.

Choice and supply

As a company might market to prospective customers, Mr. Metzler uses marketing research plus clever advertising at truck stops, on satellite radio, on the Internet and in industry publications (such as Big Rig magazine) to position the company's brand among truckers.

Greatwide makes good on its branding promise to treat its drivers as it does its clients.

Mr. Metzler's philosophy could apply to any business that hires professionals - accounting firms, property adjusting companies, law firms, etc.

This is a cautionary tale for any industry with a mobile workforce.

Pauline Graivier is president of Dallas-based Verbal Communications Inc. Rob Hoffman is a partner with Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP.