During the COVID era, driver turnover rates were at all-time lows for most carriers. Rates were up, fuel costs were down, and owner-operators were making money like never before. There was no need to move when they could work 4 days a week and still make record income.
But over the past two and a half years, this stability has faded. Rising costs, shrinking rates, and increased challenges have driven turnover rates back up, creating widespread strain on carriers.
In this article, we’ll examine the impact of high turnover on fleets and quantify the costs a carrier faces every time an owner-operator leaves.
How Turnover Drains Your Fleet’s Resources
1). Departure Costs
Owner-operators rarely leave at the first sign of dissatisfaction. Usually, they go through a phase of disengagement first. As their motivation drops, so does their performance, and this has serious implications for carriers:
Performance and Reliability: Disengaged drivers may neglect maintenance, cut corners, or fail to deliver on commitments, harming both operations and morale.
Profit and Service Impact: A driver who’s mentally checked out impacts customer service, which hurts satisfaction and, ultimately, revenue. A single disengaged driver can drag down an entire fleet's profitability over time.
2). Lost Experience
Experienced owner-operators are invaluable assets. Contractors who know the ins and outs of your business operate efficiently, make quick decisions, and require less oversight. Every departure is a major investment loss—not just in skill, but in accumulated experience. Losing them means losing both expertise and smooth operations, as replacements take time to reach the same level of productivity.
3). Increased Overhead
When an operator leaves, your overhead costs—rent, salaries, utilities—don’t go down. They remain fixed, but with fewer operators to generate revenue and absorb those expenses. As turnover rises, so does the impact of fixed costs on profitability.
If the remaining operators—or any replacements you bring in—can’t bring in enough revenue to make up for the one who left, your profit margins take a hit. Each departure stretches resources thinner, and with fewer operators available, the impact of high trailer-to-tractor ratios becomes even more serious.
Now, with limited drivers to handle each load, every gap is felt harder, and every missed opportunity or delayed shipment adds up to a higher overall cost of turnover.
4). Missed Opportunities
Every operator who leaves doesn’t just take their revenue with them—they take potential profits, business relationships, and future opportunities. For example, if an operator is grossing $15,000 a month for his carrier, and the carrier has a 7% pretax margin, their departure means around $1,050 in lost monthly profit for the company.
And that’s just one driver. Multiply this across every lost driver, and the cost quickly adds up. Each operator you lose also means fewer drivers to handle critical loads, creating gaps that leave customers waiting—or, worse, drive them straight to your competitors.
5). Replacement and Training Costs
Recruiting, training, and onboarding a new driver is no small task. Recruitment costs alone include advertisements, exams, and processing applications. Training is equally resource-intensive, requiring orientation materials, trainers, and lost production time. Add to this the higher safety, cargo claims, and customer service costs that come with new drivers, and it’s clear that every new hire represents a significant financial investment.
Even once trained, new operators may be restricted from handling your most valued customers and, with fewer miles, may not meet the contribution level of a proven operator for some time. High turnover forces you to invest continually in replacement and training—a costly cycle that can only be broken by keeping experienced drivers engaged and satisfied.
Industry-Wide Impact: A Billion-Dollar Problem
So, what’s the potential owner-operator turnover cost to the industry? Not only is there a cost to the carriers, but owner-operators who switch carriers incur costs that are often difficult, if not impossible, to overcome. The numbers often look like this:
Cost to Carriers
Estimated Number of Leased OO’s: 100,000 Estimated Average Turnover in 2020: 95% Estimated Cost of a new OO: $10,000 -------------------------------------------------------------- Estimated Total Cost of OO Turnover: $950 Million
Cost to Owner-Operators
3 weeks of revenue NOT made while switching: $9,000 3 weeks of tractor and insurance payments: $4,500 (Minus expense for variable costs that didn’t happen like fuel, maintenance): - $3,100 Cost to get up to speed at the new carrier: $5,000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Total out-of-pocket cost to switch after one year: $14,350
Multiply $14,350 by 95,000 turned-over owner-operators, combined with the $950 million burden on carriers, reveals an industry-wide issue costing over $2 billion annually.
How ATBS Can Help Your Fleet Curb Turnover and Protect Profits
At ATBS, we specialize in tackling the root causes of turnover by helping owner-operators succeed, which in turn makes them more likely to stay with you. With over 200 fleets already benefiting from our services, we know that strong retention strategies work. Our resources help owner-operators manage their finances, improve their business decisions, and prepare for tax season—all at no cost to the fleet.
With services like unlimited business consulting, driver coaching, monthly profit and loss statements, and tax preparation, ATBS empowers owner-operators to stay financially secure, engaged, and loyal to their carriers. Partnering with ATBS means building a fleet of satisfied, stable operators, reducing the high costs of turnover, and focusing on growth instead of replacement.
Want to learn more about how a partnership with ATBS can help you with owner-operator turnover? Click here for a Fleet Success Story or click here to learn more about starting a partnership with us.