Early indicators suggest strong e-commerce sales this holiday season. Deloitte forecasts that e-commerce will likely grow during the holiday season by 7% to 9% year-over-year, to between $289 billion and $294 billion. But retailers should be careful not to let the cash signs in their eyes blur their vision — even though consumers will surely be shopping online, getting their shipments from A to B might not be so simple. Logistics remain a major barrier to e-commerce success. To remedy this and ensure preparedness, retailers ought to pay special attention to the lifeblood of the freight industry: the delivery driver.  

Unfortunately, driver turnover is worse than ever — so bad that the American Trucking Associations (ATA) reports that 91% of truck drivers switched jobs during a single year. Notwithstanding the state of the market, it’s critical to retain drivers heading into the holiday season.

ATA estimates a current shortage of roughly 60,000 drivers, expected to grow to 82,000 by year’s end. That’s significant, given the central role of delivery drivers in ensuring the e-commerce success and the overall health of the economy. Not only is it the most dominant job role in more than half the states in the country, but trucks also move three-quarters of the nation's freight by weight. A growing driver shortage, therefore, will result in delivery delays and higher transportation costs. 

There are financial implications as well — recruiting and onboarding a new driver can cost between $6,000 and $12,000. For many smaller carriers, this is a cost they cannot afford (especially when one factors in supply chain costs like shipment damage and the onerous returns process).

Studies show that delivery drivers stick with a current job if they feel a sense of belonging. Research by Tenstreet found that when leaders make it obvious that they care about their people and their safety, retention increases. Concurrently, productivity improves.

The productivity piece is a key metric that retailers should be looking at when plotting fleet strategy. And it’s especially critical this year, as the window between the season’s biggest shopping events, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, is shorter than ever, leaving fewer days for packages to arrive before Christmas. Deliveries need to move swiftly and flawlessly — all the consumer cares about is whether or not their packages arrived before December 25.

Last year, in conjunction with the increased volume of shipments, there were also increased reports of packages arriving at the wrong delivery addresses — not to mention a slew of delayed shipments and other headaches for consumers. These errors can be attributed to a lot of factors, but most boil down to the fact that truck drivers don’t feel motivated by a larger purpose, and many — especially gig workers — were essentially thrown to the wolves and expected to work perfectly last holiday season. This is not an effective way to handle the holiday shopping surge, nor is it sustainable.

These pain points can be avoided this year with some additional (and relatively simple) investments in understanding truck drivers’ needs from the get-go.

The best way to engage with your delivery driver workforce is to make a point to hear what they have to say — early, and on an ongoing basis.

Ahead of the holiday season, get their input as soon as possible. If you make it a priority to hear from the employees, through frequent surveys and one-to-one check-ins, you might learn about their concerns. For example, additional conversations could reveal how sleep deprivation impacts truckers on the road if they’re going long distances. Or that many share concerns about the lack of healthy lunch options on the road. Employers can then properly identify these issues and seek to troubleshoot solutions that prove to employees that they’re investing in their wellbeing. As a result, they’re more likely to not just stay on the job, but uplevel their quality of work.

Beyond drivers’ wellbeing, employers might ascertain insights that benefit the business more directly. For example, we often think of drivers as the long-haul folks. But there are also middle- and final-mile drivers who ship oversized freight, not just standard parcels. Insights from these individuals might close some gaps in the smooth delivery of big and bulky freight, reducing damage rates and incorrect deliveries.

Realistically, delivery driving is always going to be a bit of a revolving door, but when we’re heading into a busy season, hearing from your truck drivers can make the difference in retaining high-quality workers, and ensuring that your e-commerce business is successful. 

Heather Hoover-Salomon is chief executive officer of uShip.