Happy National Truck Driver Appreciation Week!

At Roadrunner, we celebrate drivers all year round. But this week in particular, we recognize the hard work and dedication all truck drivers provide to keep our country running. Since most goods in the United States spend at least some time being transported on trucks, our supply chain would not function without the contributions, sacrifice, and dedication of America’s drivers. So don’t forget to take a moment to thank a truck driver – especially this week!

How to Become a Champion of Drivers

There are things you can do to become known as a champion of drivers. This includes helping to limit driver idle time, which contributes to ongoing driver satisfaction. Providing quality lounges and facilities for drivers to use. And being easy to load and unload while respecting appointment times.

At Roadrunner, we strive to make a career in driving as rewarding as possible. We recruit experienced drivers to our organization to join our Smart Team. We provide guidance and training based on industry best practices for vehicle maintenance, safety, and general business acumen. And we partner veteran driver/mentors with newer drivers to accelerate and assist with the learning curve. By enabling our drivers to choose what freight and what routes they want, our shippers get a better service experience as we can assign their load to a driver faster, keep skilled drivers in our network, and keep our Smart Network running smoothly.

All new linehaul drivers visit our headquarters for orientation when they sign on with us. This gives newcomers an immediate opportunity to interact directly with our leadership and management teams. All drivers stay at a 4-star hotel and are greeted by a team that celebrates their arrival. This helps them gain an immediate understanding of our core values: We Run Safe, We Run Smart, We Run Together. They also get an instant understanding of our driver-centric culture which reinforces their decision to drive with us. We get to know the driver as a whole person and therefore are able to better support our drivers’ needs and aspirations.

The key is to open the lines of communication from day one. As part of these weekly orientations, every Thursday morning, we pause our operational duties at Roadrunner’s headquarters to welcome new drivers in person in a fun and engaging way that signifies to them that they are a celebrated and critical part of our business. These sessions are broadcast live via Zoom to our other locations, serving as a weekly reminder to everyone in the company that our drivers are at the very center of our company.

The goal at every orientation is to get to know each driver, beyond the scope of just driving a truck. As a result, we know which of our drivers are veterans, what their CB handles are, how many kids they have, and how they like to spend their free time.

We host driver appreciation events at our terminal which often include cookouts, raffles, prizes, and give-a-ways. In addition, Roadrunner created a “Haul of Fame” which celebrates driver accomplishments such as driving a certain number of miles safely with no accidents or DOT violations. These might include: number of years of service, 1 million miles driven, violation free, accident free, partnership, longevity, and reliability.

As a driver-centric company, Roadrunner maintains that drivers are the lifeblood of our company. They are essential to our Smart Long Haul Network and how Roadrunner became an award-winning, service-first, metro-to-metro LTL carrier.

So, during this National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, when you need goods shipped quickly and on time, remember Orange & Black Has Your Back!

Ship Smart. Ship with Roadrunner.