Driver retention and an award-winning safety program begin the moment a recruiter answers the telephone, says Betsy Waldrop, director of personnel at John Christner Trucking. From that moment, JCT recruiters focus on turning qualified applicants into successful lease contractors as part of a lease/purchase plan the company set up in 1999.
The company has plenty to offer prospective contractors, says John Christner, president and CEO of the truckload carrier of refrigerated freight based in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. “We work hard to maintain a reputation as a first class carrier; we have top notch equipment available to our contractors; and we offer a compensation package that is almost unmatched among truckload carriers,” he says.
Christner knows a little bit about owner-operators. He started the company as one in 1986 — the classic story of one man, one truck. The founding of John Christner Trucking followed some lengthy experience as a driver and dispatcher for Tom Inman Trucking, one of the legends in Oklahoma trucking based in nearby Tulsa. Christner says Tom Inman offered advice and support throughout the growth of JCT almost up to the day of his death on March 31, 2005.
From that one truck, JCT has grown to a fleet of 604 tractors and 822 refrigerated trailers in slightly less than 20 years. Revenue for the most recent complete year totals $118 million with an operating ratio of 91.2 — one of the best among refrigerated carriers. The fleet is built around 487 lease contractors and 117 employee drivers. The vast majority of contractors participate in Christner Trucking's lease/purchase plan; although, the company does lease about 50 true owner-operators as Christner terms them. Those are contractors who came to the company with a truck they already owned.
With many of the top tier of food producers, as customers, Christner can rightly tell potential contractors that JCT is as good as the company it keeps. The company treats drivers with the same care given customers. “We know drivers want to get home,” he says. “Sometimes drivers will even take a lower paying job if they can have regular time at home. In our case, we ask drivers for 10 days notice when they want to come in.
Of course company reputation plays a part in attracting drivers, Christner says, but the first thing that catches an applicant's attention is the available equipment. “Here, we are working with lease contractors,” he says. “The important thing is to have equipment that an owner-operator would want to purchase. In our experience, that means a longnose conventional tractor with lots of horsepower and at least a 13-speed transmission. Contractors like the look of that long hood, and many of them do not want a fairing on the roof. We will provide the fairing free, charging them only for the labor to install it, but many decline the offer.”
Classical specifications
At JCT, tractors meeting those general specifications can be found behind four nameplates. Lease contractors can choose between Freightliner Columbia and Classic tractors, Peterbilt Model 379s, or W900 Kenworths. All have a long wheelbase, either 259 or 260 inches, depending on model. Power comes from Caterpillar C15 and Detroit Diesel Series 60 engines rated at 475 hp driving through 13-speed Roadranger transmissions and Spicer drive tandems with a 3.36:1 final drive ratio. Engines produce 1,650 or 1,850 lb-ft torque.
Christner says the fleet sticks to manual transmissions for two reasons. First, real truck drivers know how to shift a manual gearbox. Second, reports from colleagues in the industry indicate increased tractor downtime with automated transmissions.
All tractors are equipped with double bunk sleepers and luxurious interior packages. Drivers sit on leather, air-suspension Bostrom seats. “Our contractors have the same seat in a truck that I sit in behind my desk,” Christner says. “We've been buying leather seats for a little more than four years. They are attractive to drivers and more durable than cloth or vinyl.”
Seventy of the newest Peterbilts are equipped with the latest technology for driver comfort during layovers. They have battery powered heating and air-conditioning along with AC electrical power for appliances. The environmental system is supplied by Idling Solutions in Durant, Oklahoma. In tests, the system has reduced engine idle time from a fleet average of 30% to as little as 4%. The most an engine idled in a test truck was 13%, says Steve Dickson, director of maintenance.
The new electrical system eliminates the four standard batteries slung from the tractor frame rail and replaces them with eight gel cell batteries from EaglePicher Horizon in Phoenix, Arizona. The eight batteries mount under the lower bunk in the sleeper berth. The system includes a 3,000-watt inverter to run appliances. “We could light up a house with that inverter,” Dickson says.
To keep charges on new batteries, tractors are specified with 270 amp alternators, the same size used on emergency equipment such as fire trucks or heavy ambulances. The gel batteries contain no free electrolyte, which is why they can be mounted inside the cab with the driver.
In testing the electrical system and environmental controls on six tractors for more than 100,000 miles each, JCT experienced only two malfunctions, both of which were handled under warranty. Alternator availability is the only downside to the system. “Those big alternators are not readily available on the road and are extremely expensive when one can be found,” Dickson says. “We've decided that the best option in the event of an alternator failure will be to purchase a standard alternator to get the truck home. A standard unit will bolt right to the same brackets. The truck will run fine; the driver just can't use the air-conditioner when the engine is not running.
Drivers have a positive response to the new systems. “The only complaints we've heard are that the batteries take up the storage space under the bunk,” Dickson says.
Recent pay increases
Providing the world's best equipment is worthless if drivers can't be found for it. Christner firmly believes that driver pay forms the third leg of support under his company's driver retention. Christner Trucking's lease contractors are now among the best paid in the business, having received increases amounting to five cents per mile since the fourth quarter of 2004. The first of these increases was a two-cents per mile safety bonus paid quarterly. Another three cents per mile is simply a pay raise. As of April 15, 2005, lease contractors at Christner Trucking are paid 85 cents per miles. If the trip is shorter than 600 miles, compensation rises to 88 cents per mile.
The new pay scale places JCT near the top, paying more than some of their high profile competitors in both the refrigerated and dry van truckload segments. “We're not doing this for charity,” Christner says. “We expect a payback in terms of fleet productivity and from driver retention. We let our contractors know what our customers expect and we require them to meet those expectations. We are not the least expensive carrier in the business. To justify our rates, we tell customers they can't have premium service for generic prices. The same thinking applies to finding and retaining the best drivers.”
Christner Trucking operates in a high cost environment simply because of its location. Oklahoma is a state enmeshed in a network of toll roads. For instance, no toll-free highways the company is willing to use because of scheduling or safety concerns intersect with Tulsa. “We spend more than $350,000 a year for tolls in Oklahoma alone, Christner says. “The state's turnpike system adds 16 to 18 cents per mile to our cost structure.”
Although JCT runs an extensive advertising program in the magazines that circulate among drivers, the best source for new contractors is referral from lease contractors already in the fleet, Waldrop says. Contractors are paid a bonus of $150 for referring an applicant. If a contractor brings in an applicant with five years experience with only two jobs in those five years and one of those jobs was with a refrigerated carrier, the bonus jumps to $1,250. The big bonus is paid out over a year in quarterly increments starting with the first dispatch. “We spread the payment out so that the referring driver will stay in contact with the new driver and encourage retention,” she says.
Retaining lease contractors is different than retaining employees, because contractors are responsible for many of their own costs, Waldrop says. For instance, in 2004, turnover among contractors was only 79% until fuel prices began to spike in the fourth quarter. Christner Trucking ended the year with much higher turnover among lease contractors; company drivers turned over at a 47% rate. So far, the combined turnover rate for contractors and company drivers is 82% for 2005.
Christner says that a good orientation program helps teach contractors how to run a business. Longer than most, orientation at JCT lasts four days, running from Sunday through Wednesday. Christner meets with every orientation class. The company puts from 15 to 20 new lease contractors through orientation every week.
Christner builds, operates wrecker
Road failures happen, but few fleets take care of them in-house. John Christner Trucking takes care of getting its disabled vehicles back to the terminal in Sapulpa.
That was not the original plan for the company's heavy-duty wrecker. The first plan was to build it from a glider kit and sell it to a towing company. Christner Trucking started on the project, because it had the engine and drivetrain components available and shop technicians with the experience for the project.
Planning to sell the end product, JCT bought a new Kenworth W900 glider and set to work. “We went the whole nine yards with high-rise chrome stacks, lots of light panels, extensive decaling and all the driver comfort features an owner-operator would want,” John Christner says. “It has a Cat C15 engine rated at 550 hp coupled to a Roadranger 18-speed transmission and a Spicer drive tandem with a 3.7:1 final drive ratio. We were going to build it for resale, but now we have this relatively new 2001 W900 mounting a Holmes Heavy 55 wrecker body. It turned out so nice, we decided to keep it. When we finished, the truck was worth between $175,000 and $180,000.”
Another reason for keeping the wrecker is that John Christner Trucking is self-insured for physical damage. It just makes sense to get wrecks and disabled equipment home as quickly as possible, Christner says. “With the disabled truck in our own shop, we can control the quality of the work and deal with the vendors if warranty is available. We can bring home a damaged truck for less than we can hire someone to tow it. We go after the damaged tractor and send out a fresh tractor to finish the trip if the trailer is not damaged.”
The wrecker is used only for getting trucks back to the terminal. “We're not picking up bricks on the highway, and we're not handling overturned vehicles,” Christner says. “We hire a wrecking company to pick up rigs that have turned over.”
The truck runs about 75,000 miles a year — not all of that towing Christner trucks. The company is licensed to work for other carriers and for truck dealers, towing in repossessed or abandoned vehicles. The driver is part of the shop crew, but is on call for wrecker duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “He's a great wrecker driver, but like an undertaker, he's the last person we ever want to call,” Christner says.
