Driver Turnover: The Revolving Door That’s Costing You Money Twice

 

In trucking, turnover is more than “people come and go.” It is a revolving door, and it is spinning fast.

Large carrier turnover has hovered around 90 percent for years. NTI data shows it’s still elevated. Even with hiring pressures easing, the number of monthly hires in 2023 and 2024 outpaced the boom years of 2021 and 2022. 

There is more churn on the horizon. Many drivers are waiting for the right moment to switch jobs for better pay, more home time, or a different work environment. The National Transportation Institute expects turnover to stay high through 2025 and possibly climb if freight rates and inflation push wages up.

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Turnover’s New Role in Insurance Pricing

Turnover isn’t just a staffing issue anymore. It’s a renewal pricing factor. Insurance carriers are pulling driver rosters during quoting and looking at hire dates, add/remove patterns, and overall churn. This is causing rate increases even if it’s the same driver that left and came back again. Any driver removed = turnover. Any driver added = turnover. 

Multiple insurers now use internal scoring models that flag driver volatility as a risk factor during renewal. That includes short hire dates, frequent adds and deletes, and high onboarding volume within a 12-month period.

This is no longer a theory. It’s baked into underwriting models. 

High turnover raises red flags:

·       Instability in operations

·       Gaps in safety culture

·       Signs of poor retention or low pay 

 All of that adds up to higher risk. And higher risk means higher premiums.

We’ve seen fleets pay tens of thousands more at renewal just because their turnover data made them look unstable.

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The “Remove and Add Back Later” Mistake

Some carriers try to get clever. They pull certain drivers off the policy before renewal thinking a cleaner roster will make the quote look better. After renewal, those same drivers quietly get added back.

Underwriters notice. Every change is tracked. When they see frequent driver adds, short hire windows, or a rotation of known-risk drivers coming off and on, it still counts as turnover.

Even worse, it signals you might be hiding risk instead of managing it. That makes your fleet look even more unpredictable, and your quote reflects it.

 And here’s the part nobody likes to talk about, when you remove a driver and forget to add them back before dispatching them? You’re exposed. If they get into a wreck, you could be wide open on liability.

Or maybe you toss them back in a truck really quick before calling your agent. We see it all the time.

Let’s be clear. You’re not the first trucker we’ve talked to. We know what the move is. So do the underwriters. 

If a driver is worth keeping, keep them. Coach, train, document, and control the risk. Don’t play games with your coverage.

 

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Why Small Fleets Feel It More

This hits smaller carriers harder. If you’re running three to twenty-five trucks, losing even one driver can derail your week. Two or three? That’s downtime, missed revenue, and panic mode hiring.

Replacing a driver properly, advertising, vetting, onboarding, training can cost anywhere from $7,000 to $12,000 dollars. The Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute pegs the average replacement cost closer to $8,200 per driver. 

Now do the math. A 20 truck fleet with 80 percent turnover is spending over $160,000 dollars per year just replacing people! And that doesn’t even count what you’re paying in higher insurance premiums. 

Big carriers can absorb it. You can’t.

And if you’re playing the remove-and-re-add game? It sticks out even more in a smaller operation. Underwriters don’t miss it.

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The Bigger Forces Behind Churn

This isn’t just a management issue. It’s structural.
Over 180,000 drivers have been sidelined by the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse since 2020, and only a small percentage return to duty. Age and health issues sideline over 300,000 drivers annually.

The average driver age is 54. Baby Boomers are still holding a quarter of the wheel in this industry, and they’re retiring faster than younger generations are stepping in.

Even when new drivers get their CDL, they often don’t last. Many fleets require two years of experience, and new entrants get funneled into the lowest-paying, most demanding jobs. Turnover is massive in the first 120 days. 

And here’s what’s coming:
NTI forecasts driver wages will rise 2.7 percent in 2025. That’s double the rate from last year. Anytime pay goes up, turnover follows. Drivers jump for better deals, and fleets that haven’t adjusted compensation in two or more years are going to feel it.

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Keeping Drivers and Protecting Your Renewal

Retention isn’t just about filling seats. It’s about building a fleet that underwriters want to insure.  That starts with stability. 

• Benchmark your pay and benefits against the market.
• Offer schedules that provide more home time.
• Invest in driver health and wellness so your workforce stays longer.
• Listen to driver feedback and take it seriously.
• Track turnover like any other KPI. 

Don’t wait for a renewal quote to find out it’s a problem.

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Reminder:
Your insurance carrier sees your driver turnover. If you’re not managing it, they’re pricing it in for you.

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Our Take
High turnover is like a slow leak in your fuel tank. You might not notice it day to day, but it will drain you dry if you ignore it. It is not just a recruiting problem anymore. Insurance carriers are looking at your driver churn when they price your renewal, and they will hit you where it hurts if they see instability. Stop the revolving door. Keep your experienced drivers in the seat, and you will protect more than your bottom line. You will protect your insurability.

 

Need help keeping your insurance rates in check?
We build policies that reward stability, not punish it.
Reach out and let’s get your next renewal working for you, not against you.

Contact us at info@trucku.biz

 

 

 

 

Disclosure:

This post is for educational purposes only. It’s not legal advice, insurance advice, or a substitute for calling your agent. We’re good, but we’re not psychic. Policies vary, laws change, and courtrooms get weird. Don’t make decisions based solely on something you read on the internet, unless it’s from us, in writing, with your name on it. 

All opinions are our own and do not represent the views of any carrier, employer, or underwriting department that occasionally wishes we were quieter on LinkedIn.