What employee shortages and high turnover can mean for your fleet team, especially when it comes to snow removal

In an economy with more job openings than available workers, employees can afford to be picky about where they work and how long they stay.

According to recent industry reports, "Filling a job vacancy costs companies an average of $4,225 and 42 days. Turnover costs can be 90-200% of the worker’s annual salary."

Workers typically decide whether to continue with a company based on pay, working conditions, and available developmental opportunities. For fleet managers and administrators who want to recruit and retain good people, every aspect of the transportation plan factors into worker satisfaction.

Making employees remove snow from the tops of trailers and buses manually puts employee recruitment and retention at risk.

Lower Company Attractiveness

It’s human nature to want to work for the best, most efficient operations, and the safest working conditions. When workers see that they’ll be called upon to clear snow and ice using a snow rake, shovel, or brush, the job and company offering it become far less attractive. Adding a FleetPlow to your winter snow removal plan can be a selling point when you’re trying to attract workers.

Heightened Winter Stress

The stress of not knowing when and how frequently snow removal operations will be needed can impact your whole organization. Snow workers using roof rakes to manually pull heavy, wet snow and ice from vehicle rooftops shoulder the brunt of upfront, on-call stress, and the actual physical labor required to do rooftop snow removal for trucks and buses. Every snowstorm is unique and the time it takes to clear the fleet depends on the type and amount of snow.

Drivers and route planners feel anxiety too as they deal with the inevitable delays and missed appointments that hit every time there’s a significant snow fall.

Increase Risk of Injuries

Snow clearing using long-handled rakes and brushes is a high-hazard activity typically performed under extreme weather conditions (e.g., cold, high winds, or icy surfaces). Putting workers on vehicle rooftops or ladders or slippery surfaces in winter conditions is dangerous and leads to slips and falls on snow and ice.

Even minor accidents, such as a sprained wrist from a fall, or a strained back from pulling heavy, wet snow and ice off a semi truck trailer, box truck, or bus can have a long-term effect on an employee’s earnings potential and financial security. Plus employee morale suffers when employees have to worry that dangerous conditions may lead to disabilities or lost wages.

FleetPlow automated snow-removal machines can help remove some of the stress of worker recruitment and retention.

• Fewer workers required to clear snow and ice. Just 1-2 people can clear a whole fleet.
• Fewer employee injuries
• No more snow rakes, snow brushes, or physical labor.
• Less stress – Repeatable and reliable snow clearing gets vehicles on the road sooner and puts drivers and route planners in control.

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