Carriers compete to recruit contractors.

As driver pools tighten, carriers are offering sign-on bonuses as high as $10,000 and other incentives to attract owner-operators.

Over the last year, several carriers have increased per-mile and fuel rates, posted bonuses and reduced truck-lease payments to compete for operators or persuade company drivers to convert to ownership.

FFE Transportation has restructured its Drive-To-Own truck lease program by reducing weekly payments and balloon amounts and extending manufacturer warranty programs. In January the carrier launched a driver academy to train applicants looking for a CDL and to educate them on potential career paths. “We want to grow our operators,” says Rob Newell, a vice president at Dallas-based FFE Transportation. “Let’s face it, we’ve lost so many of them in the last three to four years.”

All-owner-operator Roadrunner Transportation Services is offering up to a $10,000 bonus spread over five quarters to experienced operators who sign on to the company’s linehaul division, says Mark Pluff, director of linehaul development. He says the bonus varies depending on lanes where the company wants to add power. He declines to divulge how many operators have signed on, but adds the program has exceeded expectations and will be continued. “We¹ve gotten good response from a much higher caliber contractor,” Pluff says.

In August, small all-owner-operator carrier Christenson Transport is increasing contractor pay from 88 cents a mile to 91 cents and adding 5 cents a mile for East Coast routes. The Springfield, Mo.-based carrier offers a $3,500 bonus that is paid by reducing truck lease payments by $75 a week, says Barry McGowen, vice president. “We also pay half the per-mile rate for the first 100 empty miles and increase the percentage as the mileage goes up,” he says.

In February, Barr-Nunn Transportation increased its Pure Pay base rate for owner-operators 3 cents a mile to $1 a mile and 10 cents a mile to 80 cents empty, says Jeff Blank, director of recruiting for the Granger, Iowa-based company. The carrier also offers a Band Pay program that pays on length of haul.

“We’ve probably realized a 15 percent increase in our recruiting this year,” he says. “We’d like to go to 200 owner-operators if we could get them,” up from the current 125.