Industry
Freight & Transportation
Drivers
5,000
Turnover Reduction
53%
“They had about 20 trucks and they said, ‘You know, I think if we treat our drivers well that they will really be our sales force. And turns out they were right.”
In 2004, PS Logistics founders Robbie Pike and Scott Smith had a vision. The company’s leaders believed their success would start with their workforce. “They had about 20 trucks and they said, ‘You know, I think if we treat our drivers well that they will really be our sales force,” explained PS Logistics Vice President of Enterprise Capacity Development, Kim Daigle. “And turns out they were right.”
The company has grown tremendously since those early days. Today, PS Logistics includes 28 companies that deliver proactive transportation and logistics solutions across the nation, supporting a network of nearly 5,000 drivers.
We recently sat down to talk with Kim and PS Logistics Retention Manager Ashley Cunningham to hear how WorkHound has helped their family of companies cultivate a healthy company culture and address turnover.
A Focused Effort on Communication
As the PS Logistics enterprise grew, it became harder to maintain direct communication with such a large fleet of drivers. “As we grew, we realized that there started to be more of a disconnect between the business and the individual drivers,” said Kim. That’s when they turned to WorkHound. “We were really just trying to solve that problem, ensuring that we were getting timely and actionable information from the drivers so we can make their jobs easier and make their lives better.” The initial effort started with P&S Transportation, one the country’s fastest-growing flatbed truckload transportation and logistics providers.
In early 2020, P&S Transportation, like many providers in the industry, was grappling with its driver turnover rate. Ashley Cunningham was appointed to the pivotal role of Retention Manager to address the turnover challenges, which were contributing to an overall rate of about 85%.
Working closely with WorkHound, P&S rolled out the platform to drivers, giving them an opportunity to anonymously raise concerns, ask questions, and engage with leaders. With new insights in hand, Ashley and her team got to work, answering questions about policies, navigating pay issues, and working with leaders to solve workplace problems before they escalated. The program made significant progress to turnover rates almost immediately.
“We were able, within the first year, through WorkHound’s help, to get it reduced to under 60%,” explained Ashley. “By the end of 2021, we were able to get it reduced to right at 50%.”
And she didn’t stop there. By late 2023, the team’s retention strategy had improved rates even more, with turnover dropping to 32%.
“We were really just trying to solve that problem, ensuring that we were getting timely and actionable information from the drivers so we can make their jobs easier and make their lives better.”
Driving Change With Active Listening
Over the last three years, Ashley has become a key advocate for the PS Logistics workforce, leveraging WorkHound along the way. Since its flagship success with P&S Transportation, PS Logistics has since rolled out WorkHound across 7 more of its companies, including DT Freight, DMT Trucking, Southeast Logistics, Loudon/Purdy, Shelton Trucking, Diamond State, and Blair, supporting nearly 5,000 of its drivers.
Since 2016, PS Logistics has successfully acquired 28 trucking and brokerage operations. With such extensive growth, smooth integration is a key component of their acquisition strategy. For the first few months after onboarding drivers following an acquisition, new drivers don’t use WorkHound, but they’re educated on what it’s all about, which helps build excitement.
“The drivers come in during orientation, and I go over there every Tuesday to speak to them about why we have WorkHound, the pros of it, and how it helps and how it’s been helping,” she explains. “I speak to them about the changes that we have made because of this program. It just gets drivers excited about it.”
Ashley not only consistently provides a channel for feedback, but she also diligently puts it into action. “I tell the drivers: I’m an advocate for you. If you have feedback and this is your concern, then I’m pushing it. Just as hard as you’re talking about it…I can hound these people about this particular subject, so we can make sure that something gets done. I take it all and go to the C-Suite with it.”
5,000
Drivers Nationwide
Since its flagship success with P&S Transportation, PS Logistics has since rolled out WorkHound across 7 more of its companies, including DT Freight, DMT Trucking, Southeast Logistics, Loudon/Purdy, Shelton Trucking, Diamond State, and Blair, supporting nearly 5,000 of its drivers.
Using Feedback to Shape Company Programs and Policies
In her role, Ashley has been able to initiate a number of solutions that have instrumentally improved workforce relations and company culture. Using direct driver feedback collected through WorkHound to spearhead the cause, she and her teams have worked to improve tarp pay and breakdown pay, establish holiday pay policies, and initiate 401(k) matching.
There have been changes beyond payroll and benefits too. “Drivers were saying that they didn’t have enough storage on the truck. So we started purchasing trucks that had passenger side storage,” Ashley tells us. Another example: Multiple drivers expressed concerns about issues with trailers during pick-ups and drop-offs causing excessive waiting times while the driver’s clock continued to run. In response, they created a form to initiate maintenance without penalizing drivers.
Cultivating Trust: The Power of Immediate Action
In addition to tangible workplace changes, Kim Daigle noted that WorkHound has helped create a renewed sense of trust between drivers and leaders. Among the reasons for their success, Kim credits their commitment to responding positively, no matter what kind of feedback is delivered. “You have to be very, very cognizant of your reaction to their feedback, making sure that you’re receiving it in a positive way,” she said. “That builds that trust.”
She also says that, unlike traditional surveys, WorkHound allows leaders to make real-time improvements and help drivers in the moment. “I love the immediacy of it, and the actionability. We’ve always had a lot of surveys… but I couldn’t take that and make it into something that I was able to put into action,” Kim explained. “With WorkHound, we have been able to use it to make a case to the business to make big improvements. But also — sometimes, even more importantly — being able to help that driver who’s sitting in his truck right now and frustrated.”
The Human Value of Technology
From its inception, the PS Logistics family of companies has prided itself on prioritizing relationships with its drivers. With WorkHound, they’ve been able to faithfully uphold those values, building better relationships that improve both operations and the workers’ experience.
“WorkHound uses technology to get a better relationship with a person,” says Kim. “And I think that is the best use of technology that there is.”
THE RESULTS:
Empowering Drivers & Driving Trust
With WorkHound’s help, the PS Logistics team identified and addressed several key issues affecting drivers, helping leaders create new and improved company policies, drive trust between leaders and the workforce, and ultimately improve driver retention.
Improved Pay & Benefits
PS Logistics has worked to improve tarp pay and breakdown pay, establish holiday pay policies, and initiate 401(k) matching.
Renewed Trust
WorkHound has helped PS Logistics leaders build better relationships that improve both operations and the workers’ experience.
Reduced Turnover
With a high-functioning feedback loop, PS Logistics was able to solve problems for drivers, reducing turnover by over 50%.
"WorkHound uses technology to get a better relationship with a person,” says Kim. “And I think that is the best use of technology that there is."
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