“We feel driver satisfaction is a big issue,” Darryl Lokers, vp for Holland, MI-based USF Holland, told Fleet Owner. “In our operations, we have over 7,500 drivers that range in height from five foot four inches to six foot seven inches. That’s a huge range and finding one truck that satisfies most of them is a challenge.”

Lokers said the carrier has worked closely with Sterling Truck Corp. to maximize driver comfort and safety in its tractors as a way to increase driver retention.

“We have put additional grab bars in our trucks to help reduce mounting and dismounting injuries,” Lokers explained. “That has the potential to cut way down on entry and egress injuries.”

Lokers added that the focus on life-cycle cost never goes away.

“We continually look at the lifetime costs of owning and operating our trucks,” he said. “We now have five-years worth of data on these trucks and we plan to continually review their ownership and operating costs.”