Tips to Hire and Keep the Right Drivers

Businesses in the transportation industry and those that operate fleet vehicles are struggling to find qualified drivers. Keeping the qualified drivers that you do employ can also be a challenge, but it's an important one to manage. Low driver turnover will lower your hiring and training costs which helps reduce your operating costs. 

Even in the face of a labour shortage there are things you can do to hire more drivers and keep them, too. Here are our tips:

Offer Referral Bonuses

Your current drivers likely know other drivers. Plus, the connection between them means they may both be more likely to stay with the company. Motivate your employees to refer friends and family with a bonus.

Post to Multiple Platforms

Most people find jobs online, but you can’t be sure which platform your perfect driver is looking at. To increase your odds of success post to all of the online job platforms that people use in your area – LinkedIn and Indeed are good starts.

Offer Training Support

Sometimes your ideal truck driver isn’t a driver yet. You may have much more success when bringing people into the job and covering some or all of their costs for any government-mandated licensing or training programs.

Of course, you should also be conducting your own training for new drivers. Ensure this training is designed to create bonds within the company, which will help your new truck drivers transition to work more effectively.

On-Boarding Clarity

Different businesses have different policies for compensation, scheduling, and routes, all things drivers care a lot about. You can keep more drivers if they understand all of the relevant details of their job up front and agree to them, rather than being surprised and discouraged later on. Things you should be very clear about include:

• Routes, scheduling, and time at home
• Compensation including paid time off and benefits
• Specific relationship, as an employee not a contractor
• Specific vehicle or other equipment they will operate

·       You may find a few people do not agree to the employment after a very frank conversation about the position, but these are people who would not have stayed with your company anyway. Now you avoid the cost of losing them and can pick another candidate.

Work Quality

A few different factors of a driver’s work can encourage them to sign on with your company and to stay. Offering them more guaranteed “at home” time is a great way to ensure they stay motivated when they are driving. Ensuring that dispatchers cultivate a good relationship with the drivers can also help them have a positive attitude about work.

Compensation

One of the best ways to attract better drivers and keep them is simply to offer them more financial compensation. This includes a larger hurly rate or salary, as well as other financial benefits such as more paid vacation and sick time and better health benefits. You can also motivate drivers with bonuses for safe driving or for bonuses for being with the company for a certain period of time. 

Payroll Tips

For transportation companies, cash flow can be a problem and it can impact your ability to keep the best employees. Inconsistent and poor pay will reduce your ability to hire and keep the best drivers. You can use invoice factoring to get healthier cash flow and thereby provide better compensation to your drivers. Reach out to the team at J D Factors today to discuss how invoice factoring can improve your payroll and cashflow and reduce employee turnover.  

5 Easy Fixes for Common Payroll Errors

For most businesses, payroll is a huge expense. While businesses in the service industry generally have higher payroll costs, it's fair to assume that 20% to 30% of your gross revenue will be spent on payroll. It's important to be precise and accurate whenever you're dealing with such a huge chunk of money. Consequences for late payments, missed deductions, and more can add up and eat into your business' bottom line. Here are some common payroll errors and easy fixes to help you get the most out of your payroll.

1.      Remit Your Payroll on Time

Missing deadlines for payroll remittances to the CRA is a costly mistake that's commonly made. The CRA can fine you 10% of the total of the late remittance for a first offense and 20% for a second offense in the same calendar year. The later you are, the more interest you are charged.

Although it's costly, it's easy for a business to lose track or forget to file payroll remittances on time. Outsourcing payroll is one simple way to avoid these late penalties.

2.      Know if a Person is an Employee or a Contractor

You can get into trouble if you pay employees as if they are contractors, especially if you're audited by the CRA and they determine that the arrangement is more like an employer/employee relationship. If you classify the relationship incorrectly, you could end up being liable for the CPP and EI owing on whatever amount was paid to the person. Visit the CRA's Employers' Guide to learn more and ensure you're classifying the people who do work for you correctly.

3.      Deduct CPP, EI and Income Tax from Overtime Pay

If you're paying employees overtime, you still have to deduct CPP, EI and income tax from that overtime pay. The way you should pay overtime depends on the pay period. Whether the amount owed is paid in the same pay period it was earned or paid in a later pay period will depend on how you pay it and what deductions you make. Talk to your accountant of visit the CRA's Employers' Guide to ensure you're paying overtime correctly.

4.      Pay CPP on Commission

In some situations, you may pay an employee commission after they sell something, which can happen irregularly. In this case, to determine the maximum CPP contribution amount, you have to prorate the annual basic exemption amount for CPP for the number of days in the year between the commission payments. Otherwise, you may pay CPP incorrectly and be stuck making up the difference later on.

5.      Ensure You've Got the Cash for Payroll

Let's face it. Payroll can put a huge strain on your cash flow. Talk to J D Factors about invoice factoring, which is a great solution to ensure you always have the cash available to pay your people on time.

Correcting these costly payroll errors will help you avoid having to pay more than you need to. With your payroll under control your cash flow will be too, which is a critical part of a strong, healthy and growing business. Give the team at J D Factors a call for more cash flow tips! 

5 Ways Factoring Can Fix Your Payroll Woes

For millions of Canadians, the first of the month, mid-month or end of the month is a time of relief. Pay day! A time when bills can be paid, savings accounts topped up, and for the 53% of Canadians who are living paycheck to paycheck, necessary purchases made. 

However, pay day may have the opposite feeling for many business owners, especially those without a healthy cash flow. For businesses struggling to make payroll, it can be a time of stress and a scramble to come up with the cash to pay employees what they’re owed. To do so might mean investing time and resources chasing overdue invoices, transferring funds from one account to another, or even drawing on debt. This moment of panic often takes place quietly, so as not to raise concern with employees, which can add further to the stress and isolation experienced by business owners.

Sound familiar? If so, then it’s time to consider factoring for payroll.

One Simple Process to Remove the Stress Associated with Payroll

Factoring for payroll is a service offered by J D Factors and other factoring companies that’s designed to reduce the common stress and uncertainty associated with payroll.

Here’s how it works: Your business turns over your invoices to the factoring company who will then pay your employees consistently and on time. The factoring company will collect the money owed from your clients when each invoice is due. In this way, factoring for payroll is the ideal solution to solve your cash flow issues and ensure that your employees are paid, no matter when your client’s invoices are due.

The Benefits of Factoring for Payroll

Factoring ensures that your employees are taken care of, stabilizes your cash flow and reduces your stress come pay day, but these aren’t the only benefits. Factoring eliminates the time spent chasing clients for overdue payments, a process which is often uncomfortable and can strain important relationships.

Factoring is also a way to provide your business with the cash it needs to grow and stay competitive, because when you use factoring, you know you have cash on hand when you need it rather than having to wait for payment, or wait for a commercial loan to provide the funding that you may need now. This benefit is especially useful in cases where there’s an opportunity to take on a new client but doing so requires an immediate upfront investment in product, equipment or people.

How Much Does Factoring Cost?

Factoring companies will take a percentage of each invoice as their payment. This amount will depend on factors such as:

• Monthly sales
• Terms of sale (net 30, net 60, etc.)
• Level of concentration (one customer at $100,000 vs 10 customers at $100,000)
• Your customer’s credit profile
• The industry.

At J D Factors, we’ll sit down with you and discuss your goals, challenges and finances to ensure that you choose the type of factoring that’s most beneficial for your situation and industry. We’ll also take the time to explain all the terms and conditions of your contract so that you have the knowledge you need to make an empowered decision that supports the future of your business.

So, what are you waiting for? Eliminate your payroll woes and protect your employees and your business. Give J D Factors a call to explore the benefits of factoring for payroll.