What does one quit really cost you?

When a good hand leaves for the outfit down the road, the final paycheck is the cheapest part. Pick the closest job below, adjust the numbers to match your operation, and see the bill.

Your crew

The basics about the role and how often people leave it.

Employees in this role

People who leave per yearAs a percent of the crew

Hourly wage

Hours per week

Finding the replacement

Ads, referral bonuses, screening, and the hours you or your office spend on calls and interviews.

Ads, job boards, referral bonus

Drug test, background, MVR, physical

Your hours spent hiringCalls, interviews, paperwork

hrs

What your time is worthOr your foreman's

$/hr

The empty seat

Until someone's hired, the work gets covered with overtime or it doesn't get done.

Workdays the job sits open

days

Share covered by overtime

Profit lost per uncovered dayMissed loads, slipped schedules, turned-down work

Getting the new hire up to speed

A new hand draws full pay before they produce full work, and someone has to show them the ropes.

What an hour of their work earns youBilled or hauled value per hour

Weeks to full speed

wks

Average output while learning

Lead hand's training timeHours per week

hrs

Rework, damage, and mistakes

Now flip the math

That per-employee, per-month number is money already leaving your business. The question isn't whether you can afford a retention budget. It's whether you'd rather spend it replacing people or keeping them.

For a lot of crews, the thing that tips a good hand toward staying is a benefits package that actually covers his family, built to fit a small employer's budget. That's what I do.

Run your real numbers with me

I'm Brad with Impact Consulting Group. I'll sit down with you, plug in your actual numbers, and show you what keeping your people could look like. No pitch, no pressure.

206-383-4150
1346 S 6th Street W, Missoula, MT

Book a free consultation

Estimates only. Starting values are illustrative for small Western Montana, Eastern Washington, and North Idaho employers and should be replaced with your own figures. Published research generally puts replacement cost for workers earning under $75,000 around one-fifth of annual pay, and truck driver replacement studies commonly land between roughly $8,000 and $20,000 per driver. This tool is not tax, legal, or financial advice.