Leavin' on My Mind: Influence of Safety Climate on Truck Drivers' Job Attitudes and Intentions to Leave

Motor carriers are facing a shortage of drivers. Traditional recruiting and retention incentives have become commoditized. This research investigated the effects of perceived safety climate on job attitudes and intentions to leave. The theory of work adjustment provided a model that was tested using responses of 553 truck drivers. Safety climate was strongly and positively associated with overall job attitudes. Overall job attitudes were, in turn, strongly and negatively associated with intentions to leave. This finding suggests that firms facing recruiting and retention challenges could leverage nontraditional occupational factors (such as safety climate) to inform human resource strategies.