When cutting costs builds trust: communication lessons from the Best Fleets to Drive For
Published on November 19, 2025
The mood across the trucking industry this fall has been cautious. Freight volumes remain soft, rates are sluggish, competition is fierce, and according to ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello, recovery may take longer than hoped. After several years of uncertainty, no one expects a quick rebound, and fleets are focused on how to navigate the long haul.
For the Best Fleets to Drive For®, that challenge looks a little different. While they face the same economic pressures as everyone else, they’re determined not to let cost-cutting erode culture. Instead of making decisions behind closed doors, these fleets share information, involve their drivers, and find creative ways to adapt together.
That was the focus of a recent panel at ATA’s MC&E moderated by CarriersEdge President Mark Murrell, featuring two longtime Best Fleets: Dale Decker, CEO of Decker Truck Lines, named Best Overall Large Carrier for 2025, and Michael Lasko, VP of EHS and Quality at Boyle Transportation, a Hall of Fame fleet with more than a decade of consecutive wins. Both leaders shared how transparency and collaboration helped their companies make tough calls without losing trust in the process.
Transparency that keeps people onboard
Both companies believe that if you want to make it through lean times without hurting culture, drivers need to be part of the conversation.
At Decker Truck Lines, Dale Decker makes transparency a habit. Every quarter, he writes what he calls “probably way too long of a letter” to the entire company, explaining market trends, freight cycles, and the company’s broader strategy. Those updates give drivers the context for every decision, so when equipment budgets get delayed or miles dip, no one feels blindsided.
As Decker explained during the panel, “We all feel the same downturn. The key is making sure everyone understands what’s happening and how we’ll get through it together.”
Turning culture into everyday practice
Cutting costs is indeed the quickest fix during a downturn, but is it viable long-term? Smart fleets navigate slow periods in partnership with their drivers.
At Boyle Transportation, Michael Lasko described how they revised their hotel policy for over-the-road teams by engaging their driver committee early. Boyle management suggested slashing hotel budget as a low-hanging fruit. Their driver committee weighed in, shared concerns, and helped trim it back to a manageable number. “Did they love this idea? No,” Lasko said. “But they gave their suggestions because they're stakeholders in the success of the company as well.”
At Decker Truck Lines, collaboration goes beyond pay programs. The company created multiple driver advisory groups to keep communication flowing on everything from operations to technology. Their Technology Advisory Council, for example, brings drivers into the process early when new systems like ELDs are being evaluated. Drivers help configure tools, flag issues before rollout, and shape how changes are introduced to the fleet. Decker’s leaders say that kind of involvement prevents resistance and builds trust. It turns technology adoption into a shared project.
Across the industry, more fleets are following that model, forming specialized councils for maintenance, safety, and even customer relations. For drivers, it’s a chance to shape the company’s direction. For fleets, it’s culture in action where transparency, accountability, and teamwork function exactly as intended.
Smart savings, stronger teams
Budget cutting isn’t the only route to savings. Best Fleets consistently find how to innovate their way through.
At Boyle, the focus turned to gamifying performance. Instead of simply reducing costs, they built fuel-efficiency incentives and safety competitions that rewarded drivers for improving MPG, reducing idle time, and maintaining safety scores. These are achievements that directly contributed to the bottom line. The results were measurable: fleetwide MPG rose nearly a full point, accidents dropped, and morale stayed high.
To stretch funds further, Boyle partnered with vendors to sponsor recognition. “We tried to get innovative to fund rewards without sacrificing driver incentives,” said Lasko. “In the end, we helped the company to be more cost-efficient and we put more money in our drivers' pocket.”
Decker took a similar approach, using downtime as a chance to review processes and refine communication. The fleet’s driver advisory board became central to those efforts, helping leadership balance fairness with efficiency. When minimum-pay adjustments were needed, the group collaborated on criteria and expectations, ensuring no one was caught off guard.
Both companies came away more efficient and more connected to their people. As Murrell noted, the fleets that come out of downturns strongest are those that treat every cut as an opportunity to clarify values and tighten alignment.
In the end, trust is the real currency
The economy may remain uncertain, but trust is the most stable currency fleets have. The Best Fleets to Drive For® demonstrate that open communication isn’t just a cultural ideal. It’s a survival strategy used by leaders who align actions with values. While in a crisis, they strengthen the foundation for whatever comes next.
