The 2025 Gray, Gray & Gray Propane Survey ranks recruitment and retention as the No. 1 industry challenge. With a scarce incoming employee pool and expensive turnover, propane companies must go beyond compensation strategy to attract new hires and improve employee retention in the propane industry. A $2 raise will fail to keep an ignored driver, and morale posters aren’t effective at lowering stress.
But retaining people isn’t only about the money. It’s about trust between leaders and employees, trust in the organization’s purpose and trust that careers can flourish. Employees who trust their employers are significantly more likely to advocate for the company, stay loyal and engage in their roles.
The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer shows 25% of employees distrust management. Distrust stops drivers from reporting leaks, leading to increased safety incidents and negative impact on your brand. Why do we track margins to the decimal, yet only track trust with anecdotes?
The fix is not a new asset. It is the agreement that keeps a driver in the seat. Applying strategies to boost employee retention demands a shift in both mindset and policy.
Employee Experience Determines Profit
Drivers worried about leaks cannot sell safety. Dispatchers navigating internal chaos cannot sell reliability. Stress is contagious. If a customer service representative fears her manager, her voice tightens. The customer hears indifference, not company policy.
Employee retention is fundamentally tied to the concept of employee experience — the holistic journey an employee has with their organization, starting from recruitment through their exit. Companies with a strong employee experience strategy see higher engagement and retention, while those without it struggle to keep their people. Retention isn’t just about the job itself; it’s about how the job fits into someone’s life, ambitions and sense of purpose.
Broader workforce research reveals that highly engaged employees are far more likely to stay. In the propane industry, where many roles require unique technical skills, customer interactions and seasonal demands, cultivating an employee experience that reinforces belonging, growth and trust can counteract turnover risk. A positive employee experience doesn’t happen by default; it must be designed.
Trust reduces safety incidents and churn and ultimately increases profitability. Here are the top five elements that make or break trust in the workplace and how to design an employee experience that supports company goals.
1. Lack of Trust in Company Stability
Major aggregators are acquiring independent propane retailers. This consolidation triggers Maslow’s safety tier: fear of job loss. Employees in survival mode prioritize resume updates over route efficiency. Uncertainty is one of the reasons top employees quit, driven by a lack of information about the company’s financial health.
Edelman data ranks “my employer” as the most trusted institution. Silence breaks that trust.
The Fix:
Transparency goes a long way. If the gallon volume drops 10%, state the number and the recovery plan. Specific bad news prevents vague panic.
2. Personal Circumstances
Employees resign when rigid schedules break under the pressure of life. An employee’s priorities often shift through the course of their career.
- Early career: Maximizes overtime and cash
- Midcareer: Demands stability and 5 p.m. hard stops
- Late career: Seeks reduced physical load and consulting
Assigning early career hours to late career staff forces resignations.
The Fix:
- Part-time tracks: Retain skills through semiretirement options.
- Crisis policy: Define emergency leave. Support during trauma prevents turnover.
3. Flexibility
“We can’t offer remote work; we deliver gas.”
This excuse confuses location with autonomy. Physics dictates where the truck goes. Management dictates when. Forcing a driver to sit in a cab for 12 hours to complete six hours of work destroys morale. It spikes cortisol. High stress causes drivers to skip safety checks and snap at dispatchers. Feeling trusted to manage responsibilities independently matters.
The Fix:
Stop paying for the clock. Pay for gallons delivered safely.
- The 4-10 split: Schedule four 10-hour days. Employees gain a three-day weekend every week.
- Banked hours: Convert January overtime into July paid time off.
- Outcome-based shifts: If a driver finishes a 10-hour route in eight hours, they go home with full pay. Do not punish efficiency with broom-pushing.
- The school run: Allow 9 a.m. starts to accommodate parenting.
4. Compensation
Market rates outpace annual reviews. Fair pay prevents dissatisfaction; it does not buy passion.
Drivers measure risk against reward. A top-rate UPS driver earns about $44 an hour moving cardboard. Your driver earns $22 an hour hauling explosive gas on icy roads. They see the disparity and leave.
Gray, Gray & Gray’s 2025 data shows 54% of dealers raised wages to retain staff. Freezing wages is an inflation-adjusted pay cut. Additionally, employees share salary data. Paying new hires more than veterans destroys trust immediately.
The Fix:
Invest regularly in market compensation benchmarking to understand the talent market. Often, putting more of your dollars into your seasoned staff allows you to put less into recruitment efforts.
5. Meaningful Work
Propane runs dialysis machines during blackouts. It prevents pipes from bursting in winter. Connecting these outcomes to daily work creates meaning. Meaningful work improves retention more effectively than small raises. Drivers who feel like couriers quit; drivers who feel like first responders stay.
The Fix:
Connect the dots. Help employees understand the impact of their work.
- Wrong: “Hit 30 stops today.”
- Right: “Mrs. Higgins is at 10%. If you miss this stop, she freezes.”
What to Do About It
There is an easily executable action item to start increasing trust and improving experience today: Conduct trust talks. Exit interviews happen too late; initiate meaningful conversations with your employees before they’ve decided to leave for better odds at influencing the outcome.
- What frustrates you daily?
- What would make you leave?
- How can I help?
The key is to respond promptly. Will you be able to act immediately to resolve every complaint you receive? Probably not. But you can be honest and transparent about what you can do and when to expect it done.
The Empty Driver Seat
A 2024 Peterbilt bobtail sits idle, fueled and routed for 3,000 gallons. The driver knew the length of the Johnson farm hose and the school gate code. He didn’t quit because of the truck; he quit because you broke the unwritten deal. The payroll cleared, but the trust didn’t.
By intentionally addressing these retention drivers, propane companies can create a culture where employees feel trusted, appreciated and motivated. When people experience alignment between their work, growth opportunities and organizational values, they’re not just satisfied — they’re committed.
An empty bobtail costs more than unbilled gallons. It creates missed deliveries, dispatcher overtime and driver burnout. Pay raises cannot replace predictable schedules or maintained trucks. Ask your top driver what makes their job hard and do what you can to fix the issue. Devalue their voice, and the market will correct the mistake.
