Linnette Torres, CPC Logistics’ Director of Compliance and Recruiting, recently attended the Tenstreet Private Fleet Summit in Dallas. The event brought private fleet executives, safety directors and operations leaders together to discuss industry best practices and challenges.
“In addition to staying informed about the latest private fleet trends, the Tenstreet Summit was a great opportunity to enhance CPC’s brand visibility by making valuable private fleet industry connections,” Linnette said.
Tenstreet provides web-based solutions for the trucking industry to help companies with truck driver recruiting, onboarding, safety and retention. During the summit, Tenstreet leaders organized and led sessions that delved into several key topics relevant to private fleets.
Compliance and Risk Management
According to Tenstreet General Counsel Shannon Wheeler, one of the greatest risks to companies operating private fleets is nuclear verdicts—jury awards exceeding $10 million in lawsuits from catastrophic truck accidents. The average plaintiff’s verdict awards $27,507,334, and the average settlement amount is $10,608,219.
Nuclear verdicts can be avoided by establishing a strong culture of safety. By setting high driver hiring standards, providing regular and robust safety training, focusing on driver well-being, and using the latest safety technology, private fleets achieve the highest safety standards.
“CPC Logistics excels at helping our customers build strong safety cultures for their private fleets,” Linnette said.
The Driver Hiring Cycle
Tenstreet CEO Tim Crawford shared that when it comes to recruiting drivers, minutes matter. Companies that respond to a driver’s application within five minutes achieve nearly double the hiring rate (6.2 percent) compared to the average (3.7 percent).
“The longer you wait, the lower your chances of hiring the applicant become,” Linnette said.
As artificial intelligence reshapes the recruitment process, the presentation emphasized that personal connections remain essential.
“Drivers prefer a human touch,” Linnette said. “Because they are behind the wheel, they aren’t looking at emails and won’t answer texts. This means recruiters will continue to be big players in the hiring process.”
As additional evidence supporting the importance of people, referrals are the top source of driver hiring. They often lead to higher quality candidates who tend to stay with companies longer.
“This is why the high level of engagement that CPC’s managers have with drivers is so critical,” Linnette said. “Our managers take the time to coach the drivers and understand their needs and concerns. That goes a long way because when the drivers are happy, they refer more drivers.”
Industry Benchmarking
Tom Moore, Executive Vice President at the National Private Truck Council (NPTC), held a roundtable discussion about the 2025 NPTC Benchmarking Survey Report. It reveals that for companies with private fleets, cost (61 percent), driver-related issues (56 percent) and safety (48 percent) are top challenges.
“The biggest difficulties for private fleets are the things CPC Logistics addresses,” Linnette said. “With CPC as a partner, companies get stable and predictable costs, the highest quality truck drivers, and an accident rate that is 7.8 percent lower than the trucking industry average.”
Since returning from the summit, Linnette has shared her learnings with CPC team members so they can apply them to their work with customers.
“It is important for our employees to understand the ‘why’ behind the things they do, including filling out and uploading paperwork in a certain way to remain compliant and talking with applicants on the phone to make an authentic connection,” Linnette said. “The summit validated that everything we do is for a good reason.”