My Books
My Commitment to Helping The Industry
There are plenty of companies and individuals, who try to take advantage of companies in the transportation industry, whose primary goal is to be profitable at the company's expense. Throughout the last two decades, I've lived in the trenches of the transportation industry. I've experienced the good times, and suffered through the tough ones. I've seen thriving companies crumble after decades of operation. My books on transportation, recruiting, and workforce stabilization are there to help lend a helping hand by sharing what I have learned along the way. If my words save one company from closing, then my work has done its job.
My advisory services are built on the numerous books that I have authored and published. There are those who talk a great game, but I went a step further and wrote out my game.
An Executive Framework for Stability, Alignment, and Workforce Control
Recruiting Reality Check™
Recruiting Reality Check™ is not a hiring manual. It is an executive risk brief. Inside, transportation leaders will gain clarity on:
- The real financial exposure of seat instability.
- Where turnover actually begins.
- How vendor incentive structures influence outcomes.
- The metrics that protect stability, and those that mislead.
- Why leadership ownership determines long-term retention.
This document was written for leaders willing to examine systems, not symptoms.
Turning Recruiting Insight Into Repeatable Performance
Recruiting That Sticks
Recruiting That Sticks™: A Retention-First Framework for Hiring, Performance, and Stability by Edward D. Smith. Providing the how-to answer of rebuilding Hiring, Restore Alignment, and Retain Drivers in A Broken System.
Turning Recruiting Insight Into Repeatable Performance
Recruiting That Sticks - Implementation Workbook
The Recruiting That Sticks Implementation Workbook is the hands-on companion to the book Recruiting That Sticks, designed for leaders ready to move beyond theory and into execution. This workbook doesn’t offer motivational fluff or recycled recruiting tips.
Harmonization Within The Transportation Industry
The Missing Key
Drawing on 28 years of U.S. Army leadership and decades of experience in the transportation industry, Edward D. Smith presents a battlefield-tested framework for transforming trucking companies. Using both military and civilian analogies, he demonstrates how recruiting, safety, maintenance, leadership, customers, and even competition all play a pivotal role in the same mission: building a company where drivers want to stay, leaders thrive, and profits grow.
Begin Hiring Quality Drivers versus Qualified Drivers
Reshaping Driver Recruiting
This is an A-Z guide for a transportation recruiting department. Starting from scratch, learn how to select the best recruiters and what your recruiting department will need for success. Follow the processes for obtaining QUALITY candidates and the subsequent processes. Realize how much impact your operations and maintenance have on recruiting. There is a section on tracking your recruiting performance using KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).
Begin Hiring Quality Drivers versus Qualified Drivers
Reshaping Driver Recruiting Workbook
The Reshaping Driver Recruiting Workbook was designed to accompany the main book. It is great for seminars or anyone who wants a side book that forces individuals to take notes and fully immerse themselves in the issues and processes surrounding Driver Recruiting.
Skills, Habits, and Strategies of a Quality Driver
Driven to Excellence
Not all CDL drivers are created equal. Some settle for being “qualified.” The best become QUALITY drivers, professionals who earn more, stay safer, and command respect in the industry. Packed with real stories from the road, practical action steps, and easy-to-use checklists, this book is more than advice; it’s a roadmap to becoming the kind of driver companies fight to keep.
Your Guide to Understanding the Industry
Driver Staffing
While not all companies are alike and offer the same services, many, large and small, lead the pack. This book is not about who is the best and who you should or should not work with, but to provide a clearer understanding of the benefits that Driver Staffing can provide for your company and operations, and how to determine who would be the best for you and your circumstances.
A Practical Guide to Suceeding in Your New Role
First-Time Leaders
First-Time Leaders is your practical, no-fluff guide to navigating those crucial first weeks and months with clarity and confidence. Written by veteran leader Edward D. Smith, this book equips you with real-world strategies, tools, and insights to help you transition from individual contributor to effective, respected leader.
For Military and Civilian Leaders Alike
A Lesson in Leadership
This book is designed for junior and upcoming leaders in the military and civilian world. I wanted to share my lessons learned and who and what helped me get to where I was by the time my military career ended. Inside are lessons covering numerous leadership topics, including schooling, values, diversity, discipline, corrective actions, counseling, evaluations, awards, recognitions, promotions, training, and more.
Driver Recruiting in the Transportation and Logistics Industry.
Recruit and Retain
This was the book that started it all for me and my journey. No longer published and available.