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Weak freight market has had varied impacts on driver wage trends

Weak freight market has had varied impacts on driver wage trends

John Kingston
·
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Driver wages fluctuate with freight market changes.
  • Recent wage increases primarily benefited specialized drivers (hazmat, etc.), while incentives are key for others.
  • High driver turnover due to Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse disqualifications is a persistent problem.
  • Company drivers are generally better positioned than independent contractors regarding current pay.
Key takeaways sponsored by SONAR
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This fireside chat recap is from FreightWaves’ Enterprise Fleet Summit on Wednesday.

FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: How understanding wage data can help enterprise fleets stay competitive.

DETAILS: Two years ago, companies were dishing out driver wage increases like candy on Halloween. Leah Shaver, the president of the National Transportation Institute, which gathers huge amounts of data on driver compensation, talks about the trends she is seeing in driver pay in these tougher times.

KEY QUOTES FROM SHAVER:

“We call it the driver roller coaster because as freight adjusts we typically see an adjustment in what’s happening with pay.” 

“Wage gains in the last few years have been really impactful in the fixed rate, per mile or per hour. Recently they have been mostly appreciated by folks who train and do things like hazmat. I think the pickings are going to be pretty exclusive to incentives, like for safety, productivity, fuel and tenure-based bonuses.”

“We’re losing 5,000 drivers a month to the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse. That will be a long-term industry issue.”

“Company drivers are not feeling the burn. Most of them said they are feeling the upside, especially if they get to take advantage of some company incentives. The independent owner-operators are feeling it.”

2 Comments

  1. Marvin Walls

    Hello, Speaking from a independent and owner operator, four of my siblings and I started this Transportation endeavor in 2019. Since start up we have endured some very challenging time, beginning with COVID-19, the rising cost of truck expenses, freight going down hill like a snowball headed for hell to people attempting or selling faulty equipment. I must say the cost of fuel is somewhat better than it was few months ago. We’re continuing to stagtergize to stay afloat. I can’t say how much longer we can continue to operate under the current conditions. I pray that transportation service providers will have strength and the will to hang in there and stay safe. I do understand this is all some of us would or want to do these are very trying time for the transportation industry. If it doesn’t turn for the better soon my team and I will be force to make the ultimate decision.

  2. Stephen webster

    Costco is still paying over $30 U S plus a $200 week in medical and other benefits in parts of U S a number of drivers from ont Canada are married to U S single moms are going to work for Costco and other private store chains. I would the same if not disabled.

Comments are closed.

John Kingston

John has an almost 40-year career covering commodities, most of the time at S&P Global Platts. He created the Dated Brent benchmark, now the world’s most important crude oil marker. He was Director of Oil, Director of News, the editor in chief of Platts Oilgram News and the “talking head” for Platts on numerous media outlets, including CNBC, Fox Business and Canada’s BNN. He covered metals before joining Platts and then spent a year running Platts’ metals business as well. He was awarded the International Association of Energy Economics Award for Excellence in Written Journalism in 2015. In 2010, he won two Corporate Achievement Awards from McGraw-Hill, an extremely rare accomplishment, one for steering coverage of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and the other for the launch of a public affairs television show, Platts Energy Week.