Werner raises pay for solo van drivers

Truckload transportation and logistics provider Werner Enterprises will increase annual pay for approximately 1,400 company drivers across 48 states, effective Jan. 1 2016, according to a statement from the company.    Werner Enterprises will increase annual pay for company solo van drivers across 48 states, effective Jan. 1, 2016, according to a statement from the company.
   The truckload transportation and logistics provider said the pay bump will amount to an average of $5,000 a year for around 1,400 of its One-Way Truckload Van fleet drivers.
   The increase comes just a few weeks after Werner announced it would increase annual pay for 48-state solo van owner operators by an average $10,000 annually. Effective Nov. 3, the pay rise affects about one third of the trucking carrier’s owner operator fleet.
   “We consistently review compensation packages to see where improvements can and should be made,” Werner President and COO Derek Leathers said of the announcement. “Pay increases are one piece of our multi-faceted approach to attract and retain the best in the industry and make Werner the employer of choice.”
   Trucking carriers have been struggling to attract younger drivers to the workforce as older drivers retire, which has caused a growing shortage of qualified drivers across the industry.
   American Trucking Associations recently published a report estimating the shortage of drivers in the trucking industry will reach 48,000 by the end of 2015 and could grow to as many as 175,000 by 2024.