Truck Driver Pay Weathers Weaker Freight Conditions
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The trucking industry continued to increase overall pay for drivers in 2023 despite a freight market downturn, American Trucking Associations reported Sept. 3.
The latest ATA Driver Compensation Study found that truckload drivers earned a median annual amount of $76,420 in 2023, a 10% jump from the 2021 pay level reported in the previous study. While the average increase during that two-year span fell to 5.8% from the 10.9% gain reported in the last study, the jump was notable considering market conditions, ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said.
“It’s actually remarkable that [annual pay] went up at all,” Costello said, “because the trucking industry was in a freight recession in 2023. It just shows you how much demand there is for good, quality drivers — that their pay went up even when freight volumes were down.”
RELATED: Trucker Pay Drops 7.4% in Q2 as Freight Keeps Slumping, Reports Say
The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it a surge in freight demand as market demand shifted heavily in favor of goods versus services, and the findings from the 2021 study reflected that shift. But that demand had collapsed by early last year as the market rebalanced and the general economy slowed. The ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index has tracked with the soft demand that defines current conditions. May is the only month that has recorded a year-over-year increase since February 2023.
It’s actually remarkable that [annual pay] went up at all, because the trucking industry was in a freight recession in 2023. It just shows you how much demand there is for good, quality drivers — that their pay went up even when freight volumes were down.
Bob Costello, ATA chief economist
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“Trucking is one of the few roads in today’s economy that lead to the middle class without requiring a college degree and the debt that comes with one,” ATA President Chris Spear said. “As this study shows, those pursuing a career as a professional truck driver will find strong earning potential in this field, which remains in high demand and will only continue to grow higher in the years to come.”
Spear
The report also found that while over 90% of truckload carriers reported increasing driver pay during the 2021 study’s two-year span, only 42% boosted pay during the most recent study. Other incentives, such as sign-up and referral bonuses, were also used less in the years between the 2021 and 2023 survey periods. In the most recent survey, however, more carriers offered tenure bonuses at a greater median value. The report concluded that this change highlights a shift in carrier priority from acquiring new drivers to retaining existing drivers.
RELATED: Truck Driver Recruitment Refocused on Pay During Q1
“I think that retention is especially important,” said Lindsay Bur, director of data science and economics at ATA. “Wages tend to be sticky, so when you’ve raised rates for drivers, it’s difficult to take those rate increases away.”
“Carriers are actually trying to retain the existing drivers they have,” Bur added, which she views as further proof of the value carriers place in having quality drivers.
Costello said that “highlights even more that they were holding on to drivers in a [freight] recession. That’s pretty remarkable.”
Bur
The industry is now awaiting firm indications that the freight recessions is abating, and Costello remains hopeful.
“In terms of the current environment, I think there’s cautious optimism,” he said. “I think there are some signs that we’ve hit bottom in the freight market and it’s slowly coming up. I don’t expect any big acceleration. There’s still some fleets out there that are saying, ‘I haven’t quite seen it yet.’ There’s other fleets that are saying, ‘It’s actually a little better than that.’ But in general, I think there’s a little bit of cautious optimism. Nothing too exciting, but certainly not falling anymore.”
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ATA also found that less-than-truckload linehaul drivers were paid a median annual amount of $94,525 and less-than-truckload local drivers were paid $80,680 in 2023. The report noted that 71% of LTL respondents raised driver pay last year, compared with 100% in 2021. LTL carriers increased employee driver pay by 3.5% on average last year, from 2.6% in 2021.
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