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Dive Brief:
- Driver pay growth is falling, but not in uniform ways, according to the National Transportation Institute driver payment survey data. Specifically, private and dedicated fleets maintained about a 5 percent increase in average W-2 pay in 2023, according to the institute.
- As for-hire fleets dominate labor costs, they continue to drive up payments for experienced workers. Drivers with the most experience — also known as cap hitters — saw base pay rise 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter on a year-over-year basis, similar to a year-ago increase of 3.6 percent, the institute found.
- “While rental companies are cautious about wage increases, private fleets and dedicated fleets are trying to increase their driver numbers, learning from the supply chain disruptions that trapped the economy in 2020 and 2021,” said the institute at Trucking Dive.
Dive Insight:
While wage increases are slowing, wages are still rising. Driver pay rose 1.5 percent over the past four quarters, compared with gains of more than 10 percent in 2021 and more than 5 percent in 2022, NTI found.
“Throughout the year, despite slowing hiring needs and an imbalance in demand and truck capacity in the industry, connection bonuses and referral bonuses continued to outpace 2022 in both prevalence and amount,” the institute said.
Based on average W-2 earnings for drivers with three years of experience, full pay for 2023 is projected to be $72,233 in dedicated fleets, $71,907 on the road and $65,591 in regional, NTI told Trucking Dive in an interview.
Base mileage and hourly pay had slower quarterly and annual increases going into 2023 compared to the hot labor market in previous years, NTI added in an email.
“During the year, dry truck and refrigerated truck drivers have seen the biggest gains, with the flatbed and tank segments showing fractional gains,” the institute said in an email.
However, the lowest-paid per-mile drivers are now paid more than the highest-paid in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the institute’s research. “Fleets are increasing driver pay both at a steady and increasing rate,” the institute said in news release last month.
“The huge recruitment demand among motor carriers and private fleets over the past three years has reduced some and this change in dynamics has prompted many companies to assess their experience requirements, tighten their recruitment process and emphasize attraction and retention drivers who meet these stricter qualifications,” Leah Shaver, NTI president and CEO, said in a statement.
The agency is collecting data for 2024, asking companies to participate and provide confidential information.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated drivers getting a 3.3 percent pay increase. They were capitalizers in fleets for hire.