The American distribution giant Walmart announced Thursday that it would raise the salaries of its truck drivers, to raise them to levels well above the average for the sector, and accelerate the training of new drivers.
The group’s salaried drivers will now be able to earn up to $110,000 in their first year, according to the statement. So far, the average salary for a new recruit was 87,500 dollars, the group told AFP.
A study published in 2020 by the American Truckers Association (ATA) estimated the average salary of a driver at $58,000 per year in 2019. This figure masks significant disparities. Drivers who are self-employed or belonging to transport companies often earn less than employees of “private fleets”.
The latter depend directly on the company that owns the goods transported, as in the case of Walmart, and whose main business is not road transport.
Walmart has approximately 12,000 salaried drivers. The distribution group is, in total, the largest employer in the United States with 1.6 million employees. The Bentonville (Arkansas) company’s announcement comes as the road transport sector is suffering from a major shortage.
Last October, the ATA estimated that just over 80,000 drivers were missing to meet road freight demand, a record. That’s about 30,000 more than four years ago.
This shortage is attributed, in part, according to the ATA, to the arduous nature of the work, to the minimum age set at 21, or to the obligation to provide a negative test for cannabis, while its consumption is now legal in many US states.
The Covid-19 pandemic added to all these elements and led to the departure of many truckers.
“We plan to grow our fleet” and hire 5,000 drivers this year, a Walmart spokesperson told AFP. In addition, the group also plans to increase its capacity to train 400 to 800 drivers by the end of 2023.
“