Industry Forecast: Truck Driver Pay Will Rise Over Next Year
Noticed a squeeze on the bottom line lately? Perhaps even not so lately? Truck drivers have been watching profit margins shrink since the industry peak month of March 2007. Increasing federal regulations and higher forecast prices for fuel are hitting many independent truck drivers right where it hurts. Is there any relief in sight? Gordon Klemp thinks so. Article originally posted in Commercial Carrier Journal – Written by Max Kvidera
Over the next 12 months, company driver pay will rise 3 to 5 cents a mile and owner-operator pay 4 to 6 cents a mile as carriers compete for a diminished supply of quality candidates, a forecast pay specialist predicted. The lower end of those ranges will occur even if the national economy continues in the doldrums, while the higher numbers will be achieved if manufacturing improves, said Gordon Klemp, president of National Transportation Institute.
Klemp – participating in a Monday, Aug. 15 webinar produced by Overdrive and Truckers News magazines and sponsored by Freightliner Trucks – said sign-on bonuses, which have re-emerged in the past couple years, will continue. He also forecast increased use of productivity pay programs.
Based on a second-quarter survey of 350 carriers, Klemp offered the following observations:
• Quality of available driver candidates is “marginal at best”;
• Driver demand and supply is out of balance; and
• Wages have moved up in the last year and should go higher.
An archived version of the webinar can be downloaded at www.overdriveonline.com.
