New York chip shortage blamed on major Frito-Lay truck driver pay cut

A new report blames empty snack food shelves in New York stores on Frito-Lay’s decision to dramatically cut pay for some of the company’s truck drivers.

According to the New York Post, it all began last year when Frito-Lay adopted a new pay structure which effectively cut the pay for truck drivers in the New York area by as much as 33%. This amounted to a $30,000 annual pay cut for a number of drivers, which, predictably, led many of them to quit. At one Brooklyn distribution center, 35 of the 140 drivers quit as a result of the pay cut.

There is a massive Frito-Lay shortage in NYC bodegas https://t.co/5PB8krD894 pic.twitter.com/P64U1PB3BV

— New York Post (@nypost) March 20, 2018

The mass exodus of truck drivers has left a number of New York convenience stores without the crunchy snack foods like Doritos that customers have come to expect. The Post reports that management has attempted to make up for the lack of drivers by taking over some routes themselves, but dozens of stores report major delivery disruptions. One store even reports that they haven’t had a delivery in three months and that no one answers the phone when they call the distribution center.

Frito-Lay made the change to pay structure after a sluggish revenue increase of just 1.6 percent last year. A company spokesperson told the Post that the pay structure change is part of a national initiative and that “participating sales representatives have on average seen an increase in overall compensation.”

FRITO LAY SHORTAGE – It’s hard to find a bag of @Fritolay chips in NYC stores. That’s because many delivery truck drivers quit when @PepsiCo cut their salaries by a third last year. #1010WINS pic.twitter.com/LofUlwfOXS

— Darius Radzius (@DariusRadzius) March 19, 2018

The report indicates that many of the former Frito-Lay drivers are now working for Amazon.  Many of those who have stayed are trying to make up for the lost income by working for Uber on the weekends.