ATA: Driver shortage ‘great’ for qualified workers cashing in on ‘free agency of trucking’

If you are qualified and want to be a truck driver in the post-pandemic era, you can cash in on a growth industry.

Pay for American truckers rose significantly in 2021 as demand for drivers amid the ongoing driver shortage increased competition for talent. That’s according to the results of a new industry survey commissioned by the American Trucking Associations (ATA). ATA estimated there is a shortage of 80,000 drivers among the 3 million holders of a Commercial Driver’s License.

“The data support what industry sources have been saying for some time – the driver shortage has been great for drivers who saw their salaries rise last year,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a statement. “Pay increases were broad based across the industry, for example between salary increases and bonuses, the average truckload driver saw a wage increase of 10.9% last year.”

The 2022 ATA Driver Compensation Study covered fleets with more than 135,000 employee drivers. In addition, nearly 20,000 independent contractors were queried about their compensation, including pay rates, bonuses and benefits.

Among the ATA industry survey findings:

• Median truckload driver earned more than $69,000 in 2021 – an 18% increase from the previous survey done in 2019;
• More than 90% of truckload fleets raised pay in 2021, with the average increase hitting 10.9%. Some 96% of fleets offered referral bonuses for new drivers, and 54% offered sign-on bonuses;
• Every less-than-truckload (LTL) fleet surveyed raised pay in 2021, with the median wage hitting $73,000; 
• Median salary for a driver at a private fleet was $85,000; and
• Non-drayage owner-operators that responded to the survey saw estimated median gross revenue of $235,000 in 2021, while Owner-operators in the drayage sector saw median gross revenue of $164,000

“The driver shortage, coupled with increased demand for goods in the post-pandemic economy, really drove driver salaries,” Costello said. “These pay increases should put to lie the myths about the nature of this job—trucking is a path that can provide a well-paid career for Americans looking for one.”

In a conference call with reporters, ATA Chief Economist Costello said the industry is “keenly focused” on benchmarking fleets vis-à-vis pay and benefits.

“Drivers get good benefits,” Costello said. That includes holidays, sick pay, vacations and often profit-sharing.

“This industry is a path to the middle class,” Costello said. “There’s not a lot of that left anymore.”

In the non-union TL market, the market got “very tight” for drivers. Some 93% of TL carriers boosted pay last year. “To be honest, I thought it would be higher than that,” Costello said.

Some 80% of TL drivers were paid by the mile. The rest get paid either hourly or via salary.

Final-mile delivery drivers in the TL sector earned a median of $65,000 – only $5,000 less than over-the-road (OTR) drivers. Costello noted OTR drivers do not have to unload freight while final-mile delivery drivers often have to unload and set up freight.

“It is much more labor-intensive,” Costello said of final-mile drivers.

Still, the industry is plagued by high turnover rates. For-hire TL carriers reported annual turnover between 70% and 75%.

“It’s the free agency of trucking,” Costello said. “The vast, vast, vast majority of turnover is simply churning in the industry, moving from one carrier to another. Literally, a driver can quit one company and get hired within an hour.”

Sign-on bonuses between $1,500 and $5,000 were offered by slightly more than half the TL carriers surveyed. Occasionally, these bonuses were as high as $10,000 last year, Costello added.

Tightening of the market due to being blacklisted by the national drug and alcohol clearinghouse “has added another layer to the driver shortage,” Costello said, “and for good reason.”

A White House initiative to attract more drivers to the industry has begun to attract newcomers to the industry. But industry officials say it’s too early to tell what the impact would be on the market.

Truck driver training schools are attracting people in their 30s. A new pilot program attracting driver candidates between ages of 18 of 21 is being pushed by ATA as a partial solution to the driver shortage.

“When we think about the driver shortage, there is no one reason for the driver shortage,” Costello said. “That means there is no one solution to it.”

The full 2022 ATA Driver Compensation Study is available for purchase at http://www.atabusinesssolutions.com.