BENTONVILLE, Arkansas (NewsNation) — Since Walmart raised its starting salary for truck drivers to $110,000 this month, the company’s vice president for transportation said he’s already had associates tell him it’s had a positive impact on their finances.
“We’re excited to be part of that,” Fernando Cortes told NewsNation.
According to reports, the average annual salary for a truck driver is under $60,000 a year, with Walmart’s starting salary previously being $87,500. But this month, Walmart announced new drivers will now be able to make $95,000 to $110,000 a year. Experienced Walmart truckers could make even more.
“It is a decision that was not only based on what is right to do for the individual and the associates that we have, but it also has a good business sense behind it, so we see it as an investment,” Cortes said. “We see it as the right place and space to go after and honestly, at the end of the day, it’s a decision that we’re very proud to make.”
It’s a move Walmart’s making during a time when the trucking industry needs fuel. America is short about 80,000 drivers, the American Trucking Associations estimates. This trucker shortage has been a factor leading to disruptions in the U.S. supply chain, as there’s less people to get freight off the port and into stores and warehouses.
There are a number of factors driving this shortage, Bob Costello, the chief economist for the ATA, said in an October 2021 press release.
“This isn’t just a pay issue. We have an aging workforce, a workforce that is overwhelmingly male, and finding ways to address those issues is key to narrowing the shortage,” Costello said.
To combat this, Walmart isn’t just upping truck drivers’ pay, but training more of them. The nation’s largest retailer is launching a training program for truckers. Called the Private Fleet Development program, it will give Walmart employees working in its distribution or fulfillment centers the opportunity to become certified truck drivers for the company in 12 weeks.
“So for us, it’s not a one-time event, it has been multiple decades of building the pride and the courtesy that this fleet runs on, and compensation now is an element that puts us kind of at the top of the list,” Cortes said.
Walmart had already been one of the top five companies, paying its truckers the most, according to truckdriversalary.com.
Now, it’s in the number one spot.
“The fleet just turned 50 years last year, so every single one of those years, we’ve been looking at the benefits, the environment that we create, the safety that we drive through the streets, and compensation is a big element of that,” Cortes said.