ATA survey: Truckload drivers in ’21 earned 18% more than 2 years earlier

From Freight Waves.

Every data point was higher in the first survey of driver pay conducted by the research arm of the American Trucking Associations since before the pandemic.

The Drive Compensation Study released Wednesday covers data for 2021, and its reference points are comparisons to 2019.

In a media call, ATA chief economist Bob Costello said trucking is “an industry that is focused on driver compensation and benchmarking against it.” That is the goal of the report and “it is a huge undertaking,” he said.

Among the report’s key findings:

• Truckload drivers earned a median compensation of $69,687 in 2021. That figure includes bonuses but not benefits. That figure is 18% more than the average compensation from 2019.
• More than 90% of respondents in the truckload sector to the ATA survey increased pay last year, with the average increase being 10.9%.
• Referral bonuses, a key recruiting tool, averaged $1,150, a gain of $150 over the bonus in the 2019 survey. The percentage of carriers who offered a referral bonus was 96%. Sign-on bonuses were only offered by 54% of truckload carriers in the survey, but the increase in the bonus was $750. (A specific figure on the size of that bonus was not disclosed, but a graphic puts it in the range of about $1,750-$1,800.)

Costello said the ATA study also provides information on benefits, unlike several other compensation studies. The scope of the benefits provided by truckload carriers shows “this is a big part that comes out of this report,” Costello said. “Drivers get good benefits.”

There are no signs of a slowdown in pay increases either, Costello said. Although rates are less than a year ago, he said about 60% of respondents said they planned on increasing pay in 2022.

See the complete article online at Freight Waves.