The American Trucking Association reports that salaries for all types of truck drivers are steadily rising due to increasing drivers in demand. The current salary for national irregular route full truckload drivers has risen more than $6k to $52,000 since 2014, while private fleet drivers are closing on $85,000, an 11% increase over all.

The tight transport market is supporting not only higher salaries, but also better benefits and generous signing bonuses of up to $7k as part of an ongoing effort to attract and — more importantly — retain new drivers. This supports similar data released in The National Transportation Institute’s (NTI) Quarterly National Survey of Driver Wages. NTI’s COO, Leah Shaver indicated, “We’re seeing unprecedented movement in driver pay.”

As salaries skyrocket, industry pundits believe 2018 is the year when pricing power officially shifts from shippers to carriers. Also, shippers complain about and resist rising rates. They reduce time wasted at loading docks so that drivers avoid delays.

Finally, current predictions suggest that at least 900,000 new drivers will be needed over the next decade, 49% of which will fill in for pending retirees. To learn more, click here.

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