Carriers Offer Drivers Pay Raises, Guarantees

Five companies in various trucking sectors recently announced diverse steps to increase driver compensation, as carriers tackle the growing need to keep and attract drivers in a strengthening freight environment.

The largest fleet is less-than-truckload carrier Con-way Freight, whose hourly and salaried workers are receiving their first pay hike in three years.

In the truckload sector, Con-way’s Truckload unit is starting a mileage guarantee for team drivers, while Baylor Trucking has begun offering guaranteed weekly pay.

For flatbed carriers, pay is rising for employee and owner-operator drivers, with recent increases announced for Maverick Transportation’s employee drivers and Fikes Truck Line’s owner-operators. In addition, tank carrier Dupré Logistics switched to hourly from mileage pay to enhance retention.

The carriers add the incentives at a time when driver turnover is at a three-year high for truckload fleets and truck tonnage ended 2011 at an all-time high, capping a year when freight rose 5.9%, according to American Trucking Associations.

“Freight is strong, capacity is in demand, and we offer diverse opportunities,” said Max Campbell, director of recruiting for Fikes, Hope, Ark., which also offers dry van and refrigerated service.

The Fikes program increases all owner-operators’ pay percentage to 80% of total revenue for each shipment they move, an increase of as much as 5 percentage points, if the driver obtains proper tags and plates for his equipment.

At Con-way Truckload, Joplin, Mo., Bert Johnson, vice president of human resources, told Transport Topics that the company has begun guaranteeing team drivers 5,000 miles a week in a bid to provide a more attractive and regular pay package to attract drivers.

“One of the big issues is the inconsistency of pay for drivers who may be forced to wait as much as a day in dwell time,” said Johnson, adding that Con-way has begun to evaluate whether to extend that approach to single drivers as well.

“Turnover is a big deal,” Johnson said. “We are looking to create consistency to hold onto those drivers.”

Baylor, Milan, Ind., chose to guarantee weekly pay at $1,000 per week instead of a mileage guarantee, but the reason was the same: to offer a steady paycheck.

“Drivers never know from week to week what they will be paid, based on freight flow,” said Baylor recruiting manager Bill Gunter. “We hear that drivers often leave their last carriers because they weren’t making enough steadily. Now that’s no longer a concern.”

Baylor also boosted pay by two cents a mile to a maximum of 44 cents per mile.

“Whenever we are able to do more for our drivers, we do,” said owner Bob Baylor in a statement. “It’s a priority for us at Baylor to provide the best pay package we can.”

“Everyone in our industry knows that professional drivers need, and more importantly, deserve higher pay,” said Maverick’s CEO Steve Williams in a statement. “We decided to move fast in 2012.”

Starting pay for Maverick’s flatbed drivers will rise to 42 cents or 43 cents per mile on April 1.

Maverick, Little Rock Ark., also doubled pay for securing a load with a tarp to $25 and added a longevity incentive that lasts for long as five years.

In addition, Con-way has started a lease-purchase program aimed at company drivers who want to become owner-operators. That program is mainly aimed at expanding the driver corps, rather than converting employee drivers to owner-operators unless the driver wants to make the change.

“It’s a low-cost alternative for drivers who would go out into the market to buy a truck,” said Johnson, who noted that leased tractors typically have 500,000 miles or more and will be leased with a 200,000 mile warranty on key parts and some free labor as well.

Drivers who do become owner-operators will be replaced with new operators to increase the fleet size, Johnson added.

In Con-way’s LTL business, raises average 2.5% for salaried workers, while all hourly workers will receive a 2.5% increase, both on April 1, spokesman Gary Frantz told TT. The LTL unit workers’ pay was frozen in April 2009.

Con-way Truckload pay has been rising in the interim as drivers hit mileage performance targets, Frantz said.

Dupré has also developed a back-to-work program with a local job and rehabilitation center in Lafayette, La., where the company is based, to bring drivers back into the workforce, according to a company statement.