Walmart wants to hire 900 truckers and pay them nearly $90,000 a year

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, Trainorders:

Date: 01/24/19 05:54
Eastern Railroad Discussion > OT Wal-Mart to hire 900 truckers
Author: Lackawanna484

And pay them $90,000 a year, says CBS.

Sounds like a good improvement. WMT is already a significant rail customer. FEC drops a cut at Fort Pierce most nights. The cargo drays over to I-95 center.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/walmart-wants-to-hire-900-truckers-and-pay-them-nearly-90000-a-year/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab6a&linkId=62738578&te=1&nl=dealbook&emc=edit_dk_20190124

Walmart wants to hire 900 truckers and pay them nearly $90,000 a year

BY KATE GIBSON

UPDATED ON: JANUARY 24, 2019 / 1:19 PM / MONEYWATCH

The 8,000 truckers who work for Walmart are getting a raise, with average pay soon approaching $90,000 a year, as the retailing heavyweight looks to hire hundreds more drivers amid an ongoing shortage of truck drivers.

Walmart's bid to recruit more truck drivers had it running national TV ads in the fall, shortening the hiring process and offering referral bonuses of as much as $1,500. The company hired 1,400 new drivers in 2018, and "hundreds more are slated to join in 2019," according to Walmart.

Starting next month, truck drivers will get a per-mile hike of one cent and an extra $1 each time they drop a trailer at a destination, Walmart said Wednesday. That will bring average pay for drivers to $87,500 a year. The company also said people can expect predictable schedules, at least 21 days of paid time off and possible quarterly bonuses.
....

Walmart does not disclose its actual driver turnover rate for business reasons, but historically, it has averaged about 10 percent, a spokesperson emailed. "The number one reason our drivers leave is retirement – our turnover is one of the lowest in the industry!" exclaims Walmart's job listing for drivers.
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Full disclosure: I shop at Walmart.

[elleng]

1. Non-union?

[underpants]

2. Yep they are in very high demand now

I guess Walmart is driving up the going price for truckers

[Farmer-Rick]

3. Sometimes the magical hand of the free market actually helps some workers for a time

But a study done in 2015 showed that if driver pay had kept up with inflation it would have been about $111,455 which would equal in 1980 $38,618 a year. Of course it's even worse now.

Yeah it's good that Walmart pays someone a decent wage considering every other worker from sales clerk to DC box thrower, barely makes a living wage. It's nice to know drivers are paid.