Professional Driver Pay and Employment in 2021

Much has changed in the past year in terms of professional driver pay and employment. Contributing to this is a boost in driver demand while the pool of qualified drivers remains low due to shifting priorities, high turnover, and tighter regulations.

In this post, you’ll get an overview of the changes in professional driver pay and employment in 2021 and learn the factors contributing to increased driver pay in the High Stakes Freight market. 

The Current State of Employment of Professional Drivers in 2021

It’s basic economics at work: when demand is high and supply is low, price goes up. 

That’s why truck driver salaries have gone up in the past year, and why the companies who hire them have sought a competitive edge with higher pay, benefits, and bonuses to attract and keep the best drivers. 

There are four key factors at work that are impacting the state of employment of professional drivers: a shortage of drivers, increasing trucker salaries, high turnover, and shifting priorities.

Shortage of Drivers

The logistics and transportation industry is experiencing a shortage of drivers for a number of reasons. For one, there’s more work. Because of the pandemic, online ordering has skyrocketed with no signs of slowing. Construction is also ramping back up. However, many qualified CDL drivers are no longer operating and driver school graduations have plummeted. Many driver schools ceased or drastically reduced operations because of the pandemic, and the industry is clearly still feeling the effects.

A new federal clearinghouse alerts carriers to drivers who have failed drug tests, or who have DUIs or other substance abuse problems on their records. Since the clearinghouse went into effect, over 75,000 drivers have been barred from driving. 

What’s more, drivers are retiring early faster than they can be replaced and, some would argue, the professional driver age limit of 21 makes it so high school graduates can’t explore truck driving as a career, forcing them to seek and possibly settle into other jobs before they reach the required age to get their commercial driver’s licence and enter the workforce. 

In short, there’s no one reason for the shortage of drivers, and each reason comes with its own set of follow up challenges.

Increasing Pay

In an attempt to attract and retain truck drivers, carriers are offering higher and more consistent salaries and paying attention to what drivers value in a compensation plan. This has led to closer examination of detentions, delays, and unproductive waiting times that are out of the driver’s control. 

Benefits and bonuses for tenure, earnings, and outcomes are also being used to incentivize drivers and reward good work. 

In turn, carriers must charge higher rates to their customers, stay on top of shippers so they don’t contribute to driver delays, and create fee structures for customer delays in order to pay a driver for time lost through no fault of their own. 

High Turnover

Pay hikes are causing many drivers to go from company to company in search of the best compensation. The average annual turnover rate for drivers is about 95% for truckload carriers, and these carriers are the ones experiencing the most severe driver shortages. 

Naturally, drivers want and appreciate more pay. Who doesn’t? 

During this time, it’s easy to justify keeping an eye out for something better, so carriers must stay competitive in the market to retain a dependable and trustworthy fleet of drivers.

Shifting Priorities

An increase in pay has possibly caused an opposite effect than intended on the market. Instead of incentivizing drivers to work more, some drivers have decided to use their increased paychecks to cut down on their driving and spend more time at home. 

Because of the pandemic, drivers, like many others, recognized the value of quality time spent with family. 

This also explains the increased desire for people to work from home, when possible. When met with the opportunity to get paid more and work less, some drivers have chosen to prioritize family and reduce their hours on the road. 

Because the construction industry typically requires minimal long-term road time, some drivers have become more attracted to the idea of working in this industry to have greater work-life balance. Other drivers are attracted to regular routes to maintain a consistent schedule. 

How Increased Driver Wages Impact the Market

There’s no doubt about it: Driver wages are increasing, and shippers want to lock down rates and capacity with carriers. It looks like freight rates, the reduced supply of drivers, and increasing demand will continue to drive rates up for the foreseeable future. 

This shifting dynamic has created the opportunity for better communication between drivers and carriers around pay structures and compensation, which have been historically complex in the logistics industry. 

With top-of-the-line service, communication and rock-solid relationships with our valued carrier partners, we’re at the forefront of the High Stakes Freight industry and always work with the best carrier partners for our construction logistics projects. To learn more, reach out.