Walmart's $110k truckers: How big-box retailer has been forced to hike salaries to keep its supply chain going after 4,900 drivers quit the indus

I am an single truck owner operator, at one point I had my own authority, I currently just lease the truck (I still drive) elsewhere and operate under their authority.

That said, your questions are really a huge number of factors all rolled into one.

1) The job sucks. Zero appreciation from anywhere, dealing with the cars on the road is a major issue. The laws are slanted against a truck driver in that regard (dash cams are a must these days). It is an extremely thankless job, from every front.

2) Trucking Insurance has been hugely consolidated in the last 20 years. Most of the major carriers self insure (Think Swift/Prime - the ones you see everywhere going 65mph). Because of the insurance situation, if you are just starting out, no one can afford to insure you. But the guys that self insure can, hence they have a semi captive audience for at least 1 year, in a number of ways, 2 years. They know this, and burn new drivers to the ground, they never get home, no family, the pay is terrible (because they are new), etc. The turnover rates I've heard about are at about 100%.

3) Once you have 2 very safe years in, you can start to look at a lot of the smaller operations, or start looking at becoming an owner. Doors start to open for better money and quality of life.

4) The next big trap, lease purchase trucks. The whole market is a scam. Lots of money down, no credit checks, repo the truck after a missed payment, resell the truck to someone else / repeat. Trucks cost huge money to maintain, even the new ones, carrying a $3k month truck payment, plus the expenses and keeping up with the maintenance is almost impossible. Go play a slot machine, your odds are better. Worse yet, These same mega carriers offer a lease purchase, with the same crappy terms above, but add in you are stuck with them, you can not use that truck to haul any freight they don't approve of. It isn't unheard of to have companies stop dispatching, or give the worthless loads to someone who is almost about to pay off the truck. Force a banko situation and get the truck back, repeat process.. Every driver out there has heard about this, knows about it, or has experienced it.

5) There is almost zero support to move a driver up from this entry level area. It is complex, no one is teaching this, or helping them unless they have a friend, family or are extremely hungry with a serious go getter personality. This then becomes a dead end for most drivers, they know they can make similar money near home, home each night, family, life.. etc. and they leave. Btw, but if I remember right, years ago, you had to be a million mile driver to work for Walmart. They paid better then, the drivers where respected, and for the most part it was a good gig (no idea what walmart is like these days to drive for, but I know they no longer have the million mile requirement). Let me be clear here, am not 100% on the million mile requirement back in the day, but seem to remember it being that way.

6) Beginning drivers are paid usually by the mile. I've heard as low as 24-25 cents. Top company drivers are getting paid 60 cents a mile +/-. Now freight is moving easily these days for $3 or more a mile in dry van operation. You can operate a truck for 80-90 cents a mile (that includes payment, taxes, ins, fuel, etc) So if you own a truck and are getting in the ball park of $3 per mile and have $1.50ish a mile expenses including the driver, someone is making a lot of money and it isn't the driver dealing will all the risk, liability, and hostility from every direction. People work very hard to keep freight rate knowledge away from company drivers.

Salary would help tremendously. My ability to handle and deal with the BS that happens in trucking goes vastly up as my rates go up. If am making pennies, I don't want to deal with anything that slows down the money making process (traffic, shippers/receiver's and all their problems, dispatchers, safety, etc.. )

I haven't covered close to all the problems, but if the above was straightened out, the industry would start to see some leveling out. The mega carriers are the ones causing a lot of this with very direct goals of pushing the smaller carriers out of business. Look at any industry where that is happening and the problems that come from it are always the same, no different here.

You are treading the very thin line of threatening, possibly even crossed it.

i think people missed the point of this thread, i am not bagging on truckers, a great friend was a OTR long haul trucker and a damn good one.

it was more the issue of what happened recently that so many truckers quit and a convoy was started for ??

also all the price increases that were mentioned over the last few days at walmart and other places... all the posts here and more increases coming daily to weekly


they are making it and more with the price increases, off of us they are making it

Really can't add anything to the above, you have pretty much it all the factors.. =)

i think people missed the point of this thread, i am not bagging on truckers, a great friend was a OTR long haul trucker and a damn good one.

it was more the issue of what happened recently that so many truckers quit and a convoy was started for ?? IM NOT NEEDLING ANYONE FOR BEING A TRUCKER

also all the price increases that were mentioned over the last few days at walmart and other places... all the posts here and more increases coming daily to weekly


they are making it and more with the price increases, off of us they are making it

I mentioned many of the issues above, the industry has changed over the last 20 years, a lot. Am in a good spot atm, but getting here was horrible. Solid 10 years of my life.

Take all of the above and put Covid, protestors on the highways, breaking into trucks, and just the entire shit show of the last 2 years and well, plenty have had enough.

Am sorry - I didn't write that to mean you where bagging on them. You had asked what is happening here and I was trying to provide some background.

Dipshits and their Rambo fantasy.

Noone has to do shit.

You won't pay your taxes or I could find some other 50000 code or legal violations to come after you for.

Then what you gonna do VS the full power of the US gov.



You keep playing Rambo fantasy though. We have drones. Big ones.

i am thicked skinned than that, just felt some missed the hidden point about wheter the vaxx played a role in this??

Just try to look at the news and make observations about it all i do here

thank you for all you did and wish you well, at the end of the day what matters is are you right with the lord.

My pastor asked why all these people are prepping ? do you really wanna continue to live in crazy and fight off people coming to kill and take what you have a repressed or wanna go meet the lord ???

I didnt take it as such jsut felt some here were ventign frustration and maybe missed the hidden part about recent events.

I am merely making observations on news stories, and was wondering how much of that was related to the vAXX and the shortage of drivers. Observations

Thicker skinned than that ... at the end of the day this a chat forum , i could be a leftist liberal or right winger, no one knows. it is comments on current events is all. no one knows for sure. your best friend on GLP could be plant for abc or lying to you about they way they truly feel. no one knows for sure

Thank you for doing what did for as long as you did

The reason the drivers have quit the isn’t money it’s the work schedule.
I actually researched them a while back.
They run Wednesday through Monday or Thursday through Tuesday, they live in the truck during this time, no hotel room’s. Showers are taken at the DC’s. Top out compensation is around 123,000 depending on miles and some great benefits.
So would you spend five days living in a truck and not see your family, kids, or friends? When you are off, your kids are at school. What about a single person? Every weekend doesn’t leave much for a social life.
I guess some people might be ok with that but the reality of doing it will sink in pretty quick.
That starting pay is pretty good compared to most other companies but there is a price to pay.
Thank you but I’ll keep my 95K, home every day, absolutely every weekend and every holiday off.
Money isn’t everything.

Money is absolutely everything

He was just saying nothing lasts forever.

Mandatory Injections?

Owner operators and lease owner operators will be a 1099. So no mandates there.

I know a few company drivers, haven't heard of it being forced, but a lot of grumbling previously about it.

Ooooh I had to change a diaper. Boo hoo grow up and be a man.

This will be the downfall of America. The b@@mer.

In Russia, we help our neighbor.

I would not do that job at any price!

Agreed, I don't drive a truck but my life DEPENDS on the truckers who work and deliver our food and other things we need to live on...

So sick of people mocking truckers because they "sit" in a truck all day....driving is HARD work itself, you need skills and great concentration to suffer through the monotony but also to navigate through all the traffic and idiots on the road, and then you get to the load and unload sites with all of their nonsense.

Yep.

I want you to know that I appreciate every mile you traveled. Everything we use comes by rail or truck. I truly thank you.

Truckers should be making 300k.

Truckers that own their own trucks make much more. They can make over $2k on one job that takes a couple days.

I worked at Wal-Mart for 8$ an hr unloading trucks. All women on the line. They were mean and nasty prison type women and they attacked me every day. Threw paint all over me and laughed. I complained to the manager and he put me in a department.

I don't think this is something you should share with others.
<shaking head>

LMAO!

Not o mention Kay overs they have to sit for up to 36 hours not driving . They just live in the truck for a day and half away from home family friends . That would really suck nothing to do for 36 hours is like jail . You could only sleep 16 of them maybe 20 then you still have a lot of hours to kill .

You could Uber to a movie and dinner but that gets expensive quick . Walmart sucks then should pay better ! Eventually we the consumers pay for it anyway !