f e a t u r e  s t o r y

HUNT RAISE SPARKS HIKES

Starting pay going up, but not pay for veteran drivers.

J.B. Hunt’s announcement last fall that it would raise driver pay this year apparently spurred many fleets to follow suit.
Nearly 18% of 338 fleets in SignPost Inc.’s 3rd quarter National Survey of Driver Wages said they had changed driver pay packages. Only about 9% had upped pay or benefits in the previous survey.
Most changes affected starting pay and experience requirements. For instance some carriers raised starting pay 2˘-3˘ but now also require more driving experience.
Fewer raises, however, came to veteran drivers. According to survey data, top pay for solo drivers is 38˘ a mile but the majority of carriers pay 4˘-6˘ less. That, say researchers, is a concern.
While increases in starting pay attract and benefit new drivers in the short term, “either maximum pay will have to rise in lock step with starting pay, or carriers will end up with flat line compensation structures that give veteran drivers no real incentive for staying on board,” the company noted in its most recent newsletter.
Each quarter, SignPost compiles a list of the firms with the best pay packages for company drivers, based on wages as well as benefits.
This quarter, 11 companies made the list of dry van carriers. In alphabetical order they are: Contract Freighters, Crete Carrier Corp., H.O. Wolding, Jevic Transportation, OTR Express, QXI, Roehl Transport, Shorewood Transport, Sitton Motor Lines, USA Truck, and Victory Express.
Top flatbed carriers were: Boyd Bros. Transportation, J.B. Hunt, Melton Truck Lines, Roehl Transport, Schneider Specialized Carriers, Umthun Trucking, and Werner Enterprises.
Top reefer carriers: Bud Meyer Truck Lines, Daymark, Goodway Transport, Heyl Truck Lines, Leprino Transportation, Lessors Inc., Polar Express, Sathers Trucking, Shaffer Trucking, Sitton Motor Lines, Sunflower Carriers, TransAm Trucking, Transtar, and TRL.
The survey yielded some unique compensation ideas. For instance:
• CF pays life insurance policies of $5,000 for drivers’ spouses and $1,000 for dependents.
• Silver Eagle pays an extra 2˘ per mile starting on a driver’s 15th day of a trip if he/she signed up to be out more than two weeks.
• Hunt Transportation pays flatbed drivers 1˘ a gallon for fuel they buy at approved truckstops.
• Schneider Specialized Carriers offers drivers a $2,000 benefit payment if they and their families adopt a child younger than 16.
• Dick Simon Trucking offers a referral bonus that’s paid quarterly as long as both the referring driver and the referred driver remain employed by the company.
• Leprino Transportation pays drivers an extra 5˘ per mile on all loads shorter than 500 miles.

OWNER-OPERATORS
SignPost found that about half of all carriers surveyed will accept an owner-operator tractor that’s more than five years old, if it meets state and federal safety regs. Reefer carriers, however, tend to want newer equipment.
Just over 48% of companies that pay owner-operators by the mile offer the same rate for loaded and empty miles. Those that pay less for empty miles still offer at least 50˘ a mile.
A third of carriers pay base plate and permit expenses for owner-operators.
About two-thirds require their owner-operators to purchase workers compensation or occupational accident insurance, no matter who drives the truck.
For additional information about the survey, contact SignPost at (800) 678-1614.

— Patricia McCullough
Senior Editor