A competitive market for truck drivers has caused driver pay to increase significantly as fleets look to meet demand for freight transportation services, according to the Driver Compensation Study released by American Trucking Associations.

According to the recent study, the median salary for a truckload driver working a national irregular route increased 15% to over $53,000 annually, when compared to ATA’s last survey which covered pay for 2013. Private fleet drivers have seen an even larger salary increase in the same period, jumping 18% to $86,000 a year.  

“This latest survey, which includes data from more than 100,000 drivers, shows that fleets are reacting to an increasingly tight market for drivers by boosting pay, improving benefit packages and offering other enticements to recruit and retain safe and experienced drivers,” said Bob Costello, ATA chief economist.

Costello also noted that fleets were offering drivers signing bonuses and attractive benefits packages in an effort to recruit and retain them. In some cases drivers were offered thousands of dollars to sign on and once in the door the same fleets would offer benefits like 401(k)s, paid leave, and health insurance to stay.

“This data demonstrates that fleets are reacting to concerns about the driver shortage by raising pay and working to make the job more attractive,” he said. “I expect that trend to continue as demand for trucking services increases as our economy grows.”

The full ATA Driver Compensation Study is available here.