Con-way Truckload announced two improvements to driver pay packages that will increase driver compensation.


Effective Nov. 25, the company is instituting a 1-cent-per-mile increase in mileage pay, applicable to both company drivers and owner-operators. The company also is changing the standard for unpaid wait time when drivers are detained at customer loading docks. The amount of "wait time" before detention pay is earned has been reduced from three hours to two.

Excessive detention was the number one concern aired by drivers in recent discussion forums. That feedback led to the company's decision to decrease wait time for detention pay from three hours to two hours.

Saul Gonzalez, the company's president, noted that Con-way Truckload emphasizes premium service, managing its network operations and 2,800-truck fleet for maximum availability to customers and maximum miles for drivers, while working against strict standards for on-time pick-up and delivery.

Effectively managing that balance - keeping drivers on the road and having trucks available where and when customers need capacity - is influenced by shippers and their ability to load and unload trucks in a timely manner. Loading and unloading a full-truckload shipment typically averages two hours, yet drivers are often detained at shippers' docks for longer periods of time.

Excessive "detention" time reduces driver compensation and can create on-the-job frustration. It also makes it that much more difficult to keep trucks on schedule with the often tight service windows that today's high-velocity supply chains demand.

"Ultimately, excessive detention is waste that costs the shipper more in transportation expense," Gonzales noted.