Nov. 25 – Most of the driver pay increases in the third quarter came from trucking companies already in the top half of wage rates, reports SignPost in its Third Quarter results of The national Survey of Driver Wages.

The average driver wage increase for carriers adjusting pay was 4.6%, with reefers leading the way at 5.4%, flats following at 4.4% and vans trailing at 4.2%. About one-fourth of carriers made wage changes during the third quarter.
Nearly three-quarters of the pay increases were made by carriers who had pay packages that ranked in the top half of the existing wage rates. The van segment led this trend, where 87% of the carriers implementing a wage increase were top half payers. In the flatbed segment, 71% of the increases came from top half payers, and 55% in the reefer category.
“It would seem a safe bet that next quarter will see a lot of wage changes as carriers evaluate and respond to these moves,” says a company statement. “Right now, no carriers want to be left behind.”