Over 20% of truckload carriers participating in The National Survey of Driver Wages have increased driver compensation since last August, according to SignPost Inc., which conducts the quarterly survey.

November results, based on over 450 pay packages, puts the average increase at about 4.4%. Van carriers who reported compensation changes showed an average increase of 6.3%; raises by flatbed carriers averaged 4.1%; those by refrigerated carriers averaged 2.8%.
“With at least 20% of the carriers in the survey reporting changes, this compensation movement cannot be attributed to a statistical fluke,” the company said.
Researchers also noted that when the survey was first started, in the spring of 1996, van carriers offered the highest compensation of the three carrier types. In the fall 1996 survey refrigerated carriers had taken the lead. “This is the first real movement we have seen by the van segment to begin narrowing the gap,” they noted.
SignPost’s Major Carrier Wage Index, which looks at per/mile pay among 64 of the country’s largest truckload carriers, sets the average starting pay for drivers with three years of experience at 29.8 cents, up 0.5% from August. Van carriers in this group pay an average 30.3 cents a mile, up 1.2% from August. Refrigerated carriers average 28.8 cents a mile, the same as last report, and flatbed carriers average 30.3 cents a mile, up 0.3%.
Additional information about the survey can be found at http://www.thenationalsurvey.com.