Teamster drivers who work for less-than-truckload carriers under the National Master Freight Agreement are getting a big hike in pay and benefits this year.

On April 1, these drivers received a 35-cent raise in base pay to $19.86 an hour. According to Traffic World, for example, a driver covered by the Central States’ supplemental agreement would make more than $41,000 a year, not including overtime.
An even bigger boost, however, reports Traffic World, is coming Aug. 1 in the form of additional benefits. The contract, negotiated in 1997, calls for benefit increases needed to keep health and benefit costs at current levels. Although the exact amount is still being determined, it is expected that the Big Four LTL carriers will be paying about $25 more a week per employee.
That means a unionized driver will be getting just over $60,000 a year in salary and benefits. That compares to about $40,000 in pay and benefits for a typical nonunion freight carrier, according to the publication.
The NMFA expires March 31, 2003. The two sides are expected to start negotiations later this year, after the Teamsters get their contract hammered out with UPS.