ARLINGTON, Va. – U.S. fleets paid drivers nearly US$6,000 more, including bonuses, in 2019 than they did in 2017, according to a Driver Compensation Study conducted by the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

“These results show that fleets did exactly what we would expect them to in the face of a tightening market for drivers: they raised pay and increased benefits in order to attract talent,” said ATA chief economist Bob Costello.

Average pay for truckload national, irregular route solo van drivers climbed to roughly $58,000.

“We saw large carriers hire more entry-level drivers in 2019, including drivers directly from driver training school, which lowered the average pay for these carriers, but they did not reduce pay rates. It was just a different driver experience pool,” Costello said.

Responding fleets also said they improved benefits packages, including paid leave, insurance, meals and retirement plan contributions. “What these figures show is that being a truck driver can be a path to a middle-class lifestyle for millions of Americans,” Costello said. “With the long-term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent economic crisis not yet fully clear, we can say that a career in trucking could be a well-paying solution for some of the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs so far this year.”