Walmart has been ordered to pay their drivers $54 million in damages alone for not properly paying truckers for non-driving duties including layovers. While Walmart is very likely to appeal the decision, if upheld, this could possibly have a huge impact on how – and how much – carriers compensate their drivers for non-driving duties.
According to attorneys for the 800+ drivers who are part of the lawsuit against Walmart, the retail chain could be on the hook for more than $150 million after additional damages and penalties are accounted for. The jury awarded the initial $54 million in damages, but the judge will be responsible for determining what additional civil penalties will be charged.
But it’s not just the up-front cost of paying back their drivers that could make this an extremely expensive outcome for Walmart. If upheld, the ruling would mean that Walmart would be responsible for compensating its drivers not just on a per-mile basis, but for many tasks both large and small that drivers are expected to perform.
And it doesn’t end with Walmart. This ruling could potentially carry over to every other motor carrier in the United States.
Drivers have long argued that “off-duty” doesn’t actually mean they’re off-duty just because their logbook says so. They are still responsible for their truck, their cargo, and they are even sometimes told – as in the case of some of those with sleep apnea – where and how they should sleep. Truckers have argued that if their lives are still being dictated by their employer for their “off-duty” hours, then those hours aren’t truly off-duty.
Almost every professional driver in the US is paid on a per-mile basis and Walmart drivers are the same. Walmart drivers make far more than most other company OTR drivers, raking in between $80,000-$100,000+ per year. Unfortunately for Walmart however, minimum wage laws are structured on an hourly basis. So even though drivers are being compensated fairly while they’re driving, if they’re not getting paid for layovers, loading time, maintenance tasks, inspections, and more, then they’re not making minimum wage according to California law.
“The facts in the law clearly show that these drivers were not paid for all the duties they did, like the pre-and post-trip inspections, and they were not paid for their rest breaks,” said an attorney for the drivers according to ABC News.
Walmart disagrees with the ruling that they have to compensate their drivers for individual tasks that they perform. Their lawyers compared the driver pay structure to a baker making a cake. You don’t pay a baker for buying the ingredients, mixing them, putting them in the oven, waiting for it to bake, then decorating it – you just pay for the cake.
Apparently though, the jury didn’t see much similarity between baking cakes and driving trucks.
For Walmart, it seems likely that if they lose the appeal to this decision, they will probably change their pay structure a bit, but ultimately end up paying their drivers about the same as they currently do. But, if this ruling stands, carriers who pay their drivers less (which is almost every carrier) may soon find themselves held to minimum wage laws they’ve been avoiding for years, raising driver pay significantly.
Source: truckinginfo, overdrive, latimes, abc
Bob Bennett says
About darn time ..
Bobbi says
Very cool. When you belong to one of the wealthiest and notoriously underhanded families in business, you should have to pay. Read Sam Waltons biography. I think he would be appalled at what Walmart has become. Bravo!
Dopes says
Many a Wal-Mart drivers are going to Be angry. They think their winning. But really there loosing. Wal-Mart will switch to hourly minimum wage paying the driver for time spend on lines 3 and 4. When the Wal-Mart drivers loose 60 percent of there income. They’ll wished they wouldn’t have sued for lay over pay. And it will impact the rest of us in the idustry. Pay drivers hourly minimum wage per the state the company is based in. Not we’re the driver lives.
Jarexx says
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
@ dope. Foolish fear mongering logic on your part and i wouldn’t be surprised if you’re a trucking company executive that works for a trucking company that gambles with their drivers intelligence. How many good profressional drivers in America will give up their family time for minimum wage truck driver pay? LOL. You think driver shortages is a problem now? Well i dare any trucking company to follow your line of reasoning.
My take on this is someone wanted to send a message and the felt Walmart would be the perfect messenger.
Site moderator plz note i submitted with email correction.
J says
I agree with u 100%. Let’s see if they do minimum wage. They better come out with a robot truck cuz I’m not leaving family behind for that.
Dave says
It’s the attorney’s that are going to benefit from this ruling, plus , with appeals and everything, it’ll be years before it’s totally settled.
Dick A. says
The failure to unionize their driver base will be the downfall for all and with Walmart’s culture being what it is, versus what it could have been, their drivers will pay the ultimate price in lost wages.
Bobbi says
Then don’t drive for WM
Samuel says
7.25 at 168 hours away from home that’s over 1200 dollars per week. Even if you don’t drive a lick. Time to stop the theft from drivers.
Tony H. says
Its just the beginning….I can remember when it was almost impossible to get a job driving for WalMart. To this day I still get calls from them begging me to come to work for them..No thanks. They have changed the way they operate now that every truck is slip seated and you share with as many as 3-4 different drivers. Not for me. Also, how many commercials have you heard lately on the radio for WalMart drivers? That should tell you something.
Dick A. says
That’s because Walmart is facing losses, and trickle down economics means pay cuts across the board, division drains that need to be managed, and the driver base is already facing “benefit changes”.
Wes says
This need some to happen. All drivers lose money just from sitting at docks, traffic, and road closures. We give up,our time for fueling and pre and postrip also. All given for free. Needs to change. Should get paid whole time in the truck unless asleep. Won’t happen but it needs to. I understand that the costs will be passed on too but giving away free time is something that is out of control.
darrin jones says
They will pay hell trying to find new drivers. It sucks bad enough working for many large carriers. We don’t need the added stress
Mack says
This will not result in an overall increase of driver pay. The carriers will just come up with a pay structure that is different, but in the end the take home pay will be the same it is now ( or worse ). There is a reason why the pay is not going up. There is a large supply of foreign, third world drivers that is being tapped by the trucking industry.
Dick A. says
And to think the industry leaders are looking at autonomous to driver-less vehicles in the next two decades, shows how little the industry cares about their drivers.
Mike Blanche says
Actually, I agree with this ruling. And I agree it probably won’t change Walmart drivers’ pay. When I started at Toys R Us, we were compensated on an hourly basis, and it changes your whole attitude toward most of the things a driver does. Stuck in traffic? Waiting for a tire change? And yes, even sleeping. Waiting for a trailer to be unloaded or loaded? And guess what…all of a sudden, carriers will be concerned about delays at shippers and receivers, etc.
Jason Kane says
You nailed it. Especially the part about being stuck in traffic or waiting on repairs.
Reminds me of an old joke…. A guy that’s running late for work is stuck in traffic. He looks over at the truck sitting next to him and the driver looks happy as could be. The guy says to the driver, “what are you so happy for?” The trucker replies, “I’m already AT work!”
Mike k says
Driving a class A vehicle is a very dangerous and stressful job. You have the responsibility of driving safe, while protecting the public and yourself. I as a driver must make good and precise decisions behind the wheel at all times. If I don’t then bad things can happen. The pay that we earn should always reflect the responsibility and the dangers that we face as drivers. Anything less will not do. We don’t sit around and press computer keys or hang around the water cooler. We work on America’s most dangerous workplace the highway. Our earnings should always reflect those dangers and responsibilities that we bare.
Kevin M McGloin says
The first article I read on this a week ago said this was happening in California, didn’t apply to any other state. Is this more sensationalist journalism?
Max says
Generally speaking, what happens in California will happen elsewhere as time goes on. California has onerous labor laws that may fit well with hourly workers, but don’t with those paid on actual production. Not to say there needs to be changes in the way truckers are paid, but paying to sleep? If I’m a traveling sales rep that is paid commission (actual production), do I now get paid to travel, to sleep, to have coffee with a client? There has to be some give and take. If companies have to pay drivers with sleep apnea while they sleep, what about the driver who doesn’t have sleep apnea? Pay the driver for the actions they do such as fueling, post and pre trips and waiting time at shippers/receivers. But sleeping?
Infosaur says
You do get “paid” for taking a client out for coffee, it’s a deductible business expense.
Drivers may not be paid for sleeping, but if you spend 8+ hours at a distribution center getting loaded and you decide to hit the bunk so your fresh when it’s time to roll, that’s just good planning. The alternative is a guy that stays up and paces while the limpets work, only to be to tired to drive and goes down the street to the truck stop.
A d Enstoss says
Buddy ,you don’t get fresh at a DC you work for free like the report says. You wait to get a dock answer the phone back in com check for lumpers ect ect then dispatch thinks you’re rested and puts you on a load when you are fatigued . This is why accidents are way up dude.
Shawn says
I agree with that .I think that if every body should do the right thing and be well rested so they can move on
MrYowler says
Maybe get out of the drivers’ sleep time… We don’t require surgeons or legislators to sleep with a vacuum on their face, or endure surgery, as a condition of continued employment, so if we’re going to do so, to truckers, then companies should pay a price for invading the health privacy of their drivers.
It might finally provide some incentive for carriers to get out of the drivers’ private lives, and limit their interference to the hours of your day that they actually pay for…
Michael says
Washington State also has a class action lawsuit against Walmart pending. I know this because I received a letter from a lawyer out of Seattle. I was a contract driver for the Walmart grocery DC out of Grandview WA
Texas Eskimo says
Headine should read,”800 Walmart Drivers to receive $10 Walmart Gift Certificates,while lawyers rake in $53,992,000″
Trucking Companies will just change the pay structure.And the things I could control,miles driven in a day,will become less valuable.
Jay says
How Wal-Mart going to react to this greedness? I think those people are pay fearly enough, well over what an average driver make a year,plus benefits. I think what going to happen here is what allways happen to the ” little guy” and Wal-Mart going to find the way to recuperate the money not only increasing prices for the goods which affect all of us, we going to see more and more Wal-Mart’s trailers being pulled by independent carriers like Swift, Knight, Landstar etc,..so who’s going to lose at the end? Don’t take a lot of brains to figure it out
Shawn says
Hell swift and Schneider are already doing that
Dick A. says
It’s all about “restructuring” the driver division, another corporate phenomenon that Walmart is actively at work “tuning”.
Chris says
What happens if your a load pay driver still make really good money but we don’t get paid for “extras” like pre and post trips ,truck service, etc
Rufus Crank says
I think company drivers should get a salary contract stating exactly what they will earn per year and how much home time they will receive. The mega carriers aren’t being asked to waste their lives sitting in a truck stop,and they are making money from the other 10,000 or so trucks that have loads. They don’t really care about an individual driver. All things suck though when discussing corporate greed,so my suggestion sucks also.
Tim W says
Yea, your suggestion sucks. LOL.. If we were paid salary, you’d work a lot more and actually be making less.
I’d rather see us get paid at shippers and receivers. Our company is small. If he can’t collect detention from the customer, then we don’t get it. If it was a law that he had to, then our dispatchers would get involved. As far as pretrips, fueling etc, that to me is micromanaging the trucking industry. Chaining up-yep, should be paid since they require me to chain up.
The outcome of this will be interesting for sure..
John says
That’s Right! Walmart Pays Top Pay 80,000 To 100,000 Years For Drivers Working 70hr A Week Clock! No Overtime + “Off Duty” Work! Guess What? The Average American Truck Driver Made 35,000 In 2016 Working That Same 70 Hour Clock! The Big 15 Trucking Companies Thrive On Immigrant Student Team Drivers Heavily Subsidized By Big Government Department Of Education Writing Blank Checks With The Truck Driver Turn Over Rate For 2016 At 110%. Illegal “Churning” For Profit Is The Norm.
MrYowler says
Everything That I Say Should Be Read As A Headline!
Nijel A-dar says
Driver are one who work hours after hours and not get any more payment then mileage and majority of the time get less when not on time after 200-3000 Miles travel. A layover should be anytime you are not able to get back home while on the road because everything you do is for your company including proper rest even though that’s improper with most OTR driver because of the electronic logs it not a safe when a computer have the authority to tell you when to sleep or when you are tired a OTR driver do not have a regular job so how is regulations and company be aloud to treat it as though it is company are being aloud to push all driver with pretrips schedule meaning another run already been set even after you done travel 200-3000 Miles yes most Driver been doing this for every but if they had a choice most wouldn’t because they know for a fact it is dangerous. Everyone needs to set their own time when driving long distanced company will argue that they do but majority do not from the fleet manager to company’ owners all making extra on the drivers backs and is a fact do math but really checked out driver earning closely . The thing is with out Truck drivers all economy would be at a loss.
Snowman says
This should be industry standard. The company I work for compensates drivers hourly wages in the high 20’s for all time logged On-Duty, layovers are paid accordingly and mileage is in the mid 50’s cpm. And due to the nature of the job we spend a lot of time On Duty, whether loading, pumping off or doing other duties at our plants or customer sites. With nearly all carriers using e-logs it shouldn’t be difficult to track the drivers hours for payroll purposes.
Tim says
How the “industry standard” ever rises to the compensation level of the niche you had the good sense to pursue and achieve is beyond me. You can’t pull a rabbit out of an empty hat.
Dick A. says
Personally, I could care less about per mile or hourly. The solution for all drivers, regardless company size, is percentage. I know exactly how much I’m going to earn, the reduction of that percentage based on service failures, and I’m allowed to use any means, any route, and any schedule I determine.
Steve Bell says
Sadly Drivers are the biggest give away artists in the world….They give away more work than they get paid for every day…
A d Enstoss says
Every company driver works while on off duty so your hos don’t get used up. Every company is complacent and the Feds know it.The Feds allow it illegally because they refuse to impede commerce.Now they must pay Finally and good !
Tim says
Enstoss’s first three sentences all hit the bullseye dead on. The last one is only off by a millimeter.
Douglas Ibrahim says
I have been saying for years that drivers need to be paid for time on duty for work related to their job I.e. fueling, loading, unloading, inspections, etc. If a driver is on line 4 he should be getting paid, period. I got tired of working for free and got my own authority doubling my income in the first year. So I’m clearly paying myself for on duty work. Why should mega carriers not pay drivers for it aside from greed. For those drivers who are sick of it, I can only say stop complaining and get your authority!
george says
well.there are pro’s and con’s.local drivers in the state that have agricultural laws,the local driver is NOT paid over-time.and I know of hundreds of them that work 12-15 hrs a day.they p/u the loads for road drivers.there are a lot of companies that will run one refer unit to save money under that law.they get paid $9.50 to $13.00 p/h.and under the law NO log book with-in 150 air miles from base.there are some, believe it not that will work six days.and if they have to handle that load by hand, hard luck.labor laws are in some states are back woods so to speak.and road drivers should be paid wait time.
Tim says
Jarexx’s take above, that “someone wanted to send a message and the felt Walmart would be the perfect messenger” pretty much has to be true because Walmart is known for having one of the best driver compensation packages in the industry.
Dick A. says
If you don’t mind speeding, cutting corners, cutting off other professional drivers, never being home, doing your reset on the road, and restricted to approved stops along any given route, to name a few “corporate” rules…
JJ says
We all should just take a week off, then let’s see how much they change their minds…I mean everyone that drives truck with a CDL, take an entire week off….lol…the govt would come knocking on your door and mine pretty fast. Now what was that bargaining tool you’d like to discuss sir…lmao
george says
jj.please do not try that.if u-r company hauls food products or medical products,you yourself are in trouble.that happened way back in the late sixty and early seventies.we had to move that load and had state police protect us all the way.I sure remember those days.national guard on top of bridges,state police and sheriff all over the roads.and the independent drivers had to bite the bullet so to speak.as they do now in many cases.
Dick A. says
You know, that’s a great idea! I seem to recall a few of us tried to coordinate a national shutdown, and less than 0.001 percent of the industry drivers showed up. Epic fail!
TRUCKER TOD says
This particular case almost sounds like some drivers biting off the hand that feeds them and they don’t know how good they have it? I wish my driver pay was in their range as stated. Bottom line: regardless how a company will pay you (miles, hourly, contract, etc.)….they are only going to pay you what the “market bears” and what they can afford to pay you in order to remain competitive within their freight lanes. This is not a lottery win for Wal-Mart drivers, this is not a pay increase for Wal-Mart drivers……this will just force Wal-Mart to manipulate how they get paid (hourly & miles) to get the same end result in driver earnings. If Wal-Mart drivers think they can get paid well-above market and then some through law suits, Wal-Mart will find more competitive means to move their freight. This has happened so many times with other companies. You should know what happens when you bite off the hand that feeds you. Just my two cents.
Dick A. says
True. However, corporate Walmart is the problem, and their anti-community (closing 260+ stores in 2016) fiasco, coupled with petty counter suits for reparations they paid for liability lawsuits, they are their own worst enemy.
Drivologist says
This was 50% of the reason I got out of driving. Most companies can’t pay enough per mile to compensate for the endless hours waiting … and waiting … and waiting.
Old Guy says
Good . Screw Walmart and every other scab company that screws its workers . While your at work whatever you’re doing its on the clock. Baking a cake comparison ? Then they should be paid for the time spent getting the ingredients just like truckers should be paid for pre trip inspections and fueling up a truck that belongs to the company . You don’t have to do anything on the time the company isn’t paying you for. So no pay ? No pre trip or fueling or anything as per department of labor . Layover is is just a term scab companies use as an excuse to get out of paying you . You are still in possession and responsible for the truck Walmart owns so doesn’t that imply your being responsible for the equipment is part of your job ? So shouldn’t you be paid properly for doing your job ? If not screw it .,if somebody wants to steal the truck and everything in it let them . If I’m not being paid it’s no longer my job, thus no longer my problem . No,pay = No responsibility . Tough sheet Walmart . Pay up. You can easily afford it . And pay up the lawyer fees for the Plantiffs too . Companies like yours are the reason the trucking industry has gone to hell for drivers as a career . Have a shitty Christmas Walmart . There ain’t ho Christ in your family .
G.GARCIA says
BRAVO!!!!!!!! YA NAILED IT ONCE AND FOR ALL!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ronald agee says
I can see the Walmart DC drivers getting paid differently to go store to store because during unloading they have to pull stickers off each item and place it on a sheet. However that is a Walmart policy not a dot regulation. pre trip and post trip are not a job description but a safety responsibility to ensure the safety of the motoring public. I know local companies that you do pre and post trip before punching in and after punching out. Whether that is right or not. When you work on a factory and drive to work your not paid to put gas in your car or check the tires and oil or anything else. This is just people being babies and saying 80,000-100,000 dollars isn’t enough to live on and we need more. I do just fine on my 54,000 per year. I think everyone has gotten to damn greedy these days
Dick A. says
Amen, brother! While vast majority of us push 60 mph to increase our per hour rate, Walmart drivers can afford to drive slower, right? C’mon, do the math and they’re able to cruise along at 50 mph for 22, right? When is the last time you saw a Walmart truck doing less than 60? Hmm? They’re making big bucks cause they can!
Red says
I agree with the ruling for the most part. Everyone definitely needs to be paid for layover and detention while they are waiting to load or unload. Now to be honest I don’t really think we should have to be paid for pre/post trips or fueling, etc. Thats just kind of like part of the actual driving task that you are getting paid for in my opinion. I mean yeah it would be great to just get paid for every little thing but then the mileage or percentage pay would just go down to compensate. The company I drive for (pulling tanker) pays me 26% of the billed linehaul, $22/hr for detention while I’m being loaded or offloaded, $200 per day layover for every 24 hrs that I’m stuck out waiting somewhere for a load, and $200 for every 24 hrs I spend broke down. Completely fair deal in my opinion and every place should be like that
Ronald agee says
Most companies that have a good rep will pay detention and layover at a decent rate. I get paid for all of that stuff too. It I rarely have a layover I drive for a small company. I just think it’s greed that these top paid people are complaining they don’t make enough to live on. I love well on 50,000 but that’s just me. And I think I’m paid pretty well.
robert allard says
If this become real implementation from Walmart it should be also done for the drivers that go to the Perishable wharehouse and wait in the parking lot about 10 to 11 hours before getting loaded.
So the hourly rate should reflect an appropriate wage rate.
It should come up north to Canada it is well about time drivers are getting shafted with the money exchange rate and the waiting time as well.
Dan says
I work as a contractor with swift on a Walmart dedicated account and I’m astonished to hear Walmart drivers are complaining about pay when I’m running the same routes they are and getting paid a fraction of what they are getting paid.
I chat with some of the drivers at the DC I’m based out of. One particular conversation comes to mind with a driver who works one week and takes an entire week off. He told me he *still* earns 80k a year and he’s literally working half the time I am working. WTF?!
What the hell is the deal with people never having enough? Not making enough? Find a new way to earn more money because those ways are certainly out there. They do come with added responsibility and more hours though.
I can see no good coming out of this. I agree with the comment about, ‘biting the hand that feeds you.’ Be careful what you wish for. . . And unforeseen consequences and all that jazz.
Bryan says
I don’t know about you guys, but Walmart drivers as indicated in the article is making $80,000-$100,000 per year driving. I’m only making a fraction of that. They’re making very good money considering that they have a drop and hook, they don’t really have to travel that far from their home DC, they get killer good benefits. I can see compensation for detention and layover pay. I don’t quite get the logic of compensation for pretrip and post trip and fuel, that does not eat up a ton of time. They are making all of this money and I’m trying to figure out why they are whining. if they are so unhappy I would trade with them in a heartbeat with Walmarts current pay structure
Dick A. says
What you missed isn’t that they are well payed, is they are performance bound, lock step, and are by far, the largest distribution company globally, which entails caveats that are beginning to unravel due to poor choices made my its corporate leaders. Just last year, over 260 stores closed, corporate earnings taking a dive, and communities in an uproar because super centers drive other businesses or of business are now closed, leaving communities looking to fill the gap. Walmart drivers are losing benefits, facing earning cuts, all because the corporate leaders are greedy, self serving, and anti-community.
John D Winters says
Iam just so glad I retired from trucking last April. It’s the same now as it was 43 years ago when I started trucking. It will never change as long as you have the drivers who continue to work for scan wages and free work just to say their a trucker. Drivers like that ruined the industry.
Randall says
Pay drivers by the hour and you will see safer drivers on the road. That’s the bottom line.
Al says
OTR drivers are federally exempt from all sorts of “normal” laws…overtime, FMLA, etc. The state can decide to enforce a minimum wage but it’s only going to apply to those that work solely in that state. As long as those checks say Betonville Arkansas they won’t get a dime upon appeal.
G.GARCIA says
TRUTH BE TOLD!! THE MINUTE YOU EXIT HOME AND YOUR AWAY FROM YOUR HOME 24/7 YOUR ON DUTY!!!!
Dick A. says
With over 22 years as a professional driver all across America, Walmart drivers have enjoyed a long and prosperous pay package, increases based on corporate growth, store expansions, and booming customer base. And while most drivers for Walmart are tight lipped about their jobs, I personally can’t imagine the huge yearly incomes they’re pulling down. Not only are they routinely earning six-figures, they have the lowest turnover in drivers. I’ve done that kind of job, earned that kind of money, and in the end, not seeing my wife and kids for months on end-, “no thank you!” If you’ve been in the industry long enough, working for a corporation that puts that kind of demand on the driver by massaging performance with corporate dollars, giving no quarter for unionization, is a toxic working environment.
Bgiff says
Unionize???
I was once part of Union for several years. It’s not what it use to be. In representation, I believe our union steward with the company was bought off by the company with favor & special privileges, as to suppress those he was suppose to be a part of & represent.
You need at least a 51% fleet majority to sign the drivers on. I’d like to know who & how one would expect to pull it off..?
One driver is all it takes, to blow the cover off of the recruiting process & keeping it under wraps. We know how much drivers like to complain, speculate & continually run their concerns into the ground with each other.
Yah…the one(s) doing the recruiting would be out the door in the blink of an eye.
Quarterly complacency classes should be made mandatory & count as 1/3 to 1/2 of a drivers safety bonus. My opinion. At least 1/2 hour long participation.
The more everyone runs their mouths, the worse it will be for them. By running your mouths all the time, your feeding the beast of concern within every driver. Before long, you’re just a man behind the wheel disengaged from being an associate.
Just maybe, it’s the portion of once dedicate’ees that have contributed to what’s emerging within corporate logistics..?
Sincerely,
A dedicate’ee
Michael hate says
I am a new commercial driver. Im in Short hual. Each day my boss gets for more than 1.5hours of my free labour from me. I hate it. Seems like the Canadian government doesn’t care.