Have any drivers w/ major carriers gotten a raise ?

You might be experiencing a form of Propaganda. Everyone making 15.00 a hour flipping burgers. Our own minimum wage this year is 9.25 and is on the way to I think 11.00 a hour by law in couple of years.

HOWEVER... the reality is at three stores just yesterday buying food, and having some difficulty locating certain specific items we were told by the staff in all three that hours are being cut. From 36 to 30 and now down to 24. As everyone's wages go up, the cost of business goes up and the Owners or managers cut total hours work to keep the cost where they were in 2008 at 6.25 a hour.

Instead of having 8 cashiers in Walmart on certain days now they have 12 self serve check out machines and 3 cashiers. More importantly the number 9 cigarette cashier line is closed now. If you wanted smokes you asked the floor manager of that area to go get it for you.

I have worked for walmart in the past on a temp basis and found myself controlled by the Dock Lord at his desk counting up total hours worked by everyone on the crew that night. When he hits a certain number representing total spending, he will let me go home and discharge 4 more people. Leaving maybe 8 to work 20 trailers in that dock section. It's really intense that kind of lumping. I unloaded 7 trailers and reloaded 12 in 4 hours flat at minimum wage of about 6.00 that night years ago. Grand wages made 24 dollars gross. 30% for withholding leaves about 16 gas burnt 5 of that making for 11 left for the spouse at home.

Including commute the total investment of my time comes out to 6.25 hours of my life to bring home 11 dollars net. IF I did not eat dinner out. (I brown bagged it. The food items probably ran about 7.00 store bought in that bag to make a meal)

I talked that particular job over with the spouse that night and we both agreed it's a absolute loss and wasted effort to be working there. So I quit by telephone. There is no incentive to be putting out that kind of effort for that low a minimum wage on their dock.

When the spouse experimented working for Walmart in the store they made sure to have her productivity, the physical output of her body and mind to the max. No sitting. Two breaks 15 minutes each. And monitored breaks at that. If she was not doing one thing, she was being ordered to lump shelves off the truck. I don't know about you but having a CDL A in the pocket from previous team driving, fighting cancer and actually moving cases of soda bottles onto the shelf from the rear store dock is not a fun situation to be in. No matter the money.

She quit with my permission. We had two specific reasons to do so and got it done. They were not happy. But oh well. They will survive. A billion dollar outfit employing 900,000 across the world they can survive well enough.

 

I drive Werner and it is still .38 a mile unless you are on a specific account that pays more. I keep hearing Swift is paying .43 so maybe at some point they will give another raise out of pure shame.

Edit: .38 is base. You do get a raise for each year I believe and they do give a .01 miles bonus on anything over 2500 miles.

 

I guess it depends what region you run hauling cars. It's busy as can be some places and dead slow 9thers.

 

2018 there were significant pay increases for many company drivers at many companies. Raises appear to have slown down in 2019. Just my observations.

 

If cars are at an all time high. Those on commission would realize a raise also. If your pay is comparable to a Walmart driver. You may be with the wrong company.

 

We got 2 raises in 2018.

 

We got raises in 2018. And i think we're heading for another raise this year

 

Not quite major status as far as # of trucks. But its definitely not a small company

 

Don’t underestimate Walmart drivers pay as it is very comparable to some of the best carhaul jobs and a Walmart driver doesn’t break a sweat. Roughly a half dozen USAL drivers in this area recently went to work for Walmart and they were some of the highest paid carhaulers in this region. Most were $2,000-$2,400 a week earners and home often. They did only go to work at Walmart because the company who picked up USAL’s traffic didn’t seem to pay what they were accustomed to making, but those I talk to didn’t take a pay cut at Walmart.

To answer the OP, I recently got roughly a 10%-12% increase on half the freight I pull depending on the destination. The half of my freight without the increase still pays more than the freight with the increase so I am happy. I keep hearing the sky is falling by a few in the carhaul business, but I haven’t seen it.