Companies are wondering how they can compete with the recent announcement by Walmart, sharing that it’s upping starting annual salaries for the company’s truck drivers to around $100,000.
According to Brandon Johnson, president and chief vision officer for Liquid Freight, some milk haulers already make that amount.
“Just last weekend, I was speaking with two different owners of milk hauling companies and asked them if they had any drivers that grossed more than $100,000,” Johnson says. “They both did have drivers that made that amount last year and are on track to do the same in 2022. To me, this means milk hauling company owners are already working to maintain competitive wages.”
The Wall Street Journal reports Walmart will also offer workers in other departments training to become certified truck drivers.
“It’s the latest sign of how big retailers are using their size to take greater control of their own supply chains as bottlenecks, capacity constraints and rising prices roll logistics operations,” reports Farm Journal Washington analyst, Jim Wiesemeyer.
John Fritzler, director of logistics and plant production planning with Michigan Milk Producer Association, says that people now have more options for places to work and many blue-collar jobs are in high demand and are competing for workers.
“Warehousing demand has almost doubled, and e-commerce shopping has more than doubled during the pandemic,” Fritzler states. “These two segments have pulled resources away from commercial driving and have resulted in carriers having high turnover and struggling to fill open positions.”
According to Fritzler, with greater competition for resources and dairy needing niche drivers due to tanker endorsement and milk samplers’ licenses, rate increases are likely to occur.
“I see that current fuel prices and inflation are driving freight increases for other transportation modes. This, coupled with the niche need for milk haulers, is putting even greater pressure on rates,” Frtizler remarks.
Johnson says U.S. milk hauling companies will have to keep salaries competitive to maintain their workforce. He shares that it is a known fact that premium wages are offered for drivers willing to sacrifice their time away from home to take on long-haul driving.
“Obviously, we know that a large portion of the milk hauling industry driver base is home every night,” Johnson states. “That’s an advantage the milk industry has.”
Johnson also shares that both dairies and processors generally provide fast throughput in unloading and washing milk trucks.
“A continuation of that along with providing nice facilities for drivers to take a break, grab a snack and catch up on paperwork are additional things they can do to maintain a competitive environment.”
