Across the country there is a massive shortage of truckers.
There are a number of factors for this but one of the big reasons is that retiring truckers have far outpaced new ones entering the field.
In order to attract the latest crop of drivers, Walmart is offering them a starting salary between $95,000 and $110,000 a year.
They are also training workers from other departments to become truckers within their in-house fleet.
The internal training program Walmart is offering comes with a 12-week course.
As the Wall Street Journal points out:
“the push comes as the trucking industry continues to grapple with challenges in recruiting drivers even as wages for truck drivers have risen steadily throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, though some data shows freight demand may be cooling. Last month, the trucking industry lost 4,900 jobs, the first monthly decline in nearly two years, federal labor statistics show. The decline was in contrast with job gains in the service industry, including the travel sector, and other parts of the logistics industry such as warehousing.
Walmart and other large retailers have grown significantly by revenue during the pandemic as demand for items including household goods and building materials soared, creating the need for more supply-chain workers. At the same time, the higher levels of demand, production bottlenecks and port delays have resulted in supply-chain snarls. And so far, large retailers have been able to push up wages for hourly workers and other roles without denting their profits.”…
Walmart hired 7,000 drivers for its internal fleet during the past two years, last year hiring 4,500, the most in company history. It employs around 12,000 truck drivers total. Walmart’s efforts to build out its trucking fleet illustrate how companies are taking on more responsibilities within their supply chains and, in some cases, taking over tasks once handled by third parties. Big-box retailers are adding drivers to ensure goods reach stores or consumers’ homes.”