Walmart’s latest push to recruit for and retain its private fleet of about 12,000 drivers are six-figure salaries and a 12-week training program.
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According to spokesperson Anne Hatfield, $87,500 was how much an average driver at Walmart made by now in their first year.
Hatfield said that there were seventeen drivers who have graduated from the training programs in Sanger, Texas, and Dover, Delaware. She added that Walmart picks up the cost of earning a commercial driver’s license, which can be $4,000 to $5,000, and pays drivers hourly while they train.
She also said that drivers who graduate from the program are not required to work for Walmart for any set amount of time or repay the costs if they quit.
So through its new Fleet Development Program, Walmart hopes to train between 400 and 800 new drivers. Walmart also plans to expand its program this year to more supply chain workers and, eventually, to all company associates, as currently, it is open only to supply chain associates at or near the Sanger or Dover facilities.
This could provide a path to higher-paying jobs for those interested in driving a truck.
In Walmart’s supply chain, the average hourly wage was more than $20 an hour, compared to about $16.40 an hour for store workers and “a little bit higher than that” at Sam’s Club, CFO Brett Biggs said.
Hatfield said that 4,500 truck drivers were hired by the company in 2021, more than at any point in the company’s history.
“We will continue to hire based on need to support growth of the business,” said Hatfield.
Employers are being pushed to raise wages and provide other incentives because of fierce competition for drivers and high inflation.
According to the American Trucking Associations, employers are attempting to fill roughly 80,000 driver jobs across the trucking industry.
