St. Louis, MO-based TL carrier Artur Express is rising pay for its company drivers and contractors as well. Founded in 1998, it is a full-service, nationwide transportation and logistics company with terminals in California, Pennsylvania, and Florida.
The company said in a statement that its company drivers are getting an average pay increase of eight cents per mile, which raises their overall average pay to around 60 cents per mile. Artur Express also increased “stop pay” to $50, along with increases to detention and layover pay as well.
The carrier’s contractors also recently gained an increase in their pay of some 25% to 30%. Currently, contractors at Artur Express receive 86% of gross revenue.
“We know that the truckers are the reason we are in business. They are on the road 24/7 and we are doing what we can to make sure to pay them well so they can focus on being safe on America’s highways and getting back home to their families and not on how to pay their bills every week,” noted Tom Tokarczyk, Artur’s president, in a statement.
Recent analysis by PLG Consulting indicates driver pay will continue to experience upward pressure in 2018.
“Right now entry pay is about $48,000 a year; that translates to about $16 per hour. That makes being an Uber driver more attractive,” noted Michael Muhich, a PLG senior consultant, in a recent webinar. “So, we need to get closer to $100,000.”
That need for higher pay is also going to drive up trucking too, he said, creating in his words “inflationary times” within the industry.
“Driver pay worth 38% in terms of total trucking expense and pay will still need to be increased,” Muhich explained. “Healthcare represents 17% of total trucking costs and it is definitely going to go up as it does in every other industry. Then there is fuel, which makes up 13% of total trucking costs and fuel is up 50 cents per gallon compared to last year. That’s partly due to a spike in oil prices that is resulting in the highest [oil] prices since 2014. Those are all inflationary markers – meaning inflation is on its way in 2018 and beyond.”
