Find out more
Those interested in driving for U.S. Xpress should visit www.usxjobs.com or call 866-576-2979.
It didn't take long for U.S. Xpress drivers to get their first pay raise of 2016.
Earlier this week, officials at the country's second-largest private trucking firm announced that solo drivers with 12 months of clean, violation-free driving - whether with U.S. Xpress or another company - will get a 13.5-percent increase in pay per mile, effective March of this year.
The safety-based pay increase would boost a solo driver making 40 cents a mile to 45 cents a mile, for instance. U.S. Xpress raised driver wages 13 percent across the board last fall.
Company officials said the latest pay raise could take a solo driver with five years' experience up to $70,000 a year.
Eric Fuller, president and chief operating officer at U.S. Xpress, said about 40 percent of the company's roughly 3,000-person driver pool is made up of solo drivers.
U.S. Xpress, like most long-haul, truckload carriers, also employs driving teams, which are typically made up of two drivers in a single truck, switching on and off to deliver goods faster. Team driving is considered by many drivers to offer the best at making the most money.
But Fuller said this week that solo drivers still play a vital role and that U.S. Xpress is trying to reward good, safe drivers who consistently deal with increasing traffic and government regulations on the roads.
Fuller said also that as the trucking industry faces a dramatic shortage of drivers - estimated to be as high as 48,000 right now and up to 174,000 in eight years, according to the American Trucking Associations - it's important for carriers to reward those who do it right.
"I think as a major employer of truck drivers, we have to help the industry attract more people and retain more people," he said. "I think employment is just to get tougher."
Trucking companies compete heavily with the construction industry for workers. With a rebounding home market and a new highway funding bill - expected to produce road building jobs - Fuller said U.S. Xpress has "to create a job that's attractive, and I think pay's a large part of doing that."
U.S. Xpress - which celebrates its 30th anniversary on Jan. 21 - has traditionally been on the cutting edge of trucking innovation, including driver pay.
But other trucking firms, jockeying for good drivers, have also announced driver pay increases in recent months.
In December, Nebraska-based Werner Enterprises rolled out pay increases for its 1,400 solo drivers. The pay increase - which averaged $5,000 - went into effect this month. Werner had previously announced pay increases in November.
"Pay increases are one piece of our multi-faceted approach to attract and retain the best in the industry and make Werner the employer of choice," Werner President Derek Leathers said.
Fuller, meanwhile, said the pay raise for U.S. Xpress' solo drivers is a new strategy for the company, and may be implemented for team drivers as well, after officials review the results.
Contact staff writer Alex Green at agreen@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6480.
Find out more
Those interested in driving for U.S. Xpress should visit www.usxjobs.com or call 866-576-2979.