Building on an uptick in momentum from the back half of 2024, driver wages at for-hire fleets in the first months of 2025 show their strongest year-over-year gains since late 2023, according to NTI’s National Survey of Driver Wages.
As a host on SiriusXM’s Road Dog Trucking Radio, where NTI President & CEO Leah Shaver has had the privilege over the past five years to talk to and connect with thousands of drivers — and to connect with thousands more via social media centered around my Payday! With Leah Shaver monthly show — and had a front-row seat to dig deep into understanding drivers’ perspectives and how we as HR leaders in trucking can lead with empathy and understanding based around those connections. As she recently celebrated her fifth anniversary on air on Road Dog Trucking, Leah reflects on five lessons she’s learned from drivers that can help propel fleets’ recruiting and retention programs.
While driver compensation at for-hire motor carriers has mostly been in a holding pattern since the beginning of 2023, driver compensation data for private fleets tells a different story: they have been highly active in benchmarking and adjusting their pay packages. Here are the trends to be aware of.
In trucking, these themes are so relevant, too, not only in the annual holiday season, but throughout the year every year, and especially in this tough economic season we’ve been in over the past two years.
Per-mile wages across experience levels — 1 year, 3 years, max experience, and cap earners — rose a percentage point from the same time in 2023. Those gains build on the late summer momentum NTI reported in September.
After experiencing two hurricanes this month as a resident of Florida and hearing stories of truck drivers stranded by the same storms in North Carolina, Georgia, and my own state, planning and preparation are on my mind lately.
The per diem rate the IRS allows trucking companies to provide to drivers as tax-free earnings — and lets companies use to lower their own tax liabilities — jumped on Oct. 1, to $80 per day after holding steady at $69 per day the past two years. How should your company navigate this change?
There’s’ no way around it: Change is hard. Not just managing and navigating change in the myriad of ways it flies at us, but also actively trying to promote change within our organizations to propel success in the areas we seek. Enter — Spark Change Labs. Leah Shaver, NTI President & CEO, in this episode of Taking the Hire Road chats with Beth Potratz and Leigh Sauter about their passion for solving the supply-chain industry’s staffing challenges with accessible webinars and live events
In a recent episode of Taking the Hire Road, NTI’s Leah Shaver sat down in the guest seat to discuss what she described as the “longest challenging” freight recession.
With NTDAW and NTAW here, I urge you to make these weeks a time to reflect on how your fleet engages and supports your drivers and technicians year-round. While planning your celebrations, keep these tips in mind to make your appreciation efforts more meaningful.
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