The National Transportation Institute

Closing 2024 and entering 2025, though, flickers of upward momentum for driver wages have emerged in the for-hire segment, and analysts widely expect the freight market to enter a recovery period this year and for freight rates to begin an inflationary cycle. Meanwhile, at private fleets, dedicated 3PLs, and companies with location- and job-specific hiring needs — those who recruit at narrower points of the driver hiring funnel (read more below) — benchmarking activity and compensation adjustments remained active through the market correction over the past two years. Where does this put the driver market in 2025? What will influence driver wage momentum in the year ahead? How much will wages grow and change this year? NTI’s 2025 Driver Market Forecast explores those questions in depth, providing an overview of the driver market within the broader U.S. labor market and the trends and systemic factors influencing driver supply, driver demand, and, of course, driver wage momentum in 2025. Inside?NTI’s 2025 Driver Market Forecast, you’ll find: ?? NTI’s forecast for changes in driver pay at for-hire carriers, private fleets, and dedicated 3PLs in 2025 ?? Insights into the key trends shaping driver compensation in the year ahead ?? Strategies for navigating the challenges posed by a tight labor market and ongoing driver supply constraints ?? A glimpse into the long-term future of driver pay shifts You can access this free resource from NTI here: https://bit.ly/4gLK0w0 #trucking #driverwages #nti

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 early 2024, according to NTI’s?National Survey of Driver Wages. Signals remained mixed as to whether the broader freight market is entering a recovery period after a years-long ebb that prompted many for-hire fleets to slow or pause pay changes. However, after a multi-quarter lull to end 2023 and begin 2024, driver pay stagnation has ended, and activity in pay adjustments has shown signs of life at for-hire trucking companies since late summer of 2024. Meanwhile, at private fleets, dedicated 3PLs, fleets with labor or more nuanced jobs, and those with location-based hiring and compensation models, pay benchmarking and adjustments have remained active. Here are three key trends we're watching in the first months of 2025: https://bit.ly/4b0UK8p #driverwages #driverpay #nti #trucking

???? Wishing very happy holidays to you and yours!???? ? #trucking #truckingindustry #nti?#driverwages

Private fleets’ granular approach to compensation benchmarking goes well beyond base pay and annual earnings, too. In consultations with private fleets throughout the year, NTI’s team has fielded questions about clothing and boots stipends, best practices around meal breaks and payments, transition pay, layover pay, guaranteed pay, referral programs, and much more. To read more about the differences between how private fleets have approached compensation decisions over the past two years compared to their for-hire counterparts, read NTI's latest pay data update here: https://lnkd.in/eYFYKRHp

???????????? From our team to yours: Happy Thanksgiving! ????????????

Remember to take time during this month of gratitude to show appreciation for the incredible teams that drive your fleet’s success. One way to do that is through comprehensive benefits packages that show you truly care about the well-being of drivers, technicians, and other staff. With enrollment for 2025 benefits plans open in December, there’s time to tweak and add to your offerings. NTI’s National Fleet Benefit Survey provides insights that can help you develop a cost-competitive benefits package that turns drivers’ and technicians’ heads. Check out this blog post, which includes data from the survey, on five emerging benefits to consider: bit.ly/4eVUHvc. You could poll your team this month, too, to find out what matters most to them. Make November a time that’s about more than just thanks. Use it as an opportunity to continue building a culture in which drivers and technicians feel valued and supported all year long.

????*Haunted tales* about new-hire drivers “ghosting” fleets before Day 1 of orientation abound, especially when Halloween rolls around.????? ? Tell us some fright-fighting stories this year. What have you learned about why drivers vanish into thin air? And what tricks or treats has your fleet successfully employed to keep new-driver hires engaged and excited about your job offer between the time they accept it and their first day of work?? Share your tales of unhaunting the recruiting process below. Also check out this NTI blog post for more tips on improving your fleet’s commitment-to-onboarding percentage: https://bit.ly/3zj75D8.?

The position of driver trainer is a vital part of the career path for one of our companies’ most valuable assets: safe, professional, experienced drivers who have longer tenures and are dedicated to seeing our companies grow and succeed. Their positions are not just a testament to their skills but also their value to fleets individually and the industry as a whole. That value should be reflected in the paycheck, and it’s exactly what’s demonstrated in this year’s National Student & Trainer Pay Survey. Over the past few weeks, I’ve posted here on LinkedIn about the regression we’ve seen in recruiting women and younger people into the industry. While that’s the case for drivers at large, there was a silver lining in this year’s survey, with The National Transportation Institute's 2024 National Student & Trainer Pay Survey showing fleets have maintained gender and age gains among driver trainers made from 2019 to 2022. The average age of a trainer is now 46.4, down from 47.4 in 2022 and 49.2 in 2019. The percentage of trainers who are women is 12.2% this year, down slightly from 12.7% in 2022 but up from 8.2% in 2019. The past five years also have elevated the job of a trainer from a pay perspective. This year’s data is representative of what NTI would endorse: Trainers are coveted drivers and employees who earn lucrative pay. Trainers’ average annual earnings, CPM pay across experience levels, and weekly guaranteed miles are up from 2022. Average annual earnings for trainers, for example, have climbed over 44% from 2019, including 8.5% from 2022. And while daily pay for trainers while they’re with a trainee is down 12% from 2022’s peak, it's up a whopping 97.5% compared to 2019. If you want to benchmark your trainer pay and benefits so your fleet can attract and retain top talent, NTI can help. Check out our data solutions: bit.ly/4eNRBcY. And please share your best practices in the comments! #driverpay #nti #driverwages #trucking

Are you getting NTI Alerts and taking full advantage of our industry-leading data, analysis, and resources? If not, correct that situation now!? Support your fleet’s recruiting and retention goals by: ?? Subscribing to NTI Alerts: https://bit.ly/3J1dbwX ?? Accessing professional driver and diesel technician compensation data, across every fleet type, job type, and at over 800 locations nationwide: https://bit.ly/3XRJ0if?

Last week I posted about the unfortunate drop in the percentage of female student drivers, which this year fell back to 2019 levels (around 10% of students and trainees) after a rise to more than 15% in 2022. NTI’s 2024 National Student & Trainer Pay Survey showed a similar retreat in efforts to recruit younger people to the trucking industry.? ? In 2022, the average age of student drivers/trainees was 33.1, down from 38.5 in 2019. This year the average age is back up to 37.8. Our industry cannot sustain itself on the current path, as the chart below shows. We are woefully behind the general workforce when it comes to attracting Millennials, those aged 28-43 and who make up 44% of the U.S. labor force, and Gen Z, whose participation in the workforce will boom soon.? ? Addressing our lack of inroads with younger people is crucial, and NTI has assembled strategies we all can implement to do so. ? ?? In a recent episode of Taking the Hire Road, Mark Colson, president and CEO of the Alabama Trucking Association, and I discussed partnerships with high schools, community colleges, and other training programs, attending career fairs, and supporting and promoting organizations that interface and train entry-level drivers, even if your company doesn’t hire those without experience. https://bit.ly/4eZci5P? ? ?? Consider joining or otherwise supporting the Next Generation in Trucking Association, whose efforts seek to raise the profile of trucking among Millennials and Gen Z and to engage students in high schools and community colleges with opportunities available to them in trucking: https://bit.ly/3U05e0o (Shout out to the amazing work by Lindsey Trent!) ? ? ?? Also check out this episode of Taking the Hire Road, where I talked with Brad Ball, president and CEO of Roadmaster Drivers School, about redefining the value of new drivers:. https://bit.ly/3ZUDNJi ? ? ?? Learn about best practices for recruiting different age cohorts:. https://bit.ly/4dK0zXA? ? ?? Consider how paid parental leave could entice younger drivers who have or are considering starting a family: https://bit.ly/4eVUHvc? ? We won’t attract younger people to our industry if we don’t reach out to them specifically, address the issues important to them, and meet them where they are. Have any best practices that have been successful at your company? Feel free to share them in the comments! #trucking #nti #driverwages #nextgeneration #genz #millennials