US truck drivers get 20% pay rise II Haulage pay
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disputes are not on the agenda in the United States, where drivers' pay has been increased by as much as 20%. In contrast with the UK, where pay cuts have been imposed at the Irish division of P&O Ferrymasters, US drivers' wages rose by an average of 51% during the second quarter.
A national survey by research company Sign-Post discovered that one firm,
Mississippi-based KLLM Transport Services, had increased long-haul reefer drivers' pay by 20%, and KLLM drivers who have been with the company for five years receive a bonus of S10,000.
KLLM president Jack Liles explains that more experienced drivers are better for business, but US hauliers are also prepared to invest in the up-andcoming workforce—Burlington Motor Carriers, based in Indiana, has just increased trainee drivers' pay by 18°O.
Parry Desmond, executive editor of US haulage magazine Commercial Carrier Journal, explains the logic behind these rises: "There is a very low unemployment rate in the US: it is difficult to get employees.
"It is hard work being a truck driver in the US," he adds. "The driver may be on the road for two or three weeks at a time, living in his cab away from his family. And sometimes drivers are not treated well by the customers; they may have to wait a long time when they get to them."