Walmart is hoping to hire hundreds of new truck drivers this year and raise their wages to almost $90,000 a year.
The retail giant added more than 1,400 new truck drivers to its fleet last year and “hundreds more are slated to join” in 2019, the company said in a press release. Additionally, beginning in February, Walmart is increasing driver pay by one cent per mile and providing additional pay for every arrival. The moves will bring the average salary of Walmart’s drivers up to $87,500 a year, with an all-in rate of nearly 89 cents per mile.
Walmart is reinventing its truck driver orientation, the company said, which will allow for a faster hiring process and more mentorships. The steps “are all a part of new onboarding events that are filling critical new jobs created by Walmart’s business growth during an industry-wide shortage.”
The new practices are a response to increased demands on the company’s transportation network. In 2018, Walmart saw same-store sales grow 3 percent over the previous year.
The company’s new tactics have decreased the time between a candidate’s initial review and their mandatory driving assessment by half. Lori Furnell, Walmart’s director of driver talent acquisition, said in the release that the new practices “are both improving the skill level of our candidates and enriching their onboarding experience.”
“We’re leaning heavily on the expertise of our Walmart road team and our certified driver trainers to grow our skilled fleet of professional drivers,” Furnell said.
According to Furnell, the new hiring process, which began in August, is a way to give candidates the chance to learn the “Walmart way.”
Before August, applicants were given one opportunity to perform a driving assessment. They were evaluated for driving skills and pre-trip safety inspections of their trucks. Now, the process includes one-on-one mentoring with veteran drivers. Walmart has established locations in Arizona and South Carolina to serve as week-long onboarding facilities where veteran drivers show new hires the skills they must master or improve on before they begin driving themselves.
