Walmart's Illinois Truck Drivers to Receive Pay Raises

Walmart is investing in its Illinois drivers' wages, allowing them to receive up to $1 every time they arrive at their destination and drop a trailer.

Beginning next month, drivers for the Bentonville, Ark.-based mega-retailer will receive a per-mile increase of 1 cent and a 50-cent increase in activity pay and arrive/drop occurrences. With the increase, Walmart drivers can earn an average of $87,500 in their first year of employment, with an all-in rate of nearly 89 cents per mile.

"Truck drivers are a critical part of our team here at Walmart and have been since Sam Walton started the private truck fleet in the 1970s," said Greg Smith, EVP of of Walmart U.S. supply chain. "Our professional drivers are part of what makes Walmart so special. This wage increase reflects the importance of our private fleet and our commitment to recruiting and retaining the best drivers in the industry."

This wage increase is the latest step from Walmart to maintain the strength of its professional trucking fleet. Walmart’s drivers are helping the company recruit the best drivers, and the company is seeing an increase in referrals.

Walmart also dramatically revamped its hiring and onboarding program, shortening the application and onboarding time by more than 50 percent.   

Each year, the retailer's 8,000 drivers travel more than 700 million collective miles and deliver millions of cases of merchandise to Walmart's and Sam's Club's 4,700 locations across the nation. To drive for Walmart, these commercial drivers each must have at least 30 months of full-time experience with no serious traffic violations during the previous three years.

With 11,200-plus stores under 55 banners in 27 countries and ecommerce websites, employing more than 2.2 million associates worldwide, Walmart is No. 1 on Progressive Grocer’s 2018 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.