NEW YORK (AP) – Walmart workers who used to unload trucks now have the opportunity to drive them.
The nation’s largest retailer has launched a training program that gives workers at its distribution and fulfillment centers the chance to become Walmart-certified truck drivers through a 12-week curriculum taught by the company’s own seasoned drivers.
Based in Bentonville, Arkansas, Walmart said it is also raising pay for its 12,000 truck drivers. The starting compensation for new drivers will now range from $95,000 to $110,000, according to Walmart spokeswoman Anne Hatfield. The retailer noted that $87,500 had previously been the average earnings for newcomer truck drivers during their first year.
The moves announced on Thursday come as the pandemic has intensified the driver shortage, with demand to move freight hitting historic highs. The American Trucking Associations, a leading industry trade group, estimates the nation is short roughly 80,000 drivers.
Walmart said about 20 workers in Dallas and Dover, Delaware, earned their commercial drivers’ licenses. Hatfield noted that roughly 400 to 800 workers across the company’s supply chain network are expected to complete the truck-driving program this year.
