GP Transco (CCJ Top 250, No. 175) is introducing a new method to keep its drivers behind the wheel. The Illinois-based carrier, known for its innovations in technology as yet another way to keep drivers happy, is implementing a per diem pay package beginning in January 2024.
While per diem pay is nothing new in the industry, it is new to GP Transco, and Sergey Bort, vice president of marketing and strategic business development, said the company is doing this now for multiple reasons.
“Cost of living is increasing, and this is one of the ways which allows us to maximize how much money our drivers take home,” Bort said. “With the freight market being pretty poor for pretty much all of 2023, it is more important now than ever for us to do everything we can to improve retention and driver turnover, and this will help.
“We have had a few drivers leave us stating that they are looking for per diem pay and found it elsewhere,” he added. “Basically, it is one less reason to consider leaving GP Transco as a driver.”
Per diem pay is not mandatory. Drivers can choose not to opt in when enrollment opens annually.
At GP Transco, drivers can earn $78,000 to $88,000 annually and receive paid vacation, medical insurance, 401(k) with a 4% company match and dental, vision and life insurance. According to the company’s website, all miles are paid, loaded or empty, and drivers receive accessorial pay for layovers, breakdowns, extra stops, driver assist, border crossing, holidays and good inspections. With per diem, Bort said the pay is the same, but drivers get to keep more of it in their pocket due to tax savings.
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Per diem is $69 per day of non-taxable pay for each night the driver is away from home.
“These tax savings really do add up,” Bort said. “As a rough example, if a driver works 45 weeks out of the year with six days a week worked, that’s over $18,000 of income that they won’t need to pay tax on.”
The carrier’s driver advisory board brought the topic up for discussion during the company’s last board meeting. This board consists of 10 members, and Bort said every single one voted “yes” for the per diem program.
The carrier followed the board’s recommendation with a fleet-wide survey in which over 80% of its drivers stated per diem pay would greatly benefit them.
"The new per diem pay program at GP Transco was initially brought up by our driver advisory board during our last board meeting; every driver on the board stated that it would be a huge benefit for GP Transco drivers, so we made the decision to put it together and roll it out in January of 2024,” said Joe Miller, vice president of finance. “Basically, the per diem program allows our drivers to take home more money by reducing how much tax comes out of each paycheck. Ultimately, this further increases what is already an extremely solid driver pay package."
Bort added that drivers are more excited for this program to roll out in the new year than the company expected.
