Despite a prolonged freight slump, professional truck driver pay continued to rise through 2025, prompting carriers across the industry to further boost wages to secure qualified talent.
- Sustained Wage Growth: The ATA’s 2026 Driver Compensation Study showed significant pay increases across sectors, including an 8.3% jump for irregular-route truckload drivers to a median of $73,639.
- Strong Earnings in Specialized Fleets: Linehaul LTL drivers earned a median of $85,000, while leased-on independent contractors grossed over $170,000 at truckload carriers and upwards of $200,000 at private fleets.
- Carriers Adjusting to Market Pressure: Fleets like Nussbaum Transportation and Anderson Trucking Service have implemented multiple pay bumps to combat high turnover and fierce competition for qualified drivers.
- Contract Costs and Rates: Industry experts note that driver wages are a primary driver behind rising contract carrier costs as carriers negotiate higher per-mile rates to offset climbing expenses.
Truck driver pay continued to rise through 2025 despite motor carriers weathering the tail end of a prolonged slump marked by sluggish freight demand, declining rates, and escalating expenses, data from the American Trucking Associations shows.
The ATA's 2026 Driver Compensation Study revealed persistent wage growth across key trucking sectors. Furthermore, most surveyed carriers indicated they plan to increase driver pay throughout this year, pointing to ongoing competition for skilled drivers as the freight market rebounds.
Several carriers have announced driver pay increases since late July, indicating how tight the market for qualified drivers has become.
The raises come as drivers and capacity continue to tighten.
Shipper costs continue to climb amid soft volume and federal policies limiting the driver pool, according to the U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index.
Driver wages behind contract cost increases
Dean Croke, principal analyst at DAT Freight & Analytics, said driver wages are likely the largest factor in rising contract carrier costs, since fuel surcharges have largely offset higher diesel prices. On the spot market, he said, rate movement has “been driven by capacity exiting due to enforcement.”
Chris Caplice, executive director at MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics and DAT's chief scientist, noted that "replacement rates for all modes were positive in the 4% to 12% range, with year-over-year increases in the 10% to 20% range for contract rates.”
Capacity could be on the rebound. Following three consecutive quarters of contraction, the U.S. commercial trucking sector rebounded in Q3, welcoming close to 10,000 new prospective fleets and over 229,000 units of verified equipment, according to the RigDig database. New vehicles drove the primary growth within the U.S. trucking sector during the quarter ending last month.
Croke added that indicates carriers are negotiating higher rates per mile as costs rise.
Reefer and flatbed carriers have the strongest pricing power heading into fall, Croke said. Higher diesel costs would expose spot carriers who are “unable to negotiate any of the fuel surcharge into their truckload brokered rate,” he added.
[RELATED: Spot vs. contract: Diverging freight rates and squeezed volume]
Driver pay trends
Based on data from over 130 fleets, the ATA's 2026 Driver Compensation Study shows sustained wage growth across the trucking industry.
Irregular-route truckload driver pay rose 8.3% to a median of $73,639, while dedicated-route driver pay increased 4.2% and continued to outpace irregular routes.
Strong earnings also continued in other segments, with linehaul LTL drivers earning a median of $85,000, local LTL drivers earning $72,942, and private-fleet dry van dedicated drivers exceeding $75,000.
Leased-on independent contractors grossed over $170,000 at truckload carriers and over $200,000 at private fleets.
Additionally, 74% of for-hire truckload fleets paid detention time, though median signing bonuses dropped $500 to $2,000 amid a less competitive driver market.
Regionally, Northeastern dry van drivers led the country with a median annual compensation of just over $78,000.
Compiled late last year, CCJ's What Drivers Want report found that a drop in annual mileage had a corresponding impact on driver pay, as the number of drivers banking more than $100,000 fell by 7% and the number of drivers making $50,000 or less climbed 6%.
Carriers take different approaches
Nussbaum Transportation (CCJ Top 250, No. 145) announced Sept. 22 that it was raising pay for work outside the mileage rate. Activity pay rises from $20 to $23 per pickup, delivery, or stop-off, and detention pay climbs from $20 to $25 an hour, still starting after the first hour. The weekly minimum guarantee goes up $50, and trainer pay increases from $500 to $750 a week. It previously announced its largest increase in May, which included driver profit sharing, boosting mileage rates, weekly guarantees, and payments for transition bonuses.
The latest package works out to a little under 1.5 cents per mile, or roughly $0.013 to $0.014, said Jeremy Stickling, Nussbaum’s chief administrative officer. Select dedicated accounts are also getting $0.01 to $0.03 per mile.
Stickling said the company’s May raise worked at first, with turnover falling and recruiting calls picking up through July. Both effects faded in August and September as the market heated up.
“Turnover picked up again, and qualified drivers are just hard to find right now," he said. "The competition is fierce. We think the industry is responding and raising driver pay."
Nussbaum is paying ahead of revenue, but no specific customer rate increase is behind the move.
“We are seeing some rate increases occur and expect to get more of it back in the coming months as we go through contract renewals," Stickling added. "We need the drivers now. We can’t wait for the rate cycle to catch up. The higher pay is coming directly out of company results."
Customers have been understanding, he said, but the conversations are harder now than in past upcycles because “customers' core businesses aren’t always booming.”
Anderson Trucking Service (No. 51) raised driver pay twice in September. Regional van drivers went from 60 cents to 70 cents per mile on Sept. 7, with rates up to 72 cents based on tenure. Flatbed drivers got the same 10-cent, 16.7% increase on Sept. 21, covering all experience levels and both loaded and empty miles.
ATS said it is aligning pay with the freight market and has made multiple adjustments this year. Lars Offerdahl, vice president of van operations, called the van increase “well-deserved.”
Other carriers also announced significant driver pay increases, including Roehl Transport, Averitt, Highway Transport, and Melton Truck Lines.
