Desperate Walmart Looking to End Truck Drivers By Paying a Starting Salary of up to $110,000.

If you work at one of Walmart’s distribution sites or fulfillment centers, you can now become a Walmart truck driver after completing a 12-week training program taught by the company’s experienced drivers.

To compensate its 12,000 truck drivers, Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart announced an increase in wages. According to a Walmart spokesperson, the starting salary for new drivers will now be between $95,000 and $110,000. New truck drivers can expect to earn an average of $87,500 in their first year, according to the store.

The announcements made on Thursday came at a time when the pandemic has exacerbated already-severe shortages of truckers as the need to transport goods approaches unprecedented highs. American Trucking Association (ATA), a major industry trade body, estimates that the United States is lacking approximately 80,000 drivers.

Approximately 20 Walmart employees in Dallas and Dover, Delaware now have the ability to drive commercially. There will be between 350 and 400 people who have completed the truck driving program this year, Hatfield said.