Walmart Truckers Score $100 Million Lost Wages Victory In Court

I strongly believe this suit represents a small minority of dissidents

According to this CBS news report, the class represents more than 800 former and current WMPF drivers. Does anyone know how large the fleet is? Eight hundred sounds like a rather substantial group of unhappy employees to me.

I still think that we have more in common than we have differences (including opinions).

In Solidarity...

Does anyone know how large the fleet is?

I would love to know the answer. My wild guess would be 12,000 to 15,000 minimum. Walmart is a HUGE company. I could be way off. Ill bet G Town could come up with the number.

Does anyone know how large the fleet is?

I would love to know the answer. My wild guess would be 12,000 to 15,000 minimum. Walmart is a HUGE company. I could be way off. Ill bet G Town could come up with the number.

They have about 6000 tractors. Figure they might have 5-7% for spares, so I am guessing about 5500 drivers.

Thanks G. So with a class action of about 800 Drivers, that is about 15%. It appears the other 85% are quite happy with their pay.

Thanks G. So with a class action of about 800 Drivers, that is about 15%. It appears the other 85% are quite happy with their pay.

What percentage of the 800 is former and how did they become a "former" driver?

What percentage of the 800 is former and how did they become a "former" driver?

That's hard to say based upon the news reports. You may have to sift through the court documents (if they are available to the public) to find that answer.

Remember, this case is more than 9 years old. The class represents drivers who worked for WMPF from 2005 through 2015. That's long enough for many to quit, get fired, retire, and even pass away due to natural causes...

One thing more that I'm curious about: are the figures mentioned by Walmart's attorneys ($85 to $100 thousand per year) at all accurate? If WMPF operates profitably while paying nearly double the prevailing wage, why are so many major carriers (whose drivers average $35 to $45 thousand per year) losing money or reporting lower profits? Something just doesn't add up...

why are so many major carriers (whose drivers average $35 to $45 thousand per year) losing money or reporting lower profits? Something just doesn't add up...

Magical accounting and Fairy Dust???

"But...you're an OTR driver, it's the law that you must the a 10 hour break after each shift. Your 10 hours off is off duty time, why would you expect to get paid for this? That sort of comes with the territory when you go otr."

If off duty truly means OFF DUTY can you just leave your truck fully loaded at the truck stop every night and go party when you take your ten? Of course not; I'm sure just about every trucking company out there would not allow this. Regardless of how you feel about or what you want to do, they want you to stay with the truck, within reason. Just because otr has been paid my the mile for decades doesn't mean it always has to be. Truckers didn't used to be offered health care, now some are. Same goes for some companies offering detention pay, drop and hook pay, extra pay for multi stops, etc. This is in addition to the occasional industry slight increase in base cpm pay. Just because the govt doesn't require trucking companies to pay drivers if they remain in the truck off duty (whether sleeping or not) and the employer has never done this ****il recently) doesn't mean it always has to be this way.

I know food service guys that drive day cabs on two and three day routes and they're put up in hotels each night. The company is shelling out sixty bucks a night for a Comfort Inn room, and the driver doesn't have to keep his curtains open just to keep an eye on the truck. An OTR driver with hazmat can't leave the truck unattended even while sleeping and is required to do so by the govt but isn't compensated for guard duty. Is one policy more fair or less than the other?

In the end even if suddenly one of the big companies offered guard pay (sleeper pay) some will follow suit and some won't. It will all balance out by not increasing cpm or reducing insurance or whatever.

Just FYI saw an ad on Craigslist for a set route that pays "$1000+" a week. It's a Rocky Mountain doubles out and back, 1290 miles that takes 3-4 days to complete, according to the post. The "+"? Driver is paid an extra $20 per night that they have to sleep in the sleeper. So I guess it's starting to get out there. Btw, thats over 80¢ per mile if you sleep even two nights in the truck. Hmmmm.

I'll start by saying, I have had entirely too much tryptophan in the last hour to even attempt this but ...

This fact means wal mart could pay their drivers $500,000 per year and would have no effect on the pay rates of other companies

This is true. It's an elite group of drivers whose pay does not represent the norm and whose company's decisions will not necessarily be the industry standard-makers. LOL. Ha! Don't laugh. This turkey meat is strong.

The $4.20/hr for SB time was a GOOD DEAL. That's passive income! Sheesh! They should have shut-up and been happy with it. Dang.

Also, for those who want solidarity, lalala - as a capitalist, I do not want that at all. I do a better job than the average bear and I DO NOT want my pay to be equal to that of lesser drivers.

I'd say, with all the dumb-donkey mistakes Iiii've made in 2.5 years, I'm going to have to EARN my way into being paid as well as a WalMart driver and in fact maybe I'll apply there in a couple of years. But the pay itself is not a question of deservedness, unless I'm good enough.

Regarding this trucker shortage: enjoy it while you can. That won't last forever. More and more women and others will take on this job and fill those gaps ...and change the shape of the industry. Not that I want that to happen - I rather enjoy being the minority ...but it probably will happen. At that point, we'll ALL be the "senior" members of the profession.

My point is, in a capitalist environment, raising pay across the board doesn't happen ...or work. And I doubt business owners will be concerned they'll lose their drivers to WalMart. They'll just find new drivers.

-mountain girl

John L wrote:

What percentage of the 800 is former and how did they become a "former" driver?

That's hard to say based upon the news reports. You may have to sift through the court documents (if they are available to the public) to find that answer.

Remember, this case is more than 9 years old. The class represents drivers who worked for WMPF from 2005 through 2015. That's long enough for many to quit, get fired, retire, and even pass away due to natural causes...

One thing more that I'm curious about: are the figures mentioned by Walmart's attorneys ($85 to $100 thousand per year) at all accurate? If WMPF operates profitably while paying nearly double the prevailing wage, why are so many major carriers (whose drivers average $35 to $45 thousand per year) losing money or reporting lower profits? Something just doesn't add up...

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John L you are making an apples to oranges comparison. WMPF hauls the Mothership's freight...no need for them turn a profit so to speak. They reduce overall freight cost for Walmart by only employing the highest performing drivers thus achieving a low rate of preventable accidents, very high percentage of on time delivery, etc. The low accident rate also reduces insurance liability rates. Walmart runs their drivers hard, really hard. The compensation they offer matches the performance level of their drivers. And yes 80-100k is accurate.

For-profit carriers, like the ones most of us drive for run on an operating ratio in the mid to high 90s. Meaning on average for every dollar made their cost is between 95-97 cents. The salary you quoted is about average for year 1 of a driver's career.