Wages for American truckers rose significantly in 2021 as demand for drivers amid the ongoing driver shortage increased competition for talent, according to the results of a new industry survey released this month.

“The data supports what industry sources have been saying for some time – the driver shortage has been great for drivers who saw their salaries rise last year,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Pay increases were broad based across the industry, for example between salary increases and bonuses, the average truckload driver saw a wage increase of 10.9% last year.”

As part of the2022 ATA Driver Compensation Study, fleets with more than 135,000 employee drivers, and nearly 20,000 independent contractors were queried about their compensation, including pay rates, bonuses and benefits.

Among the findings in this year’s survey: