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Index of driver pay, product of two firms, is surging 

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Index of driver pay, product of two firms, is surging 

Driver pay is climbing fast across the trucking industry, with one closely watched payroll index now sitting at its highest level on record.

The Truck Driver Pay Index, created by AscendTMS and Superior Trucking Payroll Services, has been tracking driver compensation since 2020. While the data has existed for several years, the companies are now drawing more attention to it after a sharp surge in pay over the past few months.

According to AscendTMS CEO Tim Higham and Superior Trucking Payroll Services President Mike Ritzema, the latest jump is unlike anything they have seen since the index was created.

The index uses January 2020 as a baseline of 100.

During the post-pandemic freight boom, driver pay pushed the index as high as 141.9 in January 2023. It later fell to 115.9 in January 2024 before beginning another climb.

More recently, the index fell to 132.18 in September 2024 before turning higher again.

By April, the index had reached 150.83. In June, it surged to 170.04, representing a 13.5% increase in just two months.

Ritzema said that was easily the largest two-month increase in the history of the index.

The data is based primarily on employee truck drivers and does not include office workers, mechanics, executives or other non-driving employees.

Superior does process payments for some independent contractors working with its customers, but Ritzema said those drivers are not included in the index. Some drivers classified as 1099 workers may still appear in the overall payroll data.

The goal, Ritzema said, is to provide a more accurate picture of what actual truck drivers are being paid.

Superior handles payroll for thousands of drivers working for carriers ranging from single-truck operations to fleets with hundreds of trucks.

The company processes pay for drivers across several trucking segments, including refrigerated freight, flatbed and other types of operations.

AscendTMS plays a major role in collecting that data.

Higham said trucking companies using AscendTMS calculate driver settlements through the company’s transportation management system. That payroll information is then electronically sent to Superior, which processes the payments.

The result is a massive amount of real-world payroll data showing how much drivers are actually earning.

Higham said the recent spike was large enough that Ritzema contacted him directly after reviewing the latest numbers.

After seeing the charts, Higham said his reaction was simple: the increase was unusually large.

The rise in driver compensation has also happened alongside strengthening spot freight rates.

Before the latest surge, Higham said the index typically moved only a few percentage points at a time.

Ritzema said the jump from May to June stood out immediately.

Normally, the index may move only a few points between those months. June can also see slightly stronger numbers because May includes the Memorial Day slowdown, while most drivers are running for nearly the entire month in June.

This time, however, the increase was far larger than normal.

Driver pay could continue climbing

Ritzema believes the recent increase may not be over yet.

Historically, he said changes in driver compensation tend to lag movements in spot freight rates by roughly four to six months.

If that pattern continues, the recent improvement in spot rates could lead to additional driver pay increases in the coming weeks and months.

The same delay can also happen when the freight market weakens.

Ritzema pointed to 2023 as an example. Freight conditions began deteriorating during the spring, but driver wages continued rising for a period before eventually starting to fall later in the year.

The latest surge in driver pay is also happening as some trucking companies struggle to keep enough qualified drivers behind the wheel.

Higham said carriers are actively searching for legally compliant drivers after part of the driver population was pushed out of the market.

For some fleets, that has resulted in trucks sitting without drivers.

With freight rates improving and qualified drivers becoming harder to find, competition for experienced drivers could continue putting upward pressure on trucking wages.

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