Trucks line up to have containers loaded from a stack at the Norfolk International Terminal Wednesday Dec 1, 2021, in Norfolk, Va. Walmart workers who once unloaded trucks now have a chance to drive them. The nation’s largest retailer has launched a training program for employees who work in its distribution or fulfillment centers. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
By Anne D'Innocenzio
Walmart workers who once unloaded trucks now have a chance to drive them.
The nation's largest retailer has launched a training program that gives employees who work in its distribution or fulfillment centers a chance to become certified Walmart truck drivers through a 12-week program taught by the company's established drivers.
Walmart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, also said it is raising pay for its 12,000 truck drivers. The starting range for new drivers will now between $95,000 and $110,000, according to Walmart spokeswoman Anne Hatfield. The retailer said that $87,500 had been the average that new truck drivers could make in their first year.
The moves announced Thursday come as the pandemic has made trucker shortages more severe as demand to move freight reaches historic highs. The American Trucking Associations, a large industry trade group, estimates that the nation is short about 80,000 drivers.
Walmart said about 20 workers in Dallas and Dover, Delaware, have earned their commercial driver’s licenses. About 400 to 800 workers in the company's supply-chain network are expected to complete the truck-driving program this year, Hatfield said.
Kraft Heinz is splitting into two companies a decade after they joined in a massive merger that created one of the biggest food companies on the planet. One of the companies will include brands such as Heinz, Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraft Mac & Cheese. The other will include brands like Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables. When the company formed in 2015 it wanted to capitalize on its massive scale, but shifting tastes complicated those plans, with households seeking to introduce healthier options at the table. Kraft Heinz's net revenue has fallen every year since 2020.
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
