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.
Visa is hoping to hand your credit card to an artificial intelligence “agent” that can find and buy clothes, groceries, airplane tickets and other items on your behalf.
Skift Editor-In-Chief Sarah Kopit discusses how summer travel plans remain uncertain for most as many international travelers are leery to travel abroad. Watch!
Seth Schachner, Managing Director at Strat Americas, on Hollywood's latest blockbusters utilizing content creation. Plus, the future of YouTube and TikTok.
Ashley Gold, Axios' Tech/Policy reporter, discusses what the future of Google and search engines will look like after the tech giant faces an antitrust trial.
A labor rights group has alleged that Starbucks sourced coffee from a major Brazilian cooperative whose member farms were cited for keeping workers in slave-like conditions.
X, the social media platform owned by Trump adviser Elon Musk, is challenging the constitutionality of a Minnesota ban on using deepfakes to influence elections and harm candidates.
Seth Goldstein, Equity Strategist at Morningstar, breaks down Tesla's earnings report, talks Musk's future with the company and how stocks have responded.
