CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Covenant Logistics has taken its boldest step yet to continue its commitment to making its drivers the best paid in the industry with the largest driver pay increase in its 34-year history. 

Effective January 4, 2021, Covenant will raise the base linehaul team driver pay rate by an average of 9 cents per mile across all driver types.

“We’ve been eager for some time now to announce a significant pay raise like this one,” Covenant CEO David Parker said. “Today’s announcement is long overdue for our drivers.

“We’ve said ‘Thank you’ to our drivers many times over the years, but now is the time for us give a substantial, financial reward to our fleet. I can’t tell you how excited I am to put millions of more dollars in the pockets of our team drivers in 2021.”

Covenant’s last increased driver base pay came five years ago.

The largest increases will be reserved for drivers with more than one year of experience. A driver with one year of experience plus a HAZMAT endorsement will now start at a weekly non-per diem rate of 66 cents per mile, up from a previous starting rate of 50 cents per mile.

With a goal of growing its team truck count in 2021, Covenant crafted the pay package to substantially benefit current team drivers, while attracting both prospective experienced drivers and student drivers. This move is in line with an industry-wide impetus to put more drivers through CDL school and into professional driver positions.

Covenant will have Monday orientations both the weeks of Christmas and New Years for drivers wanting onboard prior to the January 4 increase. The plan is to seat trucks until there are none open, then reevaluate going forward.

“We believe first-year pay has to increase rapidly to entice more drivers to our industry,” Senior Vice President of Recruiting Joey Ballard said. “In our new package, student drivers will receive four raises in their first 12 months with Covenant. Drivers will reach max pay of 66 cents per mile on their one-year anniversary and expect to see weekly checks of $1500-$1800 a week.”

While some carriers are more cautious about the freight environment for 2021, Covenant’s customer base ultimately solidified the company’s confidence to proceed with this historic increase.

“Our customers have just been fantastic,” said Sam Hough, Executive Vice President of Expedited Operations. “There’s no doubt they are tracking the driver shortage and are feeling the capacity crunch. They’ve told us time and time again they will stand behind any initiative to secure drivers and, ultimately, capacity. We are very thankful to have true partners in our customer base.”

Company officials say there are plenty of open opportunities to seat professional drivers in any of their fleets. To see available jobs at Covenant Transport click this link.