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Truck drivers, construction workers and other manual workers are getting a huge pay raise. Get used to it. 

Manual workers are getting massive pay raises — and it’s beautiful

Labor unrest cost UPS more volumes than expected (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

UPS’ CEO announced that drivers will be making $170,000 a year in pay and benefits by the end of a five-year employment contract. This is just the beginning for jobs in the physical economy.

A few years ago, there was a great deal of discussion about the elimination of the physical worker — i.e. jobs in the physical goods economy. 

Think truck drivers, farmers, pilots, plumbers, oil rig, dock, warehouse and construction workers, etc. These are all jobs that require physical — and mental — skills to do successfully. 

Many of the ideas regarding digitizing the economy were promoted by venture capitalists and tech media writers who have spent their entire careers working in the digital world and never the physical one. 


The reality is that digitizing content, insurance, payments, or finance is relatively easy — while digitizing the “real” world is incredibly difficult.

 If you aren’t convinced, go research the autonomous trucking startups that raised billions in capital from 2015-2020. FreightWaves covered many of these companies and their progress — or lack thereof.

Most of those businesses are now defunct, even when funded by the largest companies (Google, Uber, etc.), the most successful VCs, and some of the smartest minds in the digital economy. 

The reality is that the physical world is incredibly hard to digitize and therefore automate. The real world is messy. Quantum physics and chaos theory reign. 


Things happen that can’t be anticipated in a lab or a computer program. 

The massive pay concessions we’ve seen labor win over the past year are  primarily a function of demographics. The United States simply doesn’t have enough young people to do the physical jobs that our modern economy requires. Manufacturing is coming back to North America — and in the long-term, that is very good for our country. 

Physical labor is going to be a major constraint, but this likely means that those jobs may pay much higher salaries than digital ones in the long-run.

This is not a short-term thing. It is a long-term trend. Get used to it. It’s beautiful.

22 Comments

  1. Terry K Burtschin

    I’m glad that the the backbone of America ( skilled labor) is finally being monetarily recognized and rewarded. However, VC
    ( Virtual Content), I am afraid,
    is the moden day ” Rose colored
    lenses” of yesteryear.
    And the rubber meets the road
    in reality….and we will see.

  2. Henry Laferriere

    Oh yeah, what about the owner/operator!!!!
    When will this country realize that repair shops are ripping us off with ridiculous bills
    There is a lot to be said about this subject, especially the dealerships charging upwards of $150 per hour & your truck could be there for many days cause mechanics can’t do much unless they check with service manager about every little thing they do on a customers truck
    I have been in this position, I keep my eyes on what happens at these places
    Even buying your own parts is Dam crazy prices
    Wake up America, we are not all millionaires

  3. Auntie Em

    Wow, finally a free lunch! And they said there weren’t none! Now keep in mind that includes the “second” paycheck of benefits which I hope is a good package for the employees. I’m a female senior driver for a non union trucking company for 40 years. I make top wages and a great benefit package, why would I need the money grubbing Teamsters? They did a FABULOUS job on Yellow. Where’d all that free gov’t money go???! I wouldn’t trust any of them to babysit an ant farm.

  4. My buisness

    I don’t see this lasting long… Nobody is going to be able to afford the services and then watch UPS go bankrupt. Hope all these employees have a major backup plan; don’t get to comfortable with the initial paychecks. Plan on a hasty exit! Proceed with extreme caution ⚠️.

  5. Thomas Haley

    These facts are not true as myself and my wife are truck drivers for UPS. My wife drives the big rigs for UPS and I drive the package cars. With the recent wage increase on our contract it only puts delivery drivers at around $90,000 to $105,000 and big rig drivers around $110,000 to $135,000.

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Craig Fuller, CEO at FreightWaves

Craig Fuller is CEO and Founder of FreightWaves, the only freight-focused organization that delivers a complete and comprehensive view of the freight and logistics market. FreightWaves’ news, content, market data, insights, analytics, innovative engagement and risk management tools are unprecedented and unmatched in the industry. Prior to founding FreightWaves, Fuller was the founder and CEO of TransCard, a fleet payment processor that was sold to US Bank. He also is a trucking industry veteran, having founded and managed the Xpress Direct division of US Xpress Enterprises, the largest provider of on-demand trucking services in North America.