Ready to Drive for Walmart? Here’s What You Need to Know

Walmart’s fleet of vehicles is among the largest and safest in the trucking industry, with over 9,000 drivers hauling freight more than 700 million miles per year. And with one of the lowest turnover rates in the country—most drivers leave due to retirement—Walmart aims to provide a working environment where truck drivers feel respected and valued throughout their careers.

Despite a somewhat grueling onboarding process and extensive experience requirements for applicants, Walmart remains a dream job for many truckers. If you want to drive for Walmart and think you have what it takes, read on to learn about becoming a Walmart truck driver, including the experience needed, salary information, reviews from current drivers, and more.

Walmart Driver Pay per Mile and Salary

Nationwide, the Walmart truck driver pay per mile is $0.89 for the first year, which adds up to an annual average salary of $87,500—almost double the industry average of $48,710.

In addition, drivers receive activity pay and training pay, which means they earn a fair wage even when they’re not on the road. One driver notes that he gets paid to take rest breaks: “You get paid to sleep in a truck,” he says. “42 bucks to go to bed. That makes sleeping a whole lot better.” Drivers also receive quarterly safe driving bonuses and other cash bonuses that can add up to $4,000 per year.

Walmart Driver Perks and Benefits

As well as providing an attractive salary that’s well above average, Walmart offers its drivers a range of additional perks and benefits.

Signing Bonuses for Select Locations

As part of its current recruitment drive, the company offers an $8,000 sign-up bonus for qualified Class A drivers who join the company in select locations. Walmart splits this into two $4,000 installments, with one paid upon completion of training and the other paid after six months of employment. In Pottsville, PA, drivers can earn a $12,000 bonus for signing up to drive for Walmart—so be sure to check the listings for your local area to see if you qualify.

Health, Vacation, and Retirement Benefits

Once in the job, Walmart drivers begin earning benefits immediately and can accrue up to 21 days of paid time off in their first year. They have access to medical plans straight away and optional life insurance, dental, vision, and pharmacy benefits.

Walmart offers truck drivers the option to enroll in the company’s 401(k) plan and will match employee contributions up to 6% after one year on the job. Walmart employees can also purchase stock in the company.

Walmart Discounts for Truck Drivers

Employees can take advantage of a 10% discount on all general merchandise and fresh fruits and vegetables, both within Walmart stores and online. The company’s Associate Discount Center also provides a range of exclusive discounts on entertainment, travel, cell phone services, and other goods and services not available in Walmart stores.

Schedules and Duties

In terms of day-to-day benefits, drivers for Walmart receive set weekly schedules and always know their hours in advance. Walmart drivers are on the road between eight to ten hours per day and benefit from having no split days off—instead, they work consecutive days, with home time every week and the potential for time off on the weekend.

Another huge perk is that Walmart drivers work with no-touch freight, meaning that they will never need to load or unload their trucks themselves.

Types of Walmart Truck Driving Jobs

There are several different types of driving careers available at Walmart. The most common is the CDL Class A >truck driver, who delivers stock to Walmart and Sam’s Club stores across the country from regional distribution centers. Typically, they travel around 300 miles per haul and must live within 250 miles of the distribution center they’re applying to—or be willing to relocate.

Walmart also hires local drivers, who stick to smaller areas and are guaranteed daily home time. These positions offer a slightly lower average salary of $75,000, but the same employee perks and benefits still apply. There are other locally based positions available for city drivers and on-property yard drivers as well.

Walmart Truck Driver Requirements

To maintain the fleet’s reputation and high safety record, Walmart does insist that its drivers meet several requirements before they are eligible for work. All drivers must have:

• A current interstate Class A Commercial Driver’s License with HAZMAT endorsement (or will get the endorsement within 120 calendar days of the date of hire)
• At least 30 months of full-time experience in a Class A tractor-trailer driving position within the last four years
• No more than two moving violations (and no serious violations) plus no preventable accidents while operating a motor vehicle in the last three years
• No convictions for a DUI, DWI, OUI, or reckless driving involving alcohol or drugs within the last 10 years
• No preventable accidents resulting in a fatality or catastrophic injury in a candidate’s entire commercial driving history

Walmart Driver Application: Instructions and Advice

If driving for Walmart sounds like the ideal career for you, you can find a list of current available roles at Drive4Walmart.com and begin the application process.

Walmart Driver Application Form: What to Expect

The initial online Walmart driver app takes between 45 minutes to one hour to complete. You’ll need to confirm that you have the relevant licenses and experience needed for the role and consent to any drug and alcohol screens and background checks. Once submitted, you can’t amend or update your application, so it’s important to make sure you have the correct information ready in advance.

Referrals from Current Walmart Drivers and Interviewing

Walmart accepts referrals from current drivers as part of the application process—if you know someone who currently works for Walmart as a driver, you can ask them for their referral code and add it to your application. “Applications that have a referral on them have a better chance of getting hired than those who do not,” says current driver James, who vlogs about his experiences as a Walmart driver on his YouTube channel.

If your initial application is successful, you’ll then take part in a phone interview and be asked a series of standard questions relating to the role. The company will also use this time to verify your information and confirm that you have the relevant experience and licenses required.

Onboarding as a Walmart Driver

The next stage of the process is onboarding, a week-long evaluation that all Walmart drivers must go through, in which the company assesses your pre-trip skills, driving ability, and backing skills. This may sound daunting, but it’s a valuable part of the process, as another Walmart driver and YouTuber, Raymond, explains: “The people who are there helping out with the onboarding…they’re not there trying to fire you or get you failed out. They want you to succeed, and they’re doing everything in their power to make sure that you can succeed.”

Training and Shadowing During Walmart Driver Probationary Period

Upon making it through the onboarding stage, it’s time to begin your training. During training, you’ll spend time shadowing a current Walmart driver to learn the ins and outs of the job. All new hires go through a 90-day probationary period, which you must pass to secure a permanent position.

Want more insider information? An in-depth diary of the Walmart application and onboarding process gives excellent information on what it takes to land a position and drive for Walmart.

Reviews of Walmart Truck Driving Jobs

As with any job, there are pros and cons to being a truck driver for Walmart. These are some of the Walmart truck driver complaints and compliments about the sought-after roles.

“Walmart Transportation is overall a great place to work. The salary and the benefits are just about the best you’re going to find pulling dry vans. You must live within 250 miles of the D.C. you’re applying to. For a single person, this is an excellent job. When you start you will be working 5 days on and 2 days off in most cases. You will not have an assigned tractor, but they try to keep you in the same tractor for 5 days when possible. You will be working weekends. After you’ve been there several months you can bid on a program (5/2-5/3, 6/3, or a schedule with an assigned tractor) but someone will be driving your truck when you are at home. As far as the work goes it’s pretty straight forward. You touch nothing in the trailer. Pick up a loaded trailer, take it to the store, drop and hook, deadhead back to D.C. There are times when you will pick up backhauls or pallets too. This is a great place to hire on when you are young (if you have enough experience and a clean driving record) get yourself established and settled into a consistent schedule, and retire from here. My personal experience was that the job was too hard on my family life, but that had nothing to do with Walmart.”
—SimplyHired.com

“Great pay and great people. Great place to work if you don’t care about the days your off…its all about seniority with your days off and with vacation…it takes about 15 years to get weekends off. Unless you can get on a rotating schedule…over 20 days of vacation a year if you can use them…put in way in advance…managers and dispatchers all are friendly and will work with you…good benefits and good equipment.”
—Indeed.com

“I was treated well and compensated fairly. This is a high pressure driving job. The rules and regulations have gotten to be overwhelming. It was a great job when I went there 31 years ago, gradually became a good job, and now is just a pressure cooker. After 31 years, I couldn’t keep up with their new regulations as fast as they were coming out with them. The money was the best in the industry, but the industry has been gradually catching up. New drivers will slip seat for years, you will have at least two days a week at home, but they won’t be Saturday or Sunday. They maintain their equipment well.”
—Indeed.com

Where Else Can You Apply?

As mentioned above, Walmart expects a high level of experience and a clean driving record from all its applicants. If you don’t yet meet the Walmart truck driver requirements or have the necessary full-time driving experience, you can still prepare for a future truck driving career with this respected fleet. Maintaining high standards and building your experience at industry-leading firms such as UPS, FedEx, XPO Logistics, J.B. Hunt, and many other carriers can put you on the path to drive for Walmart.