MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. (NewsNation) — For the past two years, Walmart has taken aggressive and successful strides in bolstering its trucking fleet with drivers through its Associate-to-Driver program, offering associates help taking the next step in their careers without leaving the company.
Walmart is offering employees a chance to earn their commercial driver’s license and hit the road, moving goods around the country while moving their salaries upward as well.
“We are really bullish about this program and the success we’ve had so far,” said Fernando Cortes, the senior vice president of Walmart transportation.
The company launched its Associate-to-Driver program in 2021, offering employees who make around $56,000 per year the opportunity to double their salaries to $110,000 as a fleet driver.
It’s a plan to keep workers in the company, moving their careers forward.
“With this program, we are providing training but paying for the associated costs with CDL driver’s licenses. So they don’t have to leave, just continue their growth here,” Cortes said.
And the company is putting big money into the program, investing in its workforce.
CDL training alone costs between $3,000 and $10,000. Plus, it can take up to 12 weeks to complete, and Walmart pays for all of it.
Former assistant manager Ashley Milacek, who took the course, was one of the first store associates to graduate from the program.
“At the store level, it’s a sense of urgency to get everything done and efficient. Where here, being a truck driver is all about safety, taking your time and patience,” Milacek said.
The American Trucking Association has awarded Walmart the safest fleet in its division for six consecutive years, a testament to the training all its drivers are receiving.
Now, there are more than 14,000 drivers in the program, and Walmart employees keep signing up. So far, 191 associates have successfully completed the company’s program.
“The commitment, the desire, the conviction they have toward the program has been remarkable,” Cortes said.
“I’m in a position to get the product to the store, help them get it on the shelf and everything. To me, it’s very rewarding,” Walmart truck driver Jacqueline Burton said.
Milacek said that while Walmart’s program has given her the title, she now has the responsibility to give her job meaning.
“It’s the best of the best now. It’s up to me to fulfill that and I plan to do that,” Milacek said.