Distribution staff 2020 pay increases: Drivers are pulling away

Drivers are doing better than other functional groups in the distribution sector, at least when it comes to 2020 pay increases.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected employee reward over the past 12 months and the latest XpertHR Distribution Staff Salary Survey shows that overall basic salary increases are now averaging 2.4%, down from 3.9% in 2019. Compared to pay trends in other sectors of the economy this is a benign but relatively unsurprising outcome. Distribution has one of the few growth areas of the economy in 2020, driven in part by surging demand for doorstep delivery services.

Employees involved in driving roles - including LGV, HGV and customer delivery drivers - saw average basic salary increases of 3.6%. Their warehouse operative colleagues were not so fortunate and saw more modest increases of around 2.0%.

Average increase in basic salary 2020, job levels 12-24

Job function group Average % N=
General management and administration 2.0 7,184
Warehouse and forklift 2.0 48,017
Drivers 3.6 20,810
Mechanical and engineering 2.4 3,474
Transport control and planning 3.0 750
Whole sample 2.4 80,235

Our data

The 2020 Distribution Staff Salary Survey is based on data covering 178,462 employees from 333 organisations and spans every nation and region of the UK. Reward benchmarks covering basic annual salaries, hourly rates and additional payments are available across 10 job levels and over 30 job functions ranging from warehouse operatives and drivers through to regional warehouse managers.

More information about XpertHR Salary Surveys.