Freight slump drags driver pay down – will it last? A freight slowdown seen in the fourth quarter of 2015 caused driver pay growth to subside, at least temporarily, according to a recent report by the Transport Capitol Partners. Carriers expect driver wages to grow in 2016, TCP says, with 70 percent expecting trucker pay to climb between 1 and 5 percent this year. However, 22 percent of carriers surveyed by TCP said they do not expect driver wages to grow at all in 2016.