Truckers have traditionally been around for several years, as it’s a career that many men and women have dedicated numerous hours of their time to. Though trucking has historically been known as a career that employs many and is almost always searching for new workers, some people may show signs of hesitance before pursuing this possible job opportunity as they stop to ask, “Is trucking a reliable job for me to train for and eventually pursue?”
So, is trucking a good career? Overall, trucking has numerous benefits offered that prove it to be a good career. As a trucker, you are provided with average to above average pay, frequent travel with scenic routes that allow you to see more of the country, job security, and have the option to work alone or on a team.
While a career as a trucker can provide several positive factors, there are other aspects to keep in mind when considering this as a possible position to go after. Some may find the trucker lifestyle pleasing and easily adaptable, while others may not see it as quite the perfect fit.
What Makes Trucking A Good Career
Becoming a trucker involves more than just showing up to work every morning at 8 am and clocking out at 5 pm. Their workdays are different than some may realize and require more of a lifestyle adaptation than expected.
Hometime
Most truckers find themselves out on the road for approximately 300 days out of the year. This means that a lot of them have limited time at home, otherwise known as hometime. Their hometime is smaller than most employed adults as they are known to spend a few weeks at a time driving on the road. This in return results in less time seeing loved ones and more time exploring the many different roads in the U.S.
Lots of Travel Time
Depending on how long you’ve been driving, you’ll be spending different amounts of time on the road. Your first year, in particular, is the time where you will be expected to drive the most. The main goal is for you to learn more about the basics on how to drive your truck on the road and to help gain experience to get the hang of the lifestyle.
This is when you’ll get to see most of the country and get acquainted with the different highways and interstates. You’ll also have the chance to stop at different rest stops, so you can discover which are great, and not so great, to utilize for next time. This helps you get more accustomed to your truck, the road and your new upcoming lifestyle .
Flexibility is Gained Over Time
In the beginning of your career as a truck driver, you will be traveling more often and won’t have much of a say in when and where you’ll be traveling. As time goes on, you’ll gain enough experience to have more of a voice in deciding your driving schedule as well as the ability to determine what types of trucks and hauls you want to be driving. You’ll also have more of an opportunity to pick the length of your upcoming truck drives.
How Much Truckers Make
Rather than being paid an hourly wage like other common job positions, truck drivers normally make their salary based on how many miles they have driven. As your experience as a trucker increases, so does the amount of money you make. Some drivers make approximately 27 to 47 cents per mile. This can, of course, start to add up as you continue to drive down the road for numerous lengths at a time.
To give you more of an idea of the average trucker salary, seek Capital released the average amount of money truck drivers make per state. Here are a few of the average salaries per state:
- Mississippi- $41,900
- Kentucky- $45,550
- Utah- $45,600
- South Carolina- $44,270
- Arizona- $45,430
- New Mexico- $44,460
Truck Driver Training
Becoming a professional truck driver isn’t a career you can just wake up and begin doing all in one day. It requires specific types of training as well as time and effort put into gaining the necessary qualifications to become a certified and well-equipped trucker.
Qualifications To Be Met
Becoming a certified truck driver requires a few different qualifications that must first be met before you are able to officially start a truck driving position. Here are the different conditions that must be met before you can make it to the next phases of truck driver training:
- Must be 18 to drive a truck, but 21 to travel all over the country
- Required to have earned a GED or high school diploma
- Need to complete and pass a physical exam
- Can’t possess medical issues or problems that could get in the way of your performance as a trucker
- A clean driving record is required
- Vision must be 20/40 and have a 70-degree field of vision
- Your impressive hearing must be able to hear a whisper that is only 5 feet away
Attending Truck Driving School
In addition to the above qualifications, truckers must also attend driving school. Some trucking companies offer their own training but most others will require you to attend driving school on your own time.
These classes can be found either at a community college or held at a certain private institution. Be prepared to have three to six weeks cleared in your schedule to attend these classes.
Different things you’ll learn while attending these classes are how to drive on different types of ground and terrain like roads with tight curves, mountains, hills, and cities that are particularly packed or crowded.
You’ll also learn different rules and regulations, as well as what the upcoming experience as a truck driver will be like. Drivers have to sit in one place for several long hours at a time, so these classes work to prepare you for what’s to come when you spend large lengths of time driving these trucks on the road.
Earning a CDL
Once you’ve almost completed your truck driving courses, your final week or two will consist of you studying and preparing for the Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) exam. Once you’ve passed this test, you will have earned your CDL.
Normally with the certification, you will need to pass a test that is primarily based on your overall knowledge of the basics of becoming a truck driver. If you aren’t able to pass the skill based test, you are allowed to take it again the next day, in 24 hours. You will then be instructed to perform a test taken by driving an actual truck.
Before receiving the CDL, you must display your proof of citizenship as well as your social security card to the necessary appointed party.
Training on the Job
Once you’ve passed your tests, met the qualifications and earned your CDL, you are now ready to begin training on the job site. This training can last anywhere between one and three months. You’ll learn more about the rigs you’ll be driving and will be shadowing a trainer who will show you the ropes.
This requires riding alongside the trainer in the passenger seat. Other times your trainer will have you drive the truck while closely monitoring you in the passenger seat throughout the drives.
Different Truck Driver Positions
There are different job options offered to you once you gain a few years of experience as a driver on the road. Some require time alone and others offer more of a team-based feeling, while others consist of working for one company at a time and some drive and deliver goods for multiple companies.
Over the Road Trucker (OTR)
This trucker requires several hours of driving cross country alone. These truckers tend to earn more than local drivers, as drivers who choose to drive locally will mainly work hours that are a little more normal that don’t result in them staying away from their families as long as OTR truckers will.
Most of these truckers tend to be a little younger and don’t usually have a family or strong ties that keep them at home, so they’re much more able to drive for long periods of time away from their house.
Local Trucker
Some truckers who have gained more experience than others will have the opportunity to opt out of traveling for longer periods of time and are able to gain more traditional and basic hours driving to destinations that are more local and closer to where they are located. This way they are able to spend more time at home with families and less time exploring the open roads.
Solo OTR Driver
These drivers work very independently and are able to travel alone to different destinations all over the country while reaching a significant amount of miles, equaling more of a significant amount of pay.
Dedicated or Single Company Driver
These truckers are different than most as they mainly work for one big company rather than several companies like most other OTR truck drivers. These drivers normally serve larger companies like Walmart and usually drive to specific destinations that aren’t normally as far as OTR drivers. These are the driving positions most veteran drivers will choose to pursue as they have less strenuous hours and are in turn able to spend more time at home with families.
Team OTR Driver
While most people associate truck drivers with workers who are best working alone on solo missions, some of them don’t always end up driving alone. Some trucks are driven by two workers who are able to take turns and switch shifts with each other while on the road.
If drivers operate as a team like this, then they won’t have to make as many stops as they normally do as single drivers, so they are able to accumulate more miles in a less amount of time, which turns into more pay for each of these drivers.
Trainer and Orientation Driver
As we learned above, drivers must first undergo training to become a professional driver. In order to do this, they must be supervised by a driver who is experienced and properly qualified to train these drivers. These trainers sometimes get paid specific rates when they first teach a driver how to drive on the road for the first time and get the basics down. Eventually, once they train a driver to take longer trips down the road, they are paid by the mile. These drivers are able to have more hometime since they won’t spend long amounts on the road like other drivers.
Benefits and Bonuses Drivers Receive
Like many other positions in the workforce, truckers are given different benefits and bonuses that are either gained right there on your first day or are earned as you dedicate your time for a certain period of hours put in.
Impressive Insurance and 401K Plans
As a driver, you are given different options for both health and life insurance. This all mainly depends on the type of truck carrier you decide to work for, but can still result in impressive insurance coverage including dental, vision and more. Additionally, a large majority of carriers will offer you impressive 401k plans to help you save for upcoming retirement.
Easily Adjustable Schedule
Once you’ve gained a few years of experience, you’re able to find different trucking positions that can be more focused on the hours you would like to pursue. If you’re searching for a position that consists of earlier hours, you can ask for hours that involve driving your truck before dawn. If you’d rather drive late at night, that can be a doable option as well, as some will offer you a shift that primarily takes place at night.
Once you’ve racked up a fair amount of experience driving on the road, you will gain more of a say in where and when you decide to drive your truck.
Generous Paid Vacation and Sick Days
As a trucker, it’s understandable to yearn for a little bit of vacation after sitting and driving for so long in one place. Luckily, you’re offered a benefit of paid vacation that most drivers find to be impressive, depending on the carrier they decide to serve. You’re also given a good amount of time to recover from any illness or sickness that may occur and could attack from out of the blue.
Receive Extra Pay for Safety
Some truck driving carriers want to maintain the safety of their drivers on the road. To encourage this, they sometimes offer extra payment to drivers to ensure they will do their best to remain safe and practice best safety rules while driving on interstates or highways. This not only helps enhance the look of their company but helps maintain safe lives of truckers and other drivers out there on the road.
Hefty Employee Referral Programs
The trucker industry is almost always hiring and searching for potential trucker candidates. By helping out with this and referring a friend, you could receive a reward in return for helping them hire a new employee that they find fit for the job and the team. Some bonuses for referring employees are quite hefty, so don’t be afraid to recommend your friend who’s a qualified truck driver.
More Miles = More Money
There are certain goals per mile each carrier wants its drivers to meet. Most carriers choose to reward drivers for meeting these goals by giving them an added bonus to their pay. This may be able to entice you to drive a few extra miles and spend a little more time out on the road so you can, in turn, receive a little more cash to go inside your pocket.
Get a Bonus Just for Signing On
As mentioned before, truck driver carriers are constantly searching for new workers, so several are out there competing for different truckers to drive for their company. Some of them get so competitive and eager to gain new employees that they will offer new employees a bonus just for simply choosing their company over others. Some of these carriers will pay you as soon as they hire you and others will pay this bonus more and more as time goes on.
Gaining Layover Pay for Any Lost Time
Unfortunately, when you’re out driving mistakes and inconveniences can happen. You can get a flat tire or break down for some unexpected reason. To prepare for this, some carriers are aware of and understand these emergencies that can go wrong and cause you to run late on a delivery or lose miles you were hoping to gain during that shift.
To help this issue, carriers will offer extra payment to help make up for the time you may have lost while you had to wait on the side of the road to get the truck fixed rather than spending that time driving.
Is Trucking a Good Career For You?
There are many benefits and variables to look at when trying to determine if pursuing a career as a truck driver could be the perfect fit for you. It’s important to keep in mind the qualities you’re looking for in a job position and if they match up to what is offered as a trucker. Carefully determine how much time, effort and dedication is placed in a trucking career and notice all the benefits you can gain if you choose to take a job in this field.