Truck Driver’s Job Explained in Details!
Truck driver’s job is waiting for qualified truckers. In fact, United States alone needs about 250,000 truck drivers to fill up the growing job vacancies for truck drivers. Many big carrier companies are very desperate to have qualified truck drivers to fill up seats for their vacancies. We already observed that there are many trucks which are idle in the company’s parking lot waiting for qualified drivers to man them. This is a tragic waste of resource for many carrier companies. The government and all the carrier companies should work hand in hand to ease their problem that will cripple America’s business industry. Today, truck driver’s job is one of the most highly paid jobs but even with attractive compensation, there is still a great shortage. Truck drivers are really urgently needed to let the economy going.
Truck driver’s job comes in two main categories:
- Intrastate Truck Drivers- these are drivers that are locally moving within the boundaries of their own state lines. Their job usually comes with light, medium or heavy trucks. Their job is usually pick up and delivery done during the day, usually making many stop-over because the nature of work.
- Interstate- requires drivers to spend many days, weeks or months away from home. Interstate truck drivers are the OTR (Over the Road) drivers who spend most of the time on the traveling one side of the country to the other. Drivers of this job are operating heavy trucks. Usually this job requires two drivers who drives alternately, if one sleeps the other will be the one driving and vice versa. The requirement for you to be able for you to take a job of interstate truck driver is at least you are twenty-three years old and you should have a commercial driver’s license. For intrastate they can have their license at twenty-one years of age, but they cannot go beyond or they cannot take their truck beyond the state line.
There are also many types of truck driver’s job available but some require endorsement and special qualifications. Any new driver can obtain the necessary experience and training which is required first.
1. Specialized Drivers: These are drivers of specialized trucks such as double and triple trailer trucks, auto carrier trucks, tanker trucks, heavy equipment carrier trucks and other kind of heavy trucks. This job requires the driver to have at least under gone extra training in driving this kind of trucks.
2. Transporting Hazardous Materials- this is one course that is mostly offered during Commercial Driver’s License training or it can be offered by the employees themselves. The drivers of these trucks job needs to undergo training in safety regulations such as what to do in case of emergency and they must know the characteristics of the substances they are hauling.
3. Owner-operator truck driver- they are also called the independent drivers. These are small truck carrier businessmen who own their own equipments and rein their own small business. Large areas of the long-haul industry are made out of these operations. Most of these owner-operators have been once a paid truck driver. This is where they gain experience that they use later in putting up their own trucking business. Husband and wife is now a team player in their owner-operator trucking business.
Pay for a truck driver’s job varies according to the nature of their work. Local truckers usually work forty hours per week and they are eligible for overtime after acquiring the forty hours. Long haul drivers can earn more depending on how many years you are with the company, what type of truck you are driving and how many miles you have driven or how many hours you have been working. Salaries can vary from state to state. The expected salary for first year truck job is $34,000, for the second year you can expect to receive $40,000. A specialized truck driver may receive up to $70,000 per annum and it can exceed more. So what are you waiting for? Apply now because there is a big shortage of truck driver’s jobs. You can easily grab a long term position with such a huge demand!