TRUCK DRIVER SALARIES

Truck Driver Salaries

The one question many people ask before deciding on a career is what type of salary they can expect and in most cases this question is almost impossible to answer correctly. This is also the case when it comes to a truck drivers salary, it all depends on several different things such as; driver experience, company size and where the work is. It also depends whether they are driving light trucks or heavy duty tractor trailers as well as if they are local drivers or long distance drivers.

Someone who is just starting as a truck driver can expect to earn $5-$17 an hour. Light weight truck drivers with some experience can earn $5-$19 an hour while heavy duty truck drivers can expect a salary in the range of $6-$22. In addition to their salary most truck drivers do receive health and life insurance, disability and retirement pensions. If a driver belongs to the union he will get benefits but these will be negotiated by representatives of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

The following statistics dates from a couple of years back but will give you an idea of salaries for different types of truck driver jobs based on average hourly pay.

Heavy Truck and Tractor-Trailer Drivers.
Freight trucking (general) $17.56
Grocery related products 16.90
Freight trucking (specialized) 15.79
Specialty trade contractors 14.25
Cement and concrete products 14.14

Light Truck Driver Services
Couriers $17.49
Freight trucking (general) 14.92
Grocery related products 12.26
Building materials and supplies 10.83
Auto parts 7.82

Local Drivers Including Commission
Specialty food $14.98
Dry cleaning and laundry 14.74
Grocery related products 12.66
Eating places (limited) 6.78
Restaurants 6.47

Although these statistics are showing hourly wages it is normally only local drivers who receive hourly pay while long distance drivers generally get paid by the mile. Their pay per mile mainly depends on the cargo they drive and their employer while local drivers earn commissions on top of their hourly salary Therefore as you can see a truck drivers salary can vary a great deal depending on who they drive for and what they drive.