Truck Driver Job Profile

Whether they're delivering packages across town or hauling tons of goods across the country, truck drivers are at the core of freight transportation.

Long-haul truck driver jobs entail long, sedentary and often irregular hours as well as many nights away from home. Heavy trucking jobs typically include loading and unloading, maintaining the rig and keeping logs required by law.

Delivery truck drivers handle many packages a day on their complex routes. Delivery truck driver employment may mean getting on and off the vehicle scores of times per day.

Truck Driver Education

Heavy or long-haul truck drivers must have a Commercial Driver's License (CDL) and usually a high school diploma or GED and at least a couple of years of related truck driver work experience.

Delivery truck drivers typically have a high school diploma and receive some on-the-job training, perhaps including classroom instruction if they work for a large employer.

Truck Driver Job Market

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers held more than 1.6 million jobs in 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Heavy and tractor-trailer truck driver job opportunities are expected to increase 21 percent between 2010 and 2020. There were more than 1.2 million delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers.

Truck Driver Salaries

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers earned median wages of $37,930 in 2011, the BLS reports. Light truck or delivery services drivers' median wages were $29,080.