How Much Money does a Truck Driver Make?

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Wondering how much money the average truck driver makes? Truck driver salaries vary widely based off of many different factors; here's a comprehensive view on truck driver pay.

Truck driving jobs are great for people who love the freedom of not having a boss constantly peering over their shoulder. Truck drivers literally get to experience the freedom of the freeway day in, day out; all while making a living!

Many people may wonder what a truck drivers salary looks like. The training to become a truck driver is very short; it can be as brief as 4 weeks long, or as long as 9 months. When the truck driver training is so short, it deepens the curiosity surrounding what these road masters bring home as a truckers salary.

The answer is based off of many different factors, meaning that the fact of the matter is that a truck drivers pay varies wildly. There are many different methods and structures that company's use to decide a trucker's salary.

One structure of deciding trucker pay is based on how many miles the truck driver covers. In this instance, a trucking company will offer a base wage, typically around minimum wage. Then, miles that the truck driver covers in a daily route are meticulously tracked, and he will be reimbursed for the distance covered. For example, a truck driver hourly wage may be $9, and each mile that he goes tacks and extra $0.29 onto his hourly wage. It's a truck driver's pay that is commissioned, in a sense.

With this commissioned truck driver pay structure, an hourly wage can easily be estimated.

For example, lets say that the truck driver in question has covered 40 miles in the last hour. That would be 40 x .29, which is 11.60. $11.60 + the hourly base of $9 is $20.60. This particular truck driver pay structure adds up to a fairly generous $20.60 an hour.

Clearly, commissioned truck driver pay would vary based on the number of miles covered. This would always be subject to variables such as loading and unloading the truck, traffic, and whether or not the hour is spent on the freeway.

Other truck drivers get paid via a set hourly wage. The wage rate would depend on the driver's experience, as well as the size of the truck he drives and the other work duties involved.

The average hourly wage for a heavy tractor-truck driver is around $18 per hour, while a lighter delivery truck driver is roughly $14. All of the variations on the size of the truck also require different levels of truck driving, and varying levels of CDL classes. A heavy truck driver, for instance, requires a Class A CDL, whereas a lighter truck driver only needs a Class B CDL.

As you can see, truck driver pay varies largely, based off of variable such as what they're driving, what their other duties include, and how experienced they are.

If you are considering a truck riving career, or weighing your options between employers, ask the company questions about how they compensate their drivers before you sign any formal contracts.