Truck driving is one of the few jobs where a worker can earn a good wage and benefits that does not require a college degree. All drivers need to get started is a CDL A and some on-the-job training.
Thinking about starting a career as a truck driver? It’s easy to Google “How much do truck drivers make?” But a few stats from Indeed don’t tell the whole story. Many factors can positively or negatively affect how much a driver earns.
Average Truck Driver Pay
According to the Department of Labor, the national average truck driver salary is $54,320 per year, or $26.12 per hour.
Estimates vary widely, but a beginning driver can expect to earn around $40,000 per year (we’ll talk more about what drivers can do to get that number up in a bit). Experienced drivers can expect $60K+, and wages are growing. One survey by the American Trucking Association reported that despite the broader job market and economy, wages for drivers rose by 10% from 2021-2023. The national labor shortage affects how much drivers make, with wages only growing, especially for experienced drivers.
Don’t forget to factor in benefits like health and life insurance and bonuses for safe driving, on-time deliveries, or referring other drivers.
How Drivers Get Paid
Drivers, especially long-haul truckers, are paid differently than most other jobs, which can affect how much they make. There are over a dozen different payment types in the trucking industry.
The most common payment types are:
- Cents per mile (CPM): Pay per mile is the most common payment method, especially for over-the-road (OTR) drivers (aka long-haul). This pay style makes sense for most truckers moving across state lines with varying speed limits. Generally, CPM falls between $0.45 – $0.85 per mile.
- Hourly: Some drivers, especially shorter-range regional and local drivers, are paid by the hour.
- Salary: While uncommon, a few trucking companies offer salaries. This model has pros and cons. If your mileage varies widely, your salary can offset slow weeks—but also cap your earning potential.
- Load sharing: With load sharing, drivers get paid by the load they deliver. Common in industries like agriculture, drivers get a flat fee for each delivery, so in general, the more deliveries, the more they get paid. This model is also sometimes used by owner-operators for regional work.
- Other pay types:
- Bonuses: Some companies offer incentive pay for safe driving or hitting certain milestones. Profit sharing is also a popular bonus model.
- Per diem: Per diem helps with day-to-day expenses while on the road, such as meals and hotels, and is paid in addition to regular wages.
- Detention/stop pay: If paid by the mile, stops, even for deliveries, can really hurt your paycheck. Some companies offer detention pay to offset lost wages from deliveries or inspections.
- Endorsement pay: Training for special certifications on your CDL license allows you to take special cargo that offers higher pay.
- Guaranteed pay: Trucking companies sometimes offer this weekly or bi-weekly amount to offset differences in mileage.
- Team driver pay: Driving as part of a team can earn both team members higher pay.
- Accessorial pay: This pay is intended to cover work that drivers do beyond driving, like loading or unloading or covering a flatbed with a tarp. Hourly workers don’t usually receive this type of pay.
What Affects Driver Pay
How much a driver makes is affected by several factors:
- Region – Some areas of the U.S. pay better than others. In general, Eastern and Northern states pay better than other areas. However, OTR/long-haul drivers tend to earn a similar CPM wage regardless of where they live.
- Range and route – Generally, long-haul truckers earn more than regional truckers, who earn more than local truckers. However, wages tend to be higher the more time spent on the road, so drivers need to balance desired wages with family and downtime.
- Experience – As with any job, more experienced drivers earn more. Newer drivers cost trucking companies more money because they cost more to insure. Unlike other industries, there are fewer barriers to drivers getting work and quickly earning experience.
- Company size – Smaller companies might offer a higher CPM rate but are less dependable than larger companies, which have more routes and resources to keep drivers on the road.
- Load type – Specialty vehicles (like car haulers) pay more than average because handling those trucks requires special training. Similarly, hazardous material or refrigerated trucks earn higher pay for similar reasons.
- License Type –
- CDL A is more flexible and offers more earning potential, at least for long-haul/OTR truckers.
- CDL B is mainly for regional and local drivers such as buses, dump trucks, and other commercial vehicles.
- CDL C licenses are for local drivers of vehicles, including box trucks, food delivery trucks, and garbage trucks.
Learn more: How to Prepare for a Trucking Job Interview
What Drivers Can Do to Earn $100K or More
- Endorsements – Endorsements are certifications you can earn on your license that increase your career options and wage amounts. For example, the specialty vehicle hauler endorsement allows you to transport groups of cars to dealerships. This type of work requires endorsement because the driver must take special care to prevent theft or damage to expensive vehicles. Drivers must also get endorsements for hauling oversized loads, transporting hazardous materials, or transporting a tanker.
- Train other drivers – Drivers can supplement their income by training new drivers.
- Team drive – In a team-drive model, two drivers work in one rig. While one person drives, the other rests and sleeps. This scenario keeps the rig on the road constantly while safely adhering to DOT rules about rest. Because the delivery times are much faster, drivers earn much more than in a typical OTR scenario, split between both drivers.
- Dangerous routes – Dangerous routes, like those made famous in the TV show “Ice Road Truckers,” often pay more than normal routes. An ice road trucker can make as much as an ordinary OTR driver makes yearly in three months. But those three months (the dead of winter) are the only time it’s viable to drive a big rig across frozen lakes and rivers.
- Owner-operators – Owner-operators have the potential to earn the most out of all drivers, with estimates placing driver median pay well over $100,000. However, significant drawbacks come with being an owner-operator. These drivers own their rig or rigs and are responsible for all overhead and expenses. They are also responsible for securing and negotiating all work.
Figuring Out the Best Driving Job for You
So, how much do truck drivers make? It really depends on you. Balancing money, time off, and career goals is essential for achieving long-term satisfaction and success in your driving career. It’s important to consider how each of these elements interacts with one another as you plan your next moves.
To ensure you are making the most of your opportunities, get in touch with one of our experienced recruiters. Pace Drivers can provide personalized insights and strategies based on your unique situation, helping you identify the best next steps in your driving career.
