How much do truck drivers make on average

Last Updated: June 6th, 2022

Are you thinking about becoming a professional truck driver? You probably asked yourself: how much can I make as a trucker? Or will my trucker salary sustain my family? Will my pay be measly or is it possible to earn $100K a year driving trucks? What will road life be like…is it worth it?

What you earn on the road depends on many factors, and this comprehensive guide analyzes what you can make as truck driver in North America and how you can increase your income. It will even tell you about other circumstances, like where you live and what you can do to get the highest possible wage over the long term.

Although you might not be able to make $100,000/year off the bat, but given the truck driver demand, and with experience, specialization, CDL training and the right company, you can make $80,000+ on a trucker salary.

Summary of Report

• Median annual salary of truck drivers = $48,310 ($23.23 per hour), mean annual salary = $50,340 ($24.20 per hour)
• The top 10% of truck drivers made more than $72,730 per year in 2021, the lowest 10% made less than $30,710.
• Trucker’s income is affected by CDL, experience, the state you work in, or the company you work for
• To increase a driver’s wage – get into specialized work or obtain endorsements to have an advantage over other candidates

Contents

• 1 Summary of Report
• 2 Truck Driver Salary
• 3 New vs. Experienced Drivers
  • 3.1 Hourly Pay for CDL Holders vs. Non
• 4 How Truckers Earn a Living
  • 4.1 The Over the Road Income Model
  • 4.2 Other Payments that Round Up the Salary Package
• 5 Do Some States & Cities Pay More than Others?
  • 5.1 Highest Income Potential by State
  • 5.2 Top Paying States for Truck Drivers
  • 5.3 Top Paying Cities for Truck Drivers
• 6 Truck Drivers Salaries Comparison
• 7 Ways to Maximize a Trucker’s Earnings
  • 7.1 Specialized Trucking Jobs with Higher Pay
• 8 Small vs. Large Company – Difference in Pay
  • 8.1 Small Companies
  • 8.2 Large Companies
• 9 Conclusion

The best jobs in truck driving are the ones that take you out on the open road. There are plenty of opportunities, so it means there is something for most everyone who wants to be a trucker.

Drivers with Class A commercial drivers licenses (CDL) and experience in over the road (OTR) driving heavy or tractor-trailer trucks tend to get the better positions. Once you get the experience on the road the possibilities for a well-paid driving career open up wide like the highway ahead of you.

The future need is projected to be for an additional 160,000 OTR truck drivers, over the next ten years, to account for the growth of the trucking business and to replace current workers who leave the industry.

According to American Trucking Associations (ATA), freight volume has increased but the truck-load market cannot add capacity due to a shortage of drivers.

A career in trucking is in high demand, and this guide will explain how you can earn more than the median income, how they calculate truck driver pay, and the different options you can choose to find the well-paid career path that becomes a fulfilling lifestyle for you.

Truck Driver Salary

The lowest 10% of the drivers made less than $30,660 a year, however, the highest 10% of the truckers earned more than $69,480 per year.

And Glassdoor.com shows truck driver salaries average base pay of $64,283 based on almost 56,000 salaries  across the United States (as at December 2021). See the following image:

At Indeed.com, truck driver salary is $80,921 (as at May 2022) they show a higher trucker compensation. The variance likely is due to who is reporting the salary, his/her experience, and his/her specialty.

In both images above, there is a significant variance between the upper and lower salaries among drivers, which is a result of experience, education/training, specialization, location and the company that you’re employed at.

New vs. Experienced Drivers

Obviously as a new driver you will start at the bottom of the pay scale. If you go through a trucking company to get your training and licensing you will most likely get paid a flat rate weekly. Most companies average around 500 weekly for the time that you’re in training.

Once you are on your own, most companies will pay within the range of 28-60 cents a mile. Your best bet to make more money as a new driver is to find a smaller trucking company to work for – they tend to start in the .35 cent range.

Most trucking companies do have sliding pay scales where after a year or six months your pay rate goes up, most companies have it at a 2 cent raise. After that the raises usually go yearly up to a certain number of years, most usually three years.

Here’s a table we put together to compare current truck driver jobs in the market using Indeed.com (as at December 28, 2021). The top paying jobs typically require a CDL, some experience and some endorsements.

Hourly Pay for CDL Holders vs. Non

The problem with driving jobs that you can do with a private driver’s license is that employers expect that almost every other employee has a private license and can do the job too. That means that there is no difference between non-CDL drivers and workers in other service positions.

Having your CDL gives you an edge over someone who doesn’t – an employer will almost always select a truck driver that has their Commercial Driver’s License over someone without.

Interested in getting CDL training?

How Truckers Earn a Living

The Over the Road Income Model

You will see pay listed as “cost per mile” or CPM, which is the rate that you earn behind the wheel. The CPM and the number of miles you can drive in a day determine your earning potential of your OTR job.

Here’s an example of what your pay can look like working as a truck driver at Prime Inc.

Speed limits, negotiating city streets and time at the loading dock, waiting to load or unload; you have very definite limits to your income. State and Federal regulations that regulate interstate trucking also place strict limits on how many hours you work.

In reality, with waiting times and heavy traffic, you will most likely find that a realistic distance that you can cover in a day is around 450 miles.

Other Payments that Round Up the Salary Package

If you are earning based on CPM and you have an employer that values your work, you will likely get other types of payments to make up for the fact that business requires you to wait or cut your day short on many occasions. Examples of this include:

• Performance bonuses of as much as $0.05 CPM paid monthly or quarterly
• Referral bonuses of $2,000 per hire or more
• Hiring bonuses of $6,000 or more
• Payment for time spent waiting due to operational stops or delays
• Attractive medical, dental and other insurance packages

Do Some States & Cities Pay More than Others?

For those who want the career and to maximize the income potential, it could be a very sensible option to consider applying for positions in a region or transportation hub that has a lower cost of living and higher earning potential.

Highest Income Potential by State

Top Paying States for Truck Drivers

Source: BLS, 2021

Top Paying Cities for Truck Drivers

Source: BLS, 2021

Truck Drivers Salaries Comparison

As you can see the compensation between job functions in trucking varies.

Ways to Maximize a Trucker’s Earnings

The following positions are examples of some of the jobs that are available to drivers with current certifications and years of experience behind the wheel.

Specialized Trucking Jobs with Higher Pay

Line Haul and Intermodal Driving Positions

Line haul truckers move LTL freight between terminals, which may be more than 1,000 miles apart. Intermodal drivers do the same on shorter routes, earn about $15,000 less at $70,503 per year, however they get home nightly and take weekends off.

Hazmat Endorsement

These might be bulk liquids such as fuel for gas stations or industrial chemicals. You can typically earn a few cents to a few dollars more per mile over a regular type of load, depending on the type of material you’re hauling.

Tank Endorsement

You can also transport any liquefied gaseous material in a permanent tank that requires placards.

Over Sized Loads

Ice Road Trucking

These high-salaried ice truckers make deliveries such as food, fuel, supplies and equipment to oil and mine workers in Canada and Alaska.

These truckers drive on frozen waterways to make these deliveries, making this job extremely dangerous. As much as these high-paying jobs are appealing, these opportunities are rare and only enjoyed by a select few.

Owner Operator Truck Driver

An independent trucker’s earnings can be significantly more compared to an employee, for example, a 500 mile a day average in a given year, can earn you about $156,000 (cpm $1.25) as an owner vs. $81,000 (cpm .65 cents) as an employee.

Check out other high-paying trucking positions.

Small vs. Large Company – Difference in Pay

Truck drivers are on the outside and engage with clients and vendors more than other employees would. You will be on the road in a vehicle that might have a logo the size of a billboard on its side. So people skills are an essential tool in the truck driver’s toolkit, regardless of whether you’re in the largest corporation or a family-run startup.

Small Companies

• CPMs of $0.35 – $0.50 are typical for employees, OTE
• More access to senior management or owners
• More intimate connection to the business
• More flexibility in job descriptions
• The chance to take the initiative and contribute a winning idea

Small Company Cons

Small businesses owners may be less than crystal clear on the legal status of their drivers. If any employer wants to hire you as a “contractor”, make sure that you get professional advice on what that means specifically, and whether it is the right choice for you.

Again, contractors and self-employed drivers carry the entire burden of taxes.  In return, they need a much higher CPM than employees just to break even. If you get an offer like $0.40 per mile as a contractor, run!

Large Companies

• Employee CPMs of $0.23 – $0.60 are widely documented, OTE
• Low CPMs tend to apply to inexperienced drivers
• Likely to have more diverse driving positions available
• You may have a path to management
• Relocate to a region of your choice

Large Company Cons

There are some large trucking companies that hire and train drivers straight off the street. They are notorious for having very high driver turnover rates. They assume that the cost of training and the risks of operating heavy vehicles with inexperienced drivers is just a trade-off, a calculation that works out well for them.

There is a real difference at the end of the scale that hires easy and pays cheap. Some companies have developed a reputation for hiring anyone who might qualify for training, conduct the training in-house and send underpaid and inexperienced drivers out on the road alone.

Check out our review of the best truck companies to work for.

Conclusion

There will be plenty of truck-driving jobs available in the next decade as the industry expands and existing staff turns over. Use this to your advantage to choose the route that gives you a lifestyle you enjoy and an income you can call a career. If it is the right career for you and you have the determination to stick with it until you succeed, you can be part of the elite.

Once you have two to five years’ experience, seek that position that pays well, and you enjoy doing. Alternatively, start thinking about finding a specialized driving job, becoming an owner/driver and perhaps teaming up with a partner to make the best income while you have the adventure of a lifetime living and working on the road.

Geoff Craig, MBA

Geoff is a freelance writer with 20+ years of experience in driving trucks and buses, dispatching, supervising, and training commercial driving teams. His expertise is writing topics on the transportation and trucking industry, and information technology trends.