Truck Driver Jobs Blog

Job Outlook for Truck Drivers and Trucking Jobs

Truck driver jobs should be readily available in the coming years. Not only is substantial growth expected in the industries that provide jobs to truck drivers, but the numbers of "baby boomer" truck drivers is expected to dwindle as that generation nears retirement age. Jobs have a high degree of variance in terms of income. In 2002 the average hourly earnings of american truck driving jobs was almost $16 per hour. The high wage variance comes in that the middle 50% earned between $12.51 and $20.01 per hour. The highest paying job sector for heavy truck and tractor-trailer drivers was for general freight trucking which weighed in at a little over $17.50 per hour. The lowest paying sector was cement and concrete product manufacturing. The big employment picture for truck driving jobs is expected to have the same growth as all other occuupations through 2012. This stability of employment should make truck driving an attractive employment alternative due to it's deep roots in many other sectors of commerce. The feasability of using truck transport is considered better than other means of transportation, especially when dealing with time-sensitive goods and perishables. LTL or less-than-truckload jobs have better working environments and are therefore expected to become more competitive.

Truck driver/sales worker jobs are expected to perform below the entire truck driving sector. This comes as a result of specialization. The truck driver will no longer have to wear the hat of a trucker and a salesperson. The sales jobs that drivers have performed in the past are expected to be deligated to office personel. The driver/salesman is projected to become specialized in thier working position by just delivering product. Since job opportunities will always fluctuate from year to year, truck drivers should be wise in their choice for employment. The relative strength of the economy has a direct influence on how many job opportunities there are for truckers. When the economy is doing well, there is more freight to be hauled and thus more opportunities for truck drivers to gain high paying trucking jobs. The flip side to that is that when economic performance is low, there is less freight being sold that can be hauled via truck.

The good news for the younger generation of truck drivers and the future generations of drivers is that the most experienced drivers have served their country well and are nearing retirement. I would venture to say that the shortage of drivers do to a retiring labor force will outweigh most economic downturns. This increase in demand for qualified personel should increase the median wages paid for performing those services. Truck driving jobs will be readily available for a very long time. we should all be ok unless someone figures out a way to move freight through the telephone lines or something.

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