Truck Driving Job Outlook
Job opportunities should be favorable for truck drivers with faster than average growth of light and heavy truck driver employment.
Truck Driver Jobs - Pay Information:
The median hourly truck driver employment earnings in 2002 were as follows*:
Heavy truck and tractor trailer drivers - $15.97 (lowest 10% less than $10.01 and highest 10% more than $23.75 an hour)
Light or delivery services truck drivers - $11.48 (lowest 10% less than $7.03 and highest 10% more than $20.68 an hour)
Note that generally local truck drivers earn an hourly wage and possibly overtime pay whereas long distance or over-the-road (otr) drivers typically get paid by the mile. Also note that the driver's pay rate may vary significantly from company to company, the miles driven, experience/seniority, and type of truck or tractor trailer driven.

Common Types of Truck Driving Jobs:
Local
Over-the-Road (otr)
Regional/National
Short-Haul/Long-Haul/Heavy-Haul
Less-than-Truckload (ltl)
Solo
Team/Teams
Owner Operator (independent contractor)
Common Types of Truck Driving Equipment:
Auto/Autohauler
Dry Van
Reefer/Refrigerated/Temperature-Control
Flatbed
Tanker
Moving/House Hold Goods
Tractor-Trailer
Common Truck Driver Job Qualifications:
Each trucking company is different and minimum driver qualifications vary from company to company. Some truck driver job qualifications may include:
Age - 21 years, 23 years, 25 years old are common depending on the company.
Valid Commercial Driver's License (e.g., CDL Class A, CDL Class B) with or without endorsements (e.g., hazardous materials/haz-mat endorsement, doubles/triples endorsement, tank endorsement)
Driving record/traffic violations - vary greatly based on time (e.g., within 12 months, 3 years, etc..), number (e.g., no more than 1, 3, etc..) and incident (moving violation, serious violations such as DUI/DWI, hit and run, excessive speeding, etc..)
Criminal record including felony convictions may or may not disqualify you. Some companies require 5 or 10 year since the conviction (some crimes may disqualify you completely) and some companies do not accept anyone with a felony.
over the road driving experience (vary's by company such as 1 year, 3 years, 5 years)
A valid driver's license.
Pass a DOT physical and drug testing
may or may not require loading and unloading
Important Note: If you have any questionable events such as a criminal record, serious/multiple driving violations, etc.. make sure "BEFORE" you sign up or pay for training that you will be able to be employed as a truck driver after training is completed. Otherwise you may find it difficult or impossible to find a job, "AND" you would still owe the money for your training.

Truck Driving Jobs Search:
When searching for a truck driving job consider using an online job board such as Hotjobs. A great way to use a job database such as Hotjobs is to use specific search phrases. Some examples are midwest truck driving job, regional truck driving jobs, national driving jobs, otr driving jobs, cdl driving job, ltl driver job, etc.. It is also helpful to use city and/or states in the search phrase. More truck driving jobs phrases may also include location references where applicable such as southern, south, south east, southwest, western, west, northern, north, north east, central, west coast, east coast, and specific route, routes, lane, or lanes, etc... Some final phrases to consider for a truck driver job search may include class a cdl jobs, class b truck driving jobs, over-the-road jobs, less-than-truckload jobs, short-haul, medium-haul, long-haul, entry level truck driving jobs, solo, teams, 18 wheeler jobs, dry van, flatbed, diesel driving jobs, local driving jobs, reefer, bulk tanker, ect..

Therefore simply narrow your search to find a trucking company that "works for you". As the economy picks up trucking companies are trying to fill even more seats. That means it may be possible to "be picky" in finding jobs for truckers. Use the Internet and job search engines and increase your searching skills to find a job using more or better phrases - the possibilities are endless. Trucking companies all over are looking for good quality drivers to fill seats, it just takes some creative job searching to find what you're looking for in a trucking company.