A class A driver, also referred to as a CDL driver, is the motorist of commercial trucks used for the transportation of goods. Although regulations regarding class A licenses vary by state, generally, they are required for vehicles that weigh above 26,001 lbs, such as trucking rigs, semitrailers, or motor trucks.
Training courses with qualified instructors are available for you if you have never worked as a CDL driver before and you do not have any military experience. You can extend a CDL license with additional certifications, allowing you to transport hazardous cargo or tow livestock, or tanker trailers.
As easy as it sounds, working as a CDL driver takes a toll on your life, having to spend long periods of time away from home. Demands on the position are increasing in alignment with the national average, though, so there will be no shortage of openings if you do decide to embark on this journey. Pun intended.
How to Become a Class A Driver
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a class a driver. For example, did you know that they make an average of $28.64 an hour? That's $59,564 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 5% and produce 99,700 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Class A Driver Do
There are certain skills that many class a drivers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed hand-eye coordination, hearing ability and physical health.
How To Become a Class A Driver
If you're interested in becoming a class a driver, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 10.8% of class a drivers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.6% of class a drivers have master's degrees. Even though some class a drivers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a class a driver. When we researched the most common majors for a class a driver, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on class a driver resumes include diploma degrees or bachelor's degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a class a driver. In fact, many class a driver jobs require experience in a role such as driver. Meanwhile, many class a drivers also have previous career experience in roles such as cdl class a driver or truck driver.
Class A Driver Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of cdl class a driver you might progress to a role such as technician eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title superintendent.
Average Salary for a Class A Driver
What Am I Worth?
Top Skills For a Class A Driver
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 32.7% of class a drivers listed cdl on their resume, but soft skills such as hand-eye coordination and hearing ability are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Class A Driver Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Class A Driver templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Class A Driver resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Class A Driver Demographics
Class A Driver Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among class a drivers, 5.2% of them are women, while 94.8% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among class a drivers is White, which makes up 62.6% of all class a drivers.
- The most common foreign language among class a drivers is Spanish at 71.4%.
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Best States For a Class A Driver
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a class a driver. The best states for people in this position are Wyoming, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Class a drivers make the most in Wyoming with an average salary of $75,746. Whereas in Rhode Island and New Hampshire, they would average $72,957 and $72,758, respectively. While class a drivers would only make an average of $71,938 in Vermont, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Wyoming
$75,746
Avg. Salary
2. Mississippi
$66,745
Avg. Salary
3. Pennsylvania
$70,846
Avg. Salary
How Do Class A Driver Rate Their Jobs?
Top Class A Driver Employers
Most Common Employers For Class A Driver
| Rank  | Company  | Average Salary  | Hourly Rate  | Job Openings  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C.R. England | $75,473 | $36.29 | 135 |
| 2 | Werner Enterprises | $74,332 | $35.74 | 75 |
| 3 | Knight Transportation | $73,144 | $35.17 | 228 |
| 4 | Schneider National | $72,577 | $34.89 | 89 |
| 5 | West Side Transport | $69,231 | $33.28 | 99 |
| 6 | XPO Logistics | $66,495 | $31.97 | 166 |
| 7 | Paul Transportation | $64,842 | $31.17 | 60 |
| 8 | J.B. Hunt Transport Services | $64,043 | $30.79 | 104 |
| 9 | EVO Transportation | $61,051 | $29.35 | 75 |
| 10 | ProDrivers | $59,564 | $28.64 | 86 |
Class A Driver Videos
