Diesel Truck Driver Overview
Diesel Truck Driver Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a diesel truck driver. For example, did you know that they make an average of $19.14 an hour? That's $39,816 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 Diesel Truck Driver Do
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a diesel truck driver, we found that a lot of resumes listed 23.5% of diesel truck drivers included cdl, while 16.4% of resumes included otr, and 16.2% of resumes included hand tools. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the diesel truck driver job title. But what industry to start with? Most diesel truck drivers actually find jobs in the transportation and manufacturing industries.
How To Become a Diesel Truck Driver
If you're interested in becoming a diesel truck driver, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 4.5% of diesel truck drivers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.1% of diesel truck drivers have master's degrees. Even though some diesel truck 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 diesel truck driver. When we researched the most common majors for a diesel truck driver, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on diesel truck driver resumes include diploma degrees or bachelor's degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a diesel truck driver. In fact, many diesel truck driver jobs require experience in a role such as truck driver. Meanwhile, many diesel truck drivers also have previous career experience in roles such as diesel mechanic or driver.
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Diesel Truck 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 truck driver you might progress to a role such as driver eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title superintendent.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Top Skills For a Diesel Truck 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, 23.5% of diesel truck drivers listed cdl on their resume, but soft skills such as hand-eye coordination and physical health are important as well.
- CDL, 23.5%
- OTR, 16.4%
- Hand Tools, 16.2%
- DOT, 8.2%
- Heavy Equipment, 6.4%
- Other Skills, 29.3% See All Diesel Truck Driver Skills