Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between flatbed truck drivers and water truck drivers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a flatbed truck driver and a water truck driver. Additionally, a flatbed truck driver has an average salary of $61,065, which is higher than the $50,440 average annual salary of a water truck driver.
The top three skills for a flatbed truck driver include CDL, flatbed and OTR. The most important skills for a water truck driver are CDL, asphalt, and post-trip inspections.
A flatbed truck driver is primarily responsible for the transport and delivery of goods, ensuring efficiency and timeliness. Their duties mainly revolve around coordinating with logistics staff, planning deliveries, managing paperwork, responding to calls and inquiries from clients, and maintaining their vehicles in good condition by regularly conducting maintenance checks. There are are also instances when a driver must collect and process payments, making sure to keep records of all transactions. Furthermore, it is essential to load and unload goods to the location of deliveries and abide by all the traffic laws and regulations.
Water truck drivers are professional drivers who are required to drive trucks to transport water for construction projects, oil rigs, and crews working in remote sites. These drivers must demonstrate their ability by driving their trucks in unpredictable weather conditions and navigating in heavy traffics. They must conduct pre-trip and post-trip inspections while performing preventive maintenance on their trucks to ensure safety while driving. Water truck drivers must also check all load documents to ensure that they are accurate and received the required signatures for pickup and delivery.
Flatbed truck drivers and water truck drivers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Flatbed Truck Driver | Water Truck Driver | |
| Average salary | $61,065 | $50,440 |
| Salary range | Between $40,000 And $91,000 | Between $35,000 And $70,000 |
| Highest paying City | Dover, NH | San Diego, CA |
| Highest paying state | Montana | North Dakota |
| Best paying company | Jordan Company | MBI Energy Services |
| Best paying industry | Transportation | Transportation |
There are a few differences between a flatbed truck driver and a water truck driver in terms of educational background:
| Flatbed Truck Driver | Water Truck Driver | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 41% | High School Diploma, 50% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between flatbed truck drivers' and water truck drivers' demographics:
| Flatbed Truck Driver | Water Truck Driver | |
| Average age | 48 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 95.2% Female, 4.8% | Male, 89.4% Female, 10.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 14.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 3.6% White, 60.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 21.4% Asian, 3.7% White, 58.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 4% |