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The differences between garbage truck drivers and professional 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 garbage truck driver and a professional truck driver. Additionally, a professional truck driver has an average salary of $48,577, which is higher than the $38,257 average annual salary of a garbage truck driver.
The top three skills for a garbage truck driver include CDL, customer service and post-trip inspections. The most important skills for a professional truck driver are CDL, safety regulations, and on-time delivery.
Just as the name implies, a garbage truck driver is someone who drives a truck and uses it to collect trash, waste products, and recycling from dumpsters and trash cans on a set route. Their responsibilities include driving the truck along a designated route and handling lifting devices to collect trash. Furthermore, they may have to operate a front-end loader truck that lifts the waste into a container behind the vehicle.
Professional truck drivers have skills in communication, organization, and navigation, as well as a motivated personality and a good sense of responsibility. Their services are absolutely essential, with the most basic task being driving commercial trucks for transportation of goods and materials to distribution centers. Truck drivers transport everything from automobiles to produce to machinery.
Garbage truck drivers and professional truck drivers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Garbage Truck Driver | Professional Truck Driver | |
| Average salary | $38,257 | $48,577 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $50,000 | Between $33,000 And $69,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Trucking Partners | Wellpath |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Transportation |
There are a few differences between a garbage truck driver and a professional truck driver in terms of educational background:
| Garbage Truck Driver | Professional Truck Driver | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 60% | High School Diploma, 32% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between garbage truck drivers' and professional truck drivers' demographics:
| Garbage Truck Driver | Professional Truck Driver | |
| Average age | 48 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 92.9% Female, 7.1% | Male, 84.3% Female, 15.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.7% Asian, 4.0% White, 60.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 14.4% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 3.7% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 4% |