The role of a local truck driver is to transport goods from one location to another within a specified geographical area on the behalf of a company or business. Their duties usually include transporting items according to a schedule and even along a designated route, maintaining accurate records and other documents of their deliveries, driving costs, their work hours, their breaks, and other information, and will need to acquire signatures from the customers receiving the packages.
Local truck drivers should also know how to properly secure packages so as to lower any risk of breakage, loss of, or other damage to the item and they may have to assist in the loading of goods and inspecting the truck.
A person looking for work as a local truck driver generally needs to have a high school diploma or a GED and a valid class C commercial driving license, as well as a clean driving record. They should have good time management and be able to use forklifts, GPS systems, and hand trucks. A local truck driver earns an average $59,910 per year.
Local Truck Driver Overview
Local Truck Driver Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a local truck driver. For example, did you know that they make an average of $26.39 an hour? That's $54,884 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 Local Truck Driver Do
There are certain skills that many local truck 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.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a local truck driver, we found that a lot of resumes listed 51.2% of local truck drivers included cdl, while 10.1% of resumes included customer service, and 9.2% of resumes included otr. 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 local truck driver job title. But what industry to start with? Most local truck drivers actually find jobs in the transportation and retail industries.
How To Become a Local Truck Driver
If you're interested in becoming a local truck driver, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 7.4% of local truck drivers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 0.5% of local truck drivers have master's degrees. Even though some local 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 local truck driver. When we researched the most common majors for a local truck driver, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on local truck driver resumes include diploma degrees or bachelor's degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a local truck driver. In fact, many local truck driver jobs require experience in a role such as truck driver. Meanwhile, many local truck drivers also have previous career experience in roles such as truck driver-over-the-road or driver.
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Local Truck Driver Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a local truck driver can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as yard jockey, progress to a title such as route driver and then eventually end up with the title warehouse manager.
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Average Salary for a Local Truck Driver
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Bob's Discount Furniture CDL Truck Driver-Local Norwich CDL Truck Driver-Local Norwich | Bob's Discount Furniture Bob's Discount Furniture | 03/31/2021 03/31/2021 | $75,00003/31/2021 $75,000 |
Schneider Class A CDL-Local Intermodal Truck Driver Class A CDL-Local Intermodal Truck Driver | Schneider Schneider | 03/31/2021 03/31/2021 | $75,00003/31/2021 $75,000 |
Paper Transport CDL A Local Dedicated Truck Driver: Home Daily + Guaranteed Pay + No Experience CDL A Local Dedicated Truck Driver: Home Daily + Guaranteed Pay + No Experience | Paper Transport Paper Transport | 03/31/2021 03/31/2021 | $57,20003/31/2021 $57,200 |
CPC Logistics Class A CDL Local Truck Driver| Magnolia NJ | Walgreens Class A CDL Local Truck Driver| Magnolia NJ | Walgreens | CPC Logistics CPC Logistics | 03/31/2021 03/31/2021 | $78,26303/31/2021 $78,263 |
Bulkmatic Transport CDL A Regional and Local Company Truck Drivers-Great Benefits CDL A Regional and Local Company Truck Drivers-Great Benefits | Bulkmatic Transport Bulkmatic Transport | 03/31/2021 03/31/2021 | $65,00003/31/2021 $65,000 |
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Local Truck Driver Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Local Truck Driver. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Local Truck Driver Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Local Truck Driver resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Skills For a Local 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, 51.2% of local truck drivers listed cdl on their resume, but soft skills such as hand-eye coordination and hearing ability are important as well.
- CDL, 51.2%
- Customer Service, 10.1%
- OTR, 9.2%
- Hazmat, 6.1%
- Pallet Jack, 3.1%
- Other Skills, 20.3% See All Local Truck Driver Skills
Best States For a Local Truck Driver
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a local truck driver. The best states for people in this position are Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. Local truck drivers make the most in Rhode Island with an average salary of $66,454. Whereas in Connecticut and Massachusetts, they would average $65,469 and $65,376, respectively. While local truck drivers would only make an average of $64,945 in New Jersey, 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. Pennsylvania
$62,047
Avg. Salary
2. Wyoming
$64,446
Avg. Salary
3. Rhode Island
$66,454
Avg. Salary
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