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The differences between professional 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 professional truck driver and a water truck driver. Additionally, a water truck driver has an average salary of $50,440, which is higher than the $48,577 average annual salary of a professional truck driver.
The top three skills for a professional truck driver include CDL, safety regulations and on-time delivery. The most important skills for a water truck driver are CDL, asphalt, and post-trip inspections.
| Professional Truck Driver | Water Truck Driver | |
| Yearly salary | $48,577 | $50,440 |
| Hourly rate | $23.35 | $24.25 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 739,437 | 860,835 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 32% | High School Diploma, 50% |
| Average age | 48 | 48 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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.
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.
Professional truck drivers and water truck drivers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Professional Truck Driver | Water Truck Driver | |
| Average salary | $48,577 | $50,440 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $69,000 | Between $35,000 And $70,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | San Diego, CA |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | North Dakota |
| Best paying company | Wellpath | MBI Energy Services |
| Best paying industry | Transportation | Transportation |
There are a few differences between a professional truck driver and a water truck driver in terms of educational background:
| Professional Truck Driver | Water Truck Driver | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 32% | High School Diploma, 50% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between professional truck drivers' and water truck drivers' demographics:
| Professional Truck Driver | Water Truck Driver | |
| Average age | 48 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 84.3% Female, 15.7% | Male, 89.4% Female, 10.6% |
| Race ratio | 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% | 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% |