Explore Jobs
Find Specific Jobs
Explore Careers
Explore Professions
Best Companies
Explore Companies
The differences between truck drivers class a and cdl class a 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 truck driver class a and a cdl class a driver. Additionally, a truck driver class a has an average salary of $63,270, which is higher than the $52,203 average annual salary of a cdl class a driver.
The top three skills for a truck driver class a include CDL, PET and OTR. The most important skills for a cdl class a driver are OTR, customer service, and hazmat.
| Truck Driver Class A | CDL Class A Driver | |
| Yearly Salary | $63,270 | $52,203 |
| Hourly rate | $30.42 | $25.10 |
| Growth Rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number Of Jobs | 709,900 | 696,903 |
| Job Satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most Common Degree | High School Diploma, 48% | High School Diploma, 39% |
| Average Age | 48 | 48 |
| Years Of Experience | 2 | 2 |
The responsibilities of a Truck Driver Class A mainly revolves around driving heavy vehicles and ensuring that all transported goods meet the expected delivery deadlines and quality. The Driver needs to have a Class A license and be emotionally and physically healthy to qualify. Among the duties of a Truck Driver Class A will also revolve around securing and monitoring the quantity and quality of items, maintaining the vehicle in good condition, abide by the traffic rules and regulations, adhere to the company standards and policies, and have precise coordination with every workforce involved.
A CDL Class A driver is a driver with a Class A commercial driver's license. A commercial driver's license is necessary to operate large, heavy, and placarded vehicles. There are several classifications of a commercial driver's license, and Class A is for a car towing a trailer with a gross vehicle weight of more than 10,000 pounds (5 t). Drivers with this type of license are entitled to operate a commercial motor vehicle such as passenger buses, tractor-trailers, semi-trucks, and dump trucks. They have the choice to add endorsements to their CDL, which allows them to operate particular types of commercial motor vehicles.
Truck drivers class a and cdl class a drivers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Truck Driver Class A | CDL Class A Driver | |
| Average Salary | $63,270 | $52,203 |
| Salary Range | Between $43,000 And $92,000 | Between $36,000 And $75,000 |
| Highest Paying City | Newark, NJ | Newark, NJ |
| Highest Paying State | North Dakota | North Dakota |
| Best Paying Company | Walmart | Mid-South Management |
| Best Paying Industry | Transportation | Transportation |
There are a few differences between a truck driver class a and a cdl class a driver in terms of educational background:
| Truck Driver Class A | CDL Class A Driver | |
| Most Common Degree | High School Diploma, 48% | High School Diploma, 39% |
| Most Common Major | Business | Business |
| Most Common College | - | - |
Here are the differences between truck drivers class a' and cdl class a drivers' demographics:
| Truck Driver Class A | CDL Class A Driver | |
| Average Age | 48 | 48 |
| Gender Ratio | Male, 91.7% Female, 8.3% | Male, 93.2% Female, 6.8% |
| Race Ratio | Black or African American, 13.2% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 19.3% Asian, 3.5% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 13.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 19.7% Asian, 3.6% White, 58.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 4% |