A Truck Driver-Over-the-Road, more commonly known as an OTR truck driver, travels long routes, transporting goods. OTR drivers operate large vehicles such as heavy-duty trucks and trailers. They plan their routes and load their trucks, handle the documentation of their cargo, and collect payment for their services upon delivery.

Taking on this job will deeply affect every part of your life. This position could not be more different from a 9 to 5 job. It is more of a lifestyle than a job, actually. The further you drive, the more you earn, so if you want to make this project worth your while, you will not be going home very often.

You need no specific education to get hired as an OTR truck driver. A high school diploma will do the trick, and you must be fit to drive a vehicle, obviously. Having clear vision, excellent hearing, good physical health is a must, and of course, the ability to sit for long periods of time, basically all day, every day.

What Does a Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Do

There are certain skills that many truck driver-over the roads 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.

Learn more about what a Truck Driver-Over-The-Road does

How To Become a Truck Driver-Over-The-Road

If you're interested in becoming a truck driver-over-the-road, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 11.5% of truck driver-over the roads have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 2.0% of truck driver-over the roads have master's degrees. Even though some truck driver-over the roads have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

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Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Job Description

A truck driver over-the-road is a professional driver who holds the license that would allow them to complete jobs requiring long driving hours, hauling cargo or freight over great distances. They would often be assigned interstate deliveries, but would sometimes be given jobs that go over national borders.

Learn more about Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Job Description

Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Career Paths

Average Salary for a Truck Driver-Over-The-Road

Truck Driver-Over The Roads in America make an average salary of $69,158 per year or $33 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $95,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $50,000 per year.
Average Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Salary
$69,158 Yearly
$33.25 hourly

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Roles and Types of Truck Driver-Over-The-Road

The role of a truck driver-over-the-road includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general truck driver-over-the-road responsibilities:

  • One year professional driving experience. Must pass dot physical. Exemplary skill, attitude,
  • Safe driving habits. Responsible for safely hauling
  • Imust be able to load and unload freightiresponsible for completing mileage

There are several types of truck driver-over-the-road, including:

Truck Driver

Role:

Remember when you were a little kid and you would move your arm in a pulling down motion every time you passed a large semi-truck? You know that excitement when the drive actually honked? That's actually one of the responsibilites of being a truck driver.

While we're totally kidding, honking at kids (and let's face it, some adults) does make the long road trips a little more fun. After you take a professional truck driving school and obtain your commercial driver's license, then you'll be able to see the country. Imagine all of the cities and towns you'll get to drive through.

  • Average Salary: $60,326
  • Degree: High School Diploma

Route Driver

Role:

Route drivers work primarily independently, but they report to the dispatcher, and they work closely with them. As a route driver, you are to pick up and deliver products to diverse local customers. Choosing this career path requires constant travel because you will be involved in transporting materials and supplies. Being a route driver entails you to review route sheets daily to know the locations of pickups and deliveries.

Also, you are to maintain logs by filling out delivery and picking up logs accurately and with detailed information. In addition, you are expected to perform vehicle maintenance and communicate with customers. There is no formal training required for this role. You must, however, be able to drive comfortably. To be a successful route driver, you must possess exceptional organizational skills and customer service. Averagely, you will make $15.95 per hour.

  • Average Salary: $45,492
  • Degree: High School Diploma

Truck Driver Class A

Role:

Class A Truck Drivers are the type of commercial drivers who drive a large vehicle. They can legally drive and tow heavyweight trucks. They understand how to drive safely assigned vehicles which they use to transport goods from the place of production or origin to the assigned destination given. As a Class A Truck Drivers, you will pick up loads efficiently and safely, organize the goods, handle and unload the goods at the selected destinations. You must inspect your vehicle before and after each trip while you similarly check the weather conditions and road reports before departure.

A valid truck driving license is important to be able to work in the position, not only this but also the ability to travel regularly and drive for long hours with good knowledge of the rules and regulations of driving trucks. A trucking school diploma is a plus. You must also be able to undergo background and drugs checks as stated in the regulations. A trucking school diploma is a plus. You will earn about $58,393 yearly as a Truck Driver Class A.

  • Average Salary: $63,270
  • Degree: High School Diploma

States With The Most Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active truck driver-over-the-road jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where truck driver-over the roads earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Jobs By State

Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Education

Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Majors

20.3 %

Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Degrees

High School Diploma

39.8 %

Associate

16.9 %

Certificate

15.6 %

Top Skills For a Truck Driver-Over-The-Road

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, 34.1% of truck driver-over the roads listed cdl on their resume, but soft skills such as hand-eye coordination and hearing ability are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Truck Driver-Over-The-Road templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Truck Driver-Over-The-Road resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Truck Driver-Over-The-Road diversity

Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Gender Distribution

Male
Male
88%
Female
Female
12%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among truck driver-over the roads, 11.9% of them are women, while 88.1% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among truck driver-over the roads is White, which makes up 60.0% of all truck driver-over the roads.

  • The most common foreign language among truck driver-over the roads is Spanish at 69.9%.

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Best States For a Truck Driver-Over-The-Road

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a truck driver-over-the-road. The best states for people in this position are Washington, North Dakota, Oregon, and Nevada. Truck driver-over the roads make the most in Washington with an average salary of $84,713. Whereas in North Dakota and Oregon, they would average $83,748 and $81,550, respectively. While truck driver-over the roads would only make an average of $80,009 in Nevada, 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. Wyoming

Total Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Jobs: 648
Highest 10% Earn:
$104,000
Location Quotient:
0.95

2. Pennsylvania

Total Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Jobs: 19,768
Highest 10% Earn:
$102,000
Location Quotient:
1.49

3. Nevada

Total Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Jobs: 1,565
Highest 10% Earn:
$108,000
Location Quotient:
0.66
Full List Of Best States For Truck Driver-Over The Roads

How Do Truck Driver-Over The Roads Rate Their Jobs?

5/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Reviews

5.0
Jul 2019
Pros

Your on the road all the time and it's peaceful and life is a highway it's not a job it's an adventure

Cons

The roadhouses on how much they charge for food


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Top Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Employers

Most Common Employers For Truck Driver-Over-The-Road

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Covenant$84,557$40.65348
2Schneider National$70,944$34.11547
3Werner Enterprises$70,692$33.99640
4Celadon Group$70,130$33.72141
5Crete Carrier$69,190$33.26260
6Stevens Transport$67,279$32.35249
7C.R. England$66,936$32.18588
8Western Express$66,674$32.05268
9PAM Transport$66,598$32.02235
10US Express Freight Systems$65,867$31.67132

Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Videos