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.
Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Overview
Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a truck driver-over-the-road. For example, did you know that they make an average of $32.07 an hour? That's $66,696 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 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, physical health and visual ability.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a truck driver-over-the-road, we found that a lot of resumes listed 39.1% of truck driver-over the roads included cdl, while 36.4% of resumes included otr, and 8.6% of resumes included over-the-road. 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 truck driver-over-the-road job title. But what industry to start with? Most truck driver-over the roads actually find jobs in the transportation and retail industries.
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 8.5% of truck driver-over the roads have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.4% 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.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a truck driver-over-the-road. When we researched the most common majors for a truck driver-over-the-road, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on truck driver-over-the-road resumes include diploma degrees or bachelor's degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a truck driver-over-the-road. In fact, many truck driver-over-the-road jobs require experience in a role such as truck driver. Meanwhile, many truck driver-over the roads also have previous career experience in roles such as driver or over the road driver.
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Truck Driver-Over-The-Road 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 truck driver-over-the-road can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as driver, progress to a title such as foreman and then eventually end up with the title terminal manager.
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Average Salary for a Truck Driver-Over-The-Road
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
J.B. Hunt Transport Over The Road Truck Driver POS# 6488 Over The Road Truck Driver POS# 6488 | J.B. Hunt Transport J.B. Hunt Transport | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $54,96401/30/2021 $54,964 |
JB Hunt Transport Over The Road Truck Driver POS# 6246 Over The Road Truck Driver POS# 6246 | JB Hunt Transport JB Hunt Transport | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $54,96401/30/2021 $54,964 |
Driversource, Inc. Truck Driver Cdl-A Home Daily or OTR Truck Driver Cdl-A Home Daily or OTR | Driversource, Inc. Driversource, Inc. | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $45,91401/29/2021 $45,914 |
Driversource, Inc. Truck Driver CDL A-Home Daily and OTR Truck Driver CDL A-Home Daily and OTR | Driversource, Inc. Driversource, Inc. | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $45,91401/29/2021 $45,914 |
Novo Building Products OTR-Truck Driver Cdl-A OTR-Truck Driver Cdl-A | Novo Building Products Novo Building Products | 01/28/2021 01/28/2021 | $62,00001/28/2021 $62,000 |
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Truck Driver-Over-The-Road 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 Truck Driver-Over-The-Road. 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 Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Truck Driver-Over-The-Road 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 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, 39.1% of truck driver-over the roads listed cdl on their resume, but soft skills such as hand-eye coordination and physical health are important as well.
- CDL, 39.1%
- OTR, 36.4%
- Over-The-Road, 8.6%
- Hazmat, 7.5%
- Customer Service, 1.6%
- Other Skills, 6.8% See All Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Skills
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 New Hampshire, Vermont, Washington, and Oregon. Truck driver-over the roads make the most in New Hampshire with an average salary of $80,764. Whereas in Vermont and Washington, they would average $80,296 and $80,259, respectively. While truck driver-over the roads would only make an average of $79,208 in Oregon, 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. Nevada
$79,079
Avg. Salary
2. Vermont
$80,296
Avg. Salary
3. Wyoming
$73,854
Avg. Salary
How Do Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Rate Their Jobs?
5.0
5.0
Hr driver • July 2019What do you like the most about working as Truck Driver-Over-The-Road?
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 Show MoreTop Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Employers
Truck Driver-Over-The-Road Videos
