Few jobs offer security, and good pay and are future-proof with low barriers to entry. On paper, all of these look like a dream come true and a professional truck driver ticks all of them. The freedom of an open road, being boss of your time and getting well paid for your work is possible after you’ve passed the entry driver’s licence. The road towards a better tomorrow starts with determination and by making the first step. The sooner you get started, the better!

1. The basics

Your state driver’s licence and a high school diploma (or GED) are the bare necessities for your trucker’s carrier. With such a basic and low barrier for entry, you don’t need to spend years and tons of money to obtain an IT master’s diploma but can get started right away, even as early as 18 years old.

With a good to great pay range as a possibility, you can easily make more than people that go to universities and struggle to make a breakthrough their office jobs. In just four years, they may finish college, while you will have four years of work experience and a hefty monetary advantage over them. The initial investment comes in taking a regular state driver’s licence exam, but that’s only a minor obstacle.

2. Professional exams

Once you’ve laid the foundation for your future truck driver’s licence, it’s time to get into the meat of things. Getting a professional heavy rigid license usually comes after one year of driver’s courses and college. Doing prep work and googling can save you plenty of hustle when you are searching for the right course. In the end, if the college is certified and recommended, you are in safe hands and on a good way to becoming a professional licenced driver.

The course has a task to teach you all the practical skills you will need when hauling loads over waste distances in an eighteen-wheeler. Heavy driver’s licence comes with plenty of practical and hands-on experience, which is the main difference between such courses and colleges when compared to the rest. Costs for courses differ from college to college, but all of them offer various ways to cover and pay for the upfront cost, should you find that barrier too steep.

3. CDL, endorsements and onwards

You’ve got your basic driver’s licence, and your high school diploma, and you’ve finished trucking college, to say the least. The next step is to get certified for various weights, and types of loads that can get transported via heavy trucks. Transporting gallons of liquid in a tank, explosive gases or tons of steel all come with specific challenges.

Using a driver and fleet monitoring system has to become second nature as it can be a lifesaver while out on the road. The more licences you get in this step, the higher your chances of getting a job become. Getting certified to transport heavy loads, gases, liquids, and others looks good on any resume and makes job hunting a breeze. Companies love when employees have different skills as it opens up options for them.

Job departments can also place you higher with such a vast range of skills, and have an easier time assisting you with getting your first job. Once you’ve broken thru the initial barrier and landed your first job, it’s all easier from there, and you can start reaping the rewards.

 

While not strictly a requirement we would like to finish with the potential of job growth and salary ranges. Both offer an upwards trajectory, as the trucker’s job market is always hiring and in salary potential. With each mile traversed you are adding value to your resume and gaining more experience. Each successful gig and tour are one more positive tick that adds to your trucker’s value, and the more you work, the more you will get paid.

Experienced truck drivers are very hard to come by, and various licences and improvements to your resume which you add, only increase your salary range. Job security is also high, as transporting goods, materials and machines is not likely to die down anytime soon. People will always buy things, the new building will need to be built, and heavy loads will need transport. As long as our modern world functions, it will rest on the backs of truckers. We wish you all the best.