All states require a license for a commercial truck of any large size. A commercial license is also required for passenger for hire vans and buses. When most people think of commercial truck driving they are thinking of big rigs that are driving up and down the highways carrying commercial goods from one point to another. In the Oakland Bay Area and San Francisco Bay Area commercial trucks are everywhere because of the huge amount of goods that come into the two ports. Add to this ports in Concord and Sacramento and you will see that without trucks moving the goods out where needed, the entire economy in the Bay Area and the rest of the country would falter rapidly.
Because of the special requirements of driving a big rig licensing is essential. Without a CDL or "Commercial Drivers License" you cannot drive a commercial truck or bus. Specifically, a CDL is required for the following types of vehicles:
- Class A tractor trailers and combination vehicles.
- Class B truck and trailers - these can be very large but are not articulated combination vehicles.
- Commercial buses for hire - again, these can be very large vehicles but there are smaller versions.
While most of these large vehicles mentioned above have air brakes and standard shift transmissions, some will not have an air brake system and will be automatic drive. This is especially true of Class B trucks and Class B passenger trucks. That said, there are some Class C vehicles that come with an air-brake system. Learning how to test and manage air-brakes is a very important skill for a commercial truck driver, and one of the things that is tested carefully at the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
The DMV is where you will take your written test for a learners permit as a commercial driver, and also where you will eventually take your skills test and your on the road driving test. The test on air-brakes for a Class A and Class B license, which are the licenses most commercial driver jobs require, is a test that requires a 100% pass rate. Thus, if you do not pass the air-brake test, you do not get to move on to doing the pre-trip inspection on your vehicle, the skills test, or the road driving test. This is why thorough training and practice is essential. The main thing to do in order to qualify for a license as a commercial truck driver or passenger bus driver is to get proper training and pass your licensing tests.
So what do commercial truck driver's really get paid?
Commercial truck drivers of tractor-trailers or vehicles with a 26,000-lb. gross vehicle weight rating or higher earned anywhere from below $25,000 to more than $55,000 in May 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Average earnings were slightly less than $40,000. In some cases, drivers with special qualifications to haul hazardous materials, heavy haul loads, or wide loads earned as much as $100,000. Owner operators - people owning their own truck and operating as contractors earned as much as $200,000 in some cases. Again, depending on the situation and the hours worked truck drivers can earn a substantial amount of money, but this depends on the trucker's drive and motivation to expand their skill set.
One piece of advice heard repeatedly coming from experienced truck drivers to new people entering the field is: Get all your qualifications and €tickets€ early and keep expanding your abilities. One thing that helps in getting higher paying trucking jobs is the ability to do many different kinds of driving. One of the most lucrative types of trucking jobs involves hazardous materials transportation. The basic qualification for this type of trucking is training and a test the trucker tales to add the qualification to his or her license. Additionally, a security background check is generally required. If you can get qualified to do pick ups and deliveries to major ports and have a HAZMAT qualification, your opportunities to earn higher than average wages increase dramatically.
Another way to move to higher paying jobs within the trucking industry is to become a trainer or a safety specialist within a trucking company. The basic qualification for these kind of jobs is being a fully-qualified driver, and then having the ambition to go one step beyond. If you think of your trucking career as long-term and not just day to day driving, opportunities will arise repeatedly for motivated people. The industry is always looking for committed drivers to step into greater roles. The transportation industry is not going to shrink, but will have steady growth, and drivers that want to move ahead in company or want to become owner-operators will find that hard work and training pay off.
Because of the special requirements of driving a big rig licensing is essential. Without a CDL or "Commercial Drivers License" you cannot drive a commercial truck or bus. Specifically, a CDL is required for the following types of vehicles:
- Class A tractor trailers and combination vehicles.
- Class B truck and trailers - these can be very large but are not articulated combination vehicles.
- Commercial buses for hire - again, these can be very large vehicles but there are smaller versions.
While most of these large vehicles mentioned above have air brakes and standard shift transmissions, some will not have an air brake system and will be automatic drive. This is especially true of Class B trucks and Class B passenger trucks. That said, there are some Class C vehicles that come with an air-brake system. Learning how to test and manage air-brakes is a very important skill for a commercial truck driver, and one of the things that is tested carefully at the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
The DMV is where you will take your written test for a learners permit as a commercial driver, and also where you will eventually take your skills test and your on the road driving test. The test on air-brakes for a Class A and Class B license, which are the licenses most commercial driver jobs require, is a test that requires a 100% pass rate. Thus, if you do not pass the air-brake test, you do not get to move on to doing the pre-trip inspection on your vehicle, the skills test, or the road driving test. This is why thorough training and practice is essential. The main thing to do in order to qualify for a license as a commercial truck driver or passenger bus driver is to get proper training and pass your licensing tests.
So what do commercial truck driver's really get paid?
Commercial truck drivers of tractor-trailers or vehicles with a 26,000-lb. gross vehicle weight rating or higher earned anywhere from below $25,000 to more than $55,000 in May 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Average earnings were slightly less than $40,000. In some cases, drivers with special qualifications to haul hazardous materials, heavy haul loads, or wide loads earned as much as $100,000. Owner operators - people owning their own truck and operating as contractors earned as much as $200,000 in some cases. Again, depending on the situation and the hours worked truck drivers can earn a substantial amount of money, but this depends on the trucker's drive and motivation to expand their skill set.
One piece of advice heard repeatedly coming from experienced truck drivers to new people entering the field is: Get all your qualifications and €tickets€ early and keep expanding your abilities. One thing that helps in getting higher paying trucking jobs is the ability to do many different kinds of driving. One of the most lucrative types of trucking jobs involves hazardous materials transportation. The basic qualification for this type of trucking is training and a test the trucker tales to add the qualification to his or her license. Additionally, a security background check is generally required. If you can get qualified to do pick ups and deliveries to major ports and have a HAZMAT qualification, your opportunities to earn higher than average wages increase dramatically.
Another way to move to higher paying jobs within the trucking industry is to become a trainer or a safety specialist within a trucking company. The basic qualification for these kind of jobs is being a fully-qualified driver, and then having the ambition to go one step beyond. If you think of your trucking career as long-term and not just day to day driving, opportunities will arise repeatedly for motivated people. The industry is always looking for committed drivers to step into greater roles. The transportation industry is not going to shrink, but will have steady growth, and drivers that want to move ahead in company or want to become owner-operators will find that hard work and training pay off.
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