What does a CDL-A Truck Driver earn?

Federal figures put this role between $40,140 and $79,380 a year, with a national median of $58,640. The federal occupation for this role is Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers (SOC 53-3032), May 2025.

What credentials should a CDL-A Truck Driver have?

The credentials that command a premium in this seat are CDL-A. Requirements vary by state and by what the job actually involves, so treat these as what moves an offer rather than a legal minimum.

COMMERCIAL TRUCKING - ROLE PROFILE

CDL-A Truck Driver

Federal figures put this role between $40,140 and $79,380 a year, with a national median of $58,640.

The role

What the job actually is.

Operates combination vehicles - tractor-trailer, flatbed, tanker, lowboy - on regional or over-the-road runs: pre-trip and post-trip inspections, load securement, hours of service compliance on an electronic log, and customer delivery conduct. On construction and trades work the load is often equipment or material to a job site.

Pay

What this role pays.

We have not closed enough commercial trucking searches to publish a band of our own for this seat, so the figures above are the federal 10th to 90th percentile spread rather than a My Trade Talent band. They are national and not adjusted for experience or region.

The federal occupation for this role is Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers (SOC 53-3032), May 2025. Nationally it reports a median of $58,640 , with the middle of the market between $40,140 and $79,380.

Where it pays most.

Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers across the metros we cover, May 2025. BLS publishes a median for 100 of them and withholds the rest, where the local sample was too small to be reliable.

Highest-paying metros - Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers
Metro	Median	Employed there
Seattle	$71,240	21,230
San Jose	$70,730	5,360
San Francisco	$66,450	16,450
New York	$65,040	65,100
Minneapolis	$64,200	20,430
Boston	$64,010	20,090
Denver	$63,900	14,320
Portland	$63,800	14,370
Myrtle Beach	$46,360	1,960
McAllen	$47,040	4,390
Deltona-Daytona	$47,660	1,910

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. The last three rows are the lowest-paying metros in the same set. Headcount is metro-wide across every industry, not this trade alone.

Credentials

Credentials that move an offer.

CDL-A

Licensing is a state question, not a national one. The Commercial Trucking hiring page carries the state-by-state position, and every market page names the authority for that state.

Screening

What separates a strong candidate.

Everyone who applies for this seat will claim the experience. These are the things that distinguish the people who have it, and the questions that find out.

What to look for

Clean MVR and a stable work history, with gaps explained rather than hidden
Endorsements stated - tanker, hazmat, doubles - with current medical card
Load securement described specifically for the trailer type they actually run

Questions that find out

Walk me through securing a piece of equipment on a flatbed. A strong answer Starts from the working load limits and the rule that the aggregate limit must be at least half the cargo weight, with the minimum number of tiedowns for the length and weight, plus the specific requirement for heavy machinery to be secured at four points through its own attachment points or over the body. Chocks or blocks against movement, secures accessories and articulated parts separately, protects edges, and re-checks within the first few miles and at every stop.
You are approaching your hours limit and the receiver is running late. What do you do? A strong answer Treats the limit as a limit. Tells dispatch and the receiver early rather than at the last hour, finds parking before running out rather than after, and does not run over to finish the load. Knows the limited exceptions that genuinely exist and does not stretch them into cover. Says a driver who runs over because the dock was slow is the one who loses the licence, not the shipper.
How do you handle fuelling, scaling and weight compliance on a loaded run? A strong answer Scales after loading rather than trusting the shipper's weight, checks gross, axle and bridge limits, and knows how to shift the tandems or the fifth wheel to move weight between axles. Allows for fuel weight burning off over the run. Knows the permit requirements for anything over limits on their route. Says being overweight at a scale is the driver's citation, whoever loaded it.
Walk me through your pre-trip, and what would take the truck out of service. A strong answer Works a consistent route - engine compartment, cab and gauges, lights, air system with the brake tests, tyres, wheels and fasteners, suspension and frame, coupling and fifth wheel, trailer and cargo securement, and the paperwork - rather than a glance. Names out-of-service items specifically: brake defects, a steer tyre below limit, air leaks beyond the allowable rate, lighting on the required lamps, a cracked frame, or a defective coupling.
How do you secure an uneven load, and what are you working from? A strong answer Works from the cargo securement rules and the working load limits, not from what looks tight: calculates what the load needs, blocks and braces to stop forward and lateral movement rather than relying on friction, uses dunnage to create bearing where the shape does not give it, and protects the straps at every edge. Rechecks early and often, because an uneven load settles. Will refuse a load that cannot be secured properly.
What is your approach to trip planning for parking at the end of your hours? A strong answer Plans the stop before starting the day rather than looking for parking with half an hour left, with a primary and a backup, and knows the corridors and times where parking disappears. Builds the delivery appointment and the likely dock delay into the plan. Says that most hours violations and most tired-driver incidents come from a plan that assumed everything would go right.
How do you handle a delivery site that is not safe to back into? A strong answer Stops and assesses rather than attempting it: gets out and looks, checks for pedestrians, overhead obstructions, soft ground and blind sides, and gets a spotter where one is available - knowing a spotter is a help, not a transfer of responsibility. Asks the site for an alternative, or refuses and calls dispatch. Says they have declined to back into something and that the delay was cheaper than the damage.
What is your process after any contact, however minor? A strong answer Stops, makes the scene safe, checks for injuries, and reports it immediately - to dispatch and to the police where required - rather than deciding themselves that it was too minor to matter. Photographs everything including the position before anything moves, exchanges details, and does not admit fault at the scene. Knows the testing requirements that may follow. Says an unreported minor contact found later is a termination.
How do you plan a route with bridge and weight restrictions? A strong answer Plans with a truck-specific route and verifies rather than following a car satnav, checking height, weight, bridge limits, hazardous routing and local restrictions, and knows their own height and weight rather than assuming the standard. Checks for construction and seasonal limits. Says they would rather add miles than find out at a low bridge, and that a satnav that is not set for a truck is how bridges get hit.
What is your approach to a load that shifts in transit? A strong answer Stops as soon as it is safe rather than carrying on to the next stop, finds somewhere out of traffic, and inspects before opening anything that might release the load onto them. Re-secures properly rather than adding a strap, and works out why it shifted. Reports it. Knows a shifted load is a rollover risk on the next ramp, and that the driver who kept going is the one who is asked why afterwards.
How do you handle a roadside inspection? A strong answer Is calm and cooperative, has the documents in order and to hand, and knows what the levels of inspection cover. Does not argue at the roadside; takes the report and raises any disagreement through the proper channel afterwards. Knows their own equipment well enough to answer questions about it. Says their inspection record follows them and their carrier, and that a clean one is worth being pedantic about the pre-trip.
What is your process for logging and hours of service compliance? A strong answer Logs accurately in the electronic device including on-duty not driving time, which is where most people get sloppy, and knows the driving and on-duty limits, the break requirement and the restart. Does not log loading time as off duty. Knows what to do when the device malfunctions and how long paper logs are permitted. Says the log is the first thing an inspector and a lawyer look at.
How do you handle a load that is tendered differently from what is on the paperwork? A strong answer Does not sign for what they have not got. Checks the count, the condition and the description against the bill of lading before leaving, notes any discrepancy or damage on the document and gets it acknowledged, and photographs it. Calls dispatch rather than deciding alone. Knows a clean signature on a bill makes the shortage or the damage theirs, and that this is the commonest way a driver inherits somebody else's problem.
What is your approach to winter driving and when do you shut down? A strong answer Slows and increases following distance long before it is obvious, knows how the truck behaves loaded and empty on ice, and watches bridges and shaded sections. Has a shutdown threshold - visibility, road closures, or conditions where they cannot maintain control - and uses it rather than pushing on because of a delivery time. Says dispatch has never successfully argued them out of parking it.
How do you handle a mechanical fault that develops mid-route? A strong answer Judges whether it is safe to continue to a repair or whether the truck stops now, and knows the faults that mean stopping immediately - brakes, steering, tyres, lights at night, anything smoking or leaking. Gets off the road safely with the warning devices out. Reports it and does not let dispatch talk them into continuing on a defect. Documents it on the inspection report so it does not go out again tomorrow.
What do you do when dispatch asks you to do something you believe is unsafe? A strong answer Says no, clearly, and explains why in terms of the specific rule or condition rather than as a preference. Offers the alternative - a later delivery, a different route, a stop for rest. Puts it in writing where it matters. Knows the protections that exist for refusing unsafe work and that the consequences of complying land on them. Says they have refused and describes how it was received.

The mistake this seat invites

Hiring on licence class alone. Insurability, MVR and endorsement fit decide whether the driver can actually run the work, and that is checked before the interview, not after.

Where the role goes next

Drivers move to dedicated or specialised freight, driver trainer, or into dispatch and operations. Candidates ask this in the first conversation, and an employer who cannot answer it loses the people who had other options.

Interview kit for this role

All interview questions for this role in the question bank.
Printable interview scorecard built from these questions and signals.
The Commercial Trucking hiring kit - every role in the trade, with credentials and offer risks.
Offer calculator starting from this role's pay band.

The search

What the search actually takes.

We have closed 2 commercial trucking searches in 2026 year to date, which is below the 8 we require before publishing a median. We would rather print the count than a number the sample cannot carry. The Hiring Index shows what we do and do not have.

Searches we have closed in this seat

One of them was for this exact seat rather than the trade in general. Each is written up in full on our placements page: what the opening was, what made it hard, and what the person we placed brought.