What does a CDL-B Truck Driver earn?

Federal figures put this role between $30,800 and $80,310 a year, with a national median of $44,860. The federal occupation for this role is Light Truck Drivers (SOC 53-3033), May 2025.

What credentials should a CDL-B Truck Driver have?

The credentials that command a premium in this seat are CDL-B. 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-B Truck Driver

Federal figures put this role between $30,800 and $80,310 a year, with a national median of $44,860.

The role

What the job actually is.

Operates straight trucks and single-unit vehicles: service and delivery trucks, dump trucks, boom and crane trucks, vacuum and water trucks. On trades work the driver is usually also operating the equipment on the truck and working with the crew at the 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 Light Truck Drivers (SOC 53-3033), May 2025. Nationally it reports a median of $44,860 , with the middle of the market between $30,800 and $80,310.

Where it pays most.

Light 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 - Light Truck Drivers
Metro	Median	Employed there
San Jose	$52,100	4,480
San Francisco	$50,820	14,470
Chattanooga	$49,990	3,500
Minneapolis	$49,670	11,560
Boston	$49,630	15,910
Seattle	$49,590	14,680
Denver	$49,360	9,500
Memphis	$48,350	8,190
McAllen	$35,350	1,610
El Paso	$36,030	1,990
Myrtle Beach	$36,460	750

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-B

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

Equipment operation on the truck described as part of the job, because it usually is
Endorsements and any crane or equipment certifications stated with the licence
Comfortable with the customer-facing and crew-facing side of a service truck

Questions that find out

What equipment have you operated from the truck, and what certifications go with it? A strong answer Names the actual equipment - lift gate, boom or knuckle crane, dump body, roll-off hoist, concrete mixer, aerial device - and which of them required a separate certification or operator qualification rather than just a licence. Knows which need an annual inspection of the equipment itself, and whether they are qualified to operate or only to drive. Does not claim a crane on the truck without the qualification for it.
How do you set up and level a boom truck on a sloped site? A strong answer Sets up before lifting rather than during: assesses the ground for voids, backfill and slope, uses outriggers fully extended with pads sized for the bearing pressure, and levels the truck, because a crane out of level loses capacity fast. Checks the load chart for the actual radius and configuration rather than from memory. Looks up for power lines and keeps the clearance. Will refuse ground that will not take it.
What is on your pre-trip for a dump truck that is not on a straight truck? A strong answer Adds the body-specific items: the hoist and its cylinder and hoses for leaks, the body pins, hinges and latches, the tailgate and its locking mechanism, the body-up warning and interlock, the tarp system, and the clearance under the body when it is raised. Checks the body is down and latched before moving. Knows the two things that kill dump truck operators are power lines and raising the body on a slope.
How does your pre-trip change on a straight truck with a lift gate? A strong answer Adds the gate: hydraulics and hoses, the platform, hinges and pins, the controls and the safety interlocks, the gate stowed and latched before driving, and the lights and reflectors it may obscure. Checks the gate's capacity plate and its last inspection. Knows a gate that drops or a platform that is not latched are the two failures that injure people, and that the gate's weight affects the rear axle loading.
What do you check on weight distribution for a multi-stop route? A strong answer Loads in reverse delivery order and thinks about what the axle loading looks like at every point in the day, not only when fully loaded - a truck can be legal loaded and over on an axle after two drops. Keeps heavy items low and over the axles. Knows their own axle ratings and the gross. Says a multi-stop route that was only weighed at the yard has not really been weighed.
How do you handle a customer who wants you to leave material somewhere unsafe? A strong answer Declines the specific thing and offers the alternative rather than arguing: somewhere else on site, a different time, or coming back with the right equipment. Names what makes it unsafe - the ground, the slope, blocking an exit or a fire route, over a service, or where it will be a hazard to the public. Calls dispatch rather than being talked into it alone, and records what was asked and what was done.
What do you do when a delivery is refused? A strong answer Does not leave it anyway. Finds out the reason and records it on the paperwork with who refused it and when, photographs the load and its condition, and calls dispatch for instructions before moving. Knows leaving a refused delivery makes it theirs. Stays civil, because the refusal is usually not about them and the relationship outlasts the load.
How do you plan a route with tight urban access? A strong answer Looks at the route for the truck they are actually driving - height, weight, length and turning - rather than following a car route, checks for low bridges, weight-restricted streets, time-of-day restrictions and loading bay rules, and plans where they will actually stop and whether they can get out again. Looks at the site on a map or from a previous visit. Allows the time, because an urban stop takes far longer than the miles suggest.
How do you secure material on a flatbed or stake body? A strong answer Works from the working load limits and the minimum tiedown rules rather than by eye, blocks and braces against forward movement, secures short and loose items so nothing can work its way out, and protects straps at every edge. Checks the stakes and the body itself are sound. Rechecks within the first few miles and at every stop, because loads settle. Knows anything that comes off the truck is theirs.
What is your approach to operating a lift gate safely alone? A strong answer Keeps feet and hands clear of the platform edges and the pinch points, never rides the gate where that is not permitted, chocks or sets the brake and never works a gate on a slope without securing the load, and keeps the load centred within the gate's rated capacity. Watches for the public and keeps them back. Says that a pallet that shifts on a gate with one person present is how people get crushed.
How do you handle a delivery where the customer is not there to receive it? A strong answer Does not dump it and leave on their own judgement. Calls the contact, then dispatch, and follows the instruction they are given rather than deciding. If authorised to leave it, places it somewhere safe and secure, photographs it where it was left with something identifying the location, and records who authorised it and when. Knows an undocumented drop is a claim nobody can defend.
What is your process for proof of delivery and paperwork? A strong answer Gets a signature and a printed name with the date and time, notes the count and anything unusual, and records exceptions on the document at the point of delivery rather than afterwards. Keeps or photographs the copy. Knows a clean signed delivery note is the thing that settles a claim three weeks later, and that the exception not written down did not happen.
How do you deal with a damaged product discovered at delivery? A strong answer Raises it before it is unloaded rather than after, photographs it in place, notes it on the delivery document and has the receiver acknowledge the note, and calls dispatch for instruction on whether it is accepted, refused or returned. Does not argue about whose fault it is at the dock. Knows that damage found after an unqualified signature becomes the carrier's by default.
What is your approach to daily vehicle inspection reports? A strong answer Writes up defects honestly rather than signing a clean report to avoid taking the truck off the road, and checks the previous report and the repair sign-off before driving. Knows a defect reported and not repaired is the carrier's liability and an unreported defect is theirs. Says they have refused to take a truck out and that the report is what protected them.
How do you handle loading at a yard with other equipment moving? A strong answer Treats the yard as the most dangerous part of the day: high-visibility clothing, eye contact with the loader operator before approaching, standing out of the swing and travel paths, and never walking behind moving equipment. Sets the brake and chocks where required. Knows the yard rules for that site and follows them rather than the habits from the last one. Watches for reversing vehicles with no spotter.
What makes you refuse a load? A strong answer Names real conditions: overweight or an axle load they cannot legally correct, a load that cannot be secured properly, equipment on the truck that is defective or out of inspection, cargo that needs a qualification or permit they do not hold, insufficient hours to complete it safely, or a destination they cannot legally or safely reach. Says it to dispatch rather than setting off and dealing with it later.

The mistake this seat invites

Treating the seat as a lower rung of CDL-A. On trades work the value is the equipment operation and the site conduct, not the driving.

Where the role goes next

Drivers move to operator roles, crew lead, or up to CDL-A if the work calls for it. 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.