Commercial Trucking recruiters serving Raleigh.
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers are scarcer in Raleigh than in most of the country, 27% fewer per job, so the roughly 7,210 who work here are rarely short of offers. BLS counts 636 business locations of general freight trucking companies across the metro. Below: local pay for every role we staff, the state licensing rules that apply and the nearby markets competing for the same people.
Positions we recruit for in Raleigh.
BLS counts about 14,780 people working in the occupations behind these roles across the Raleigh metro, the largest group being heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (about 7,210). Relative to the size of the local economy, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers are far less concentrated here than nationally (location quotient 0.73). Local headcount and pay for each role are below; role descriptions are on the Commercial Trucking hub.
CDL-A Truck Driver
Sample job description →Raleigh: 7,210 employed · $52,110 median, 91st-highest of 112 metros
CDL-B Truck Driver
Sample job description →Raleigh: 3,800 employed · $39,840 median, 99th-highest of 112 metros
Dispatcher / Fleet Coordinator
Raleigh: 720 employed · $48,310 median, 70th-highest of 111 metros
Fleet Manager
Raleigh: 850 employed · $110,780 median, 32nd-highest of 112 metros
Safety & Compliance Manager (DOT)
Raleigh: 2,200 employed · $79,570 median, 46th-highest of 112 metros
Diesel Mechanic / Fleet Technician
Raleigh: 1,070 employed · $60,310 median, 79th-highest of 112 metros
Logistics Coordinator
Raleigh: 220 employed · $48,720 median, 64th-highest of 96 metros
Driver Recruiter
Raleigh: 5,710 employed · $74,170 median, 49th-highest of 112 metros
Terminal Manager
Route / Delivery Supervisor
Raleigh: 2,700 employed · $60,370 median, 84th-highest of 112 metros
What Commercial Trucking roles earn in Raleigh.
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in Raleigh earn a median $52,110, 11% under the $58,640 national figure, and 91st of 112 metros. Pay runs $40,030 at the tenth percentile to $73,810 at the ninetieth. The best-paid role below is first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, at $60,370 against $62,890 nationally.
| Role | Raleigh median | Typical range | National median | vs. national | Employed locally |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDL-A Truck DriverHeavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers (53-3032) | $52,110 | $40,030–$73,810 | $58,640 | −11% | 7,210 |
| CDL-B Truck DriverLight Truck Drivers (53-3033) | $39,840 | $27,680–$57,270 | $44,860 | −11% | 3,800 |
| Dispatcher / Fleet CoordinatorDispatchers (43-5032) | $48,310 | $34,630–$72,950 | $50,340 | −4% | 720 |
| Fleet Manager · Terminal ManagerTransportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers (11-3071) | $110,780 | $70,900–$198,420 | $107,230 | +3% | 850 |
| Safety & Compliance Manager (DOT)Compliance Officers (13-1041) | $79,570 | $48,770–$132,180 | $80,730 | −1% | 2,200 |
| Diesel Mechanic / Fleet TechnicianBus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists (49-3031) | $60,310 | $46,750–$77,210 | $61,770 | −2% | 1,070 |
| Logistics CoordinatorCargo and Freight Agents (43-5011) | $48,720 | $35,170–$72,710 | $52,260 | −7% | 220 |
| Driver RecruiterHuman Resources Specialists (13-1071) | $74,170 | $48,060–$125,700 | $75,940 | −2% | 5,710 |
| Route / Delivery SupervisorFirst-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material Moving Workers (53-1047) | $60,370 | $43,390–$86,160 | $62,890 | −4% | 2,700 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Raleigh metro. Range is 10th to 90th percentile; management and office roles are metro-wide. A metro ranking counts only the metros where BLS publishes that occupation.
How Raleigh's commercial trucking market has changed since 2018.
The number of general freight trucking companies in Raleigh rose from 268 in 2018 to 636 in 2023, up 137%, ahead of the 49% national rise. Headcount at those firms went up 33%, to about 2,245 people. Average annual pay there went from $53,514 to $62,474 (+17%), slower than the 23% national increase.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| General freight trucking companies: business locations | 268 | 636 | +137% |
| General freight trucking companies: employment | 1,693 | 2,245 | +33% |
| General freight trucking companies: average annual pay | $53,514 | $62,474 | +17% |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private employers, annual averages. A dash means BLS did not publish the figure.
Free Commercial Trucking hiring resources.
Definitive Guide to Commercial Trucking · 2026 Commercial Trucking Salary Guide · 3-Step Interview Guide for Commercial Trucking
Raleigh runs 27% fewer commercial trucking workers per job than the country as a whole — well below the national concentration. Fewer per job means the people you want are already working, and usually for someone who would rather keep them.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers. Metro-wide figures for the base occupation; the wage table above is role-specific and commercial.
How Raleigh's commercial trucking market compares
Among the 100 metros we cover with published BLS figures, Raleigh ranks 55th for headcount, 83rd for median pay and 80th for concentration for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers.
| Metro | Employed | Median pay | Concentration | Commercial employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | 18,700 | $56,120 | 1.04 | 1,893 |
| Raleigh | 7,210 | $52,110 | 0.73 | 636 |
| Greensboro | 6,480 | $58,480 | 1.34 | 420 |
| Winston-Salem | 3,480 | $51,320 | 0.97 | 255 |
| Durham-Chapel Hill | 2,130 | $53,280 | 0.47 | 163 |
BLS OEWS occupation figures and QCEW business-location counts; a dash means not published.
What this means for hiring:For commercial trucking employers in Raleigh, the local pool is thin and local employers have been cutting headcount. Senior hires often come from outside the metro or from adjacent trades, so start searches earlier than you would elsewhere.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, Raleigh metro. Employers are counted by business location.
Commercial Trucking licensing in North Carolina.
North Carolina writes the age rule backwards from most states: G.S. 20-37.13 sets 21 as the standard CDL qualification age and allows issuance at 18 only to an applicant exempt from or not subject to the age requirements of 49 CFR part 391 - in practice an 18-year-old can hold a Class A or Class B CDL for intrastate work only. North Carolina has a real statutory intrastate medical waiver: G.S. 20-37.13A lets a driver who cannot meet 49 CFR 391.41 apply to the Division in writing for a waiver valid for North Carolina operation only, for a maximum of two years, with medical recertification at intervals the Division sets. A licence issued on that basis must carry a restriction showing it is valid for intrastate operation only, and failing any waiver condition triggers an automatic downgrade to a Class C licence; the same downgrade applies if a driver misses the general medical certification requirement and does not cure it within the 60 days the Division must allow. Before dispatching an 18-to-20-year-old or a waiver holder, confirm the load neither originates nor terminates outside North Carolina. The same state rules apply in Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Durham-Chapel Hill, so candidates licensed there can work in Raleigh without re-qualifying.
Licensing authority: North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, a division of the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Confirm current rules with the agency.
Nearby markets competing for Raleigh talent.
The closest metro we cover is Durham-Chapel Hill, about 20 miles away, with roughly 2,130 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (0.3 times Raleigh's 7,210). Greensboro pays the most nearby, a $58,480 median, 12% above Raleigh. That is the number any Raleigh offer is competing with when experienced people weigh a move. Charlotte has the deepest pool within reach, so a search for senior roles here usually extends there.
| Metro | Distance | Employed | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raleigh | – | 7,210 | $52,110 |
| Durham-Chapel Hill | 21 mi | 2,130 | $53,280 |
| Greensboro | 68 mi | 6,480 | $58,480 |
| Winston-Salem | 93 mi | 3,480 | $51,320 |
| Charlotte | 130 mi | 18,700 | $56,120 |
| Richmond | 139 mi | 11,760 | $58,190 |
BLS OEWS, May 2025; straight-line miles.
What else is competing for Raleigh crews.
Not commercial trucking work. These are the capital projects big enough to pull the same crews into Raleigh in the months you are trying to fill a seat, each with the status its own market page reports.
- Raleigh-Durham International Airport capital program$2.5BRunway opening 2029; terminal work through 2032
New 10,639-ft runway and major terminal expansions - heavy civil, structural, and airport-specific MEP work running for most of the decade.
- Novo Nordisk Clayton expansion$4.1BMulti-year buildout
Adds 1.4M sq ft of advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing and roughly 1,000 permanent jobs. One of the largest single pharma capital projects in the Southeast, requiring cleanroom-grade mechanical, electrical, and process piping at scale.
- Johnson & Johnson Wilson biologics campus$2BMulti-year
Biologics manufacturing campus adding to the region's life-sciences construction pipeline - cleanroom and process-utility work drawing on the same specialized labor pool as Novo Nordisk and Fujifilm.
Showing 3 of 5 projects tracked in this metro. The Raleigh market page lists them all.
What credentials matter for commercial trucking, and what kills offers in Raleigh.
The 4 credentials that gate the work and the 4 things that most often end a commercial trucking offer are the same in every market, kept in one place: Commercial Trucking credentials and offer risks, each linked to the body that issues it. What is local is the licensing rule above and the pay further up this page.
Is Raleigh a linehaul market or a last-mile one?
Raleigh carries 7,210 heavy and tractor-trailer drivers against 3,800 light-truck drivers, 1.9 to one against a 1.8 median, 52nd of 112 on that ratio.
Neither end dominates, so the pool depends more on which roles you are filling than on the size of the metro.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (53-3032) against light truck drivers (53-3033), across the 112 metros BLS publishes both series for.
Frequently asked - Commercial Trucking hiring in Raleigh.
What do heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers earn in Raleigh?
BLS puts the Raleigh median for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers at $52,110 a year, 11% below the $58,640 national median. That ranks 91st of 112 metros with published figures, in the bottom quarter. Most of the market sits between $40,030 and $73,810, a 1.8x gap and a moderate spread, so a few thousand dollars over the median buys real experience. Within North Carolina, Greensboro pays more, at $58,480.
Is it hard to hire heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in Raleigh?
Yes. Raleigh has 27% fewer heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers per job than the country as a whole, roughly 7,210 in the metro, so most of the people worth hiring are already employed. The 636 general freight trucking companies here average about 3.5 employees per location, mostly small shops, so candidates often know every employer in town by name. With 137% more of those firms than in 2018, more employers are competing for the same crews.
Which commercial trucking roles pay the most in Raleigh?
Of the roles we recruit for, Fleet Manager pays the most in Raleigh, a $110,780 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Route / Delivery Supervisor at $60,370, 46% below it. CDL-B Truck Driver is the lowest-paid field role at $39,840. Relative to national pay, Fleet Manager is the strongest-paying role here (3% above). CDL-B Truck Driver trails national pay the most (11% below).
How many general freight trucking companies operate in Raleigh?
BLS counted 636 general freight trucking companies in Raleigh in 2023, employing about 2,245 people between them. Up from 268 in 2018, a 137% increase against 49% growth nationally. That averages 3.5 people per location, so most are small shops. They pay an average of $62,474, 5% below the $65,587 national average for the same kind of employer.
Which nearby metros compete with Raleigh for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are Durham-Chapel Hill (21 miles, about 2,130, $53,280 median), Greensboro (68 miles, about 6,480, $58,480 median) and Winston-Salem (93 miles, about 3,480, $51,320 median). Greensboro pays 12% more, which is where Raleigh employers tend to lose people.
Thin market. Short list anyway.
With heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers this scarce in Raleigh, an open seat rarely fills from a job posting. Let's line up the people before the next one opens.
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