Commercial Trucking recruiters serving St. Louis.
About 18,270 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers work in the St. Louis metro, at a $58,240 median. BLS counts 896 business locations of general freight trucking companies across the metro. We recruit Commercial Trucking talent in St. Louis from a standing, credential-verified pipeline. Below: local pay for every role we staff and the nearby markets competing for the same people.
Positions we recruit for in St. Louis.
BLS counts about 33,330 people working in the occupations behind these roles across the St. Louis metro, the largest group being heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (about 18,270). Relative to the size of the local economy, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers are about as concentrated here as nationally (location quotient 1.03). Local headcount and pay for each role are below; role descriptions are on the Commercial Trucking hub.
CDL-A Truck Driver
Sample job description →St. Louis: 18,270 employed · $58,240 median, 63rd-highest of 112 metros
CDL-B Truck Driver
Sample job description →St. Louis: 7,180 employed · $47,150 median, 17th-highest of 112 metros
Dispatcher / Fleet Coordinator
St. Louis: 1,660 employed · $49,650 median, 51st-highest of 111 metros
Fleet Manager
St. Louis: 2,090 employed · $110,070 median, 33rd-highest of 112 metros
Safety & Compliance Manager (DOT)
St. Louis: 2,690 employed · $77,270 median, 55th-highest of 112 metros
Diesel Mechanic / Fleet Technician
St. Louis: 2,610 employed · $62,280 median, 51st-highest of 112 metros
Logistics Coordinator
St. Louis: 700 employed · $48,780 median, 62nd-highest of 96 metros
Driver Recruiter
St. Louis: 8,130 employed · $71,670 median, 58th-highest of 112 metros
Terminal Manager
Route / Delivery Supervisor
St. Louis: 5,270 employed · $62,790 median, 47th-highest of 112 metros
The roles behind most of our St. Louis, MO searches in this trade: CDL-B Truck Driver and CDL-A Truck Driver.
What Commercial Trucking roles earn in St. Louis.
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in St. Louis earn a median $58,240, level with the $58,640 national figure, and 63rd of 112 metros. Pay runs $40,540 at the tenth percentile to $79,300 at the ninetieth. The best-paid role below is first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, at $62,790 against $62,890 nationally.
| Role | St. Louis median | Typical range | National median | vs. national | Employed locally |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDL-A Truck DriverHeavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers (53-3032) | $58,240 | $40,540–$79,300 | $58,640 | −1% | 18,270 |
| CDL-B Truck DriverLight Truck Drivers (53-3033) | $47,150 | $31,200–$93,710 | $44,860 | +5% | 7,180 |
| Dispatcher / Fleet CoordinatorDispatchers (43-5032) | $49,650 | $36,630–$76,500 | $50,340 | −1% | 1,660 |
| Fleet Manager · Terminal ManagerTransportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers (11-3071) | $110,070 | $62,500–$181,260 | $107,230 | +3% | 2,090 |
| Safety & Compliance Manager (DOT)Compliance Officers (13-1041) | $77,270 | $48,270–$127,440 | $80,730 | −4% | 2,690 |
| Diesel Mechanic / Fleet TechnicianBus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists (49-3031) | $62,280 | $46,290–$85,460 | $61,770 | +1% | 2,610 |
| Logistics CoordinatorCargo and Freight Agents (43-5011) | $48,780 | $33,360–$78,060 | $52,260 | −7% | 700 |
| Driver RecruiterHuman Resources Specialists (13-1071) | $71,670 | $47,230–$116,290 | $75,940 | −6% | 8,130 |
| Route / Delivery SupervisorFirst-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material Moving Workers (53-1047) | $62,790 | $44,880–$97,370 | $62,890 | 0% | 5,270 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, St. Louis 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 St. Louis's commercial trucking market has changed since 2018.
The number of general freight trucking companies in St. Louis rose from 599 in 2018 to 896 in 2023, up 50%, close to the 49% national change. Headcount at those firms went up 8%, to about 10,419 people. Average annual pay there went from $54,947 to $66,220 (+21%), in step with the 23% national increase.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| General freight trucking companies: business locations | 599 | 896 | +50% |
| General freight trucking companies: employment | 9,689 | 10,419 | +8% |
| General freight trucking companies: average annual pay | $54,947 | $66,220 | +21% |
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
St. Louis sits at about the national rate for commercial trucking — neither unusually deep nor unusually thin.
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 St. Louis's commercial trucking market compares
Among the 100 metros we cover with published BLS figures, St. Louis ranks 20th for headcount, 58th for median pay and 47th for concentration for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers.
| Metro | Employed | Median pay | Concentration | Commercial employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis | 18,270 | $58,240 | 1.03 | 896 |
| Kansas City | 18,230 | $60,170 | 1.25 | 662 |
BLS OEWS occupation figures and QCEW business-location counts; a dash means not published.
What this means for hiring:For commercial trucking employers in St. Louis, the pool is about the national norm for its size, so difficulty depends on the role more than the market.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, St. Louis metro. Employers are counted by business location.
Two of the commercial trucking searches we closed this year were here.
Not a capability claim - the actual seats, what made each one hard, and how long it took. Every one of them links to its write-up.
- Senior Freight DispatcherA decade of carrier relationships and margin management, placed on a freight desk in three weeks.
- Local CDL Class A DriverScreened, offered, onboarded and driving the same day - two weeks end to end.
2 commercial trucking seats are open in St. Louis right now.
The wage figures above are what the market pays. These are the actual openings behind them - live searches we are running here today.
Every open role we are running →
Board last synced October 12, 2026. Roles move fast; /jobs/ is always the current list.
Nearby markets competing for St. Louis talent.
The closest metro we cover is Indianapolis, about 230 miles away, with roughly 20,480 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (1.1 times St. Louis's 18,270). Memphis pays the most nearby, a $63,070 median, 8% above St. Louis. That is the number any St. Louis offer is competing with when experienced people weigh a move.
| Metro | Distance | Employed | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis | – | 18,270 | $58,240 |
| Indianapolis | 230 mi | 20,480 | $61,980 |
| Kansas City | 238 mi | 18,230 | $60,170 |
| Memphis | 240 mi | 19,460 | $63,070 |
| Louisville | 242 mi | 10,820 | $59,000 |
| Nashville | 253 mi | 18,860 | $60,630 |
BLS OEWS, May 2025; straight-line miles.
What else is competing for St. Louis crews.
Not commercial trucking work. These are the capital projects big enough to pull the same crews into St. Louis in the months you are trying to fill a seat, each with the status its own market page reports.
- NGA West campus (National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency)$1.7BMain building opened September 26, 2025; staff move-in ongoing
The single largest federal investment in north St. Louis in a generation. Secure-facility construction drove years of specialty MEP, controls, and finish work - and the surrounding redevelopment keeps commercial trades demand elevated past the main building's completion.
- Boeing Defense St. Louis expansion~$1.8BMulti-year, ongoing
New advanced-manufacturing and production facilities tied to the F/A-18, MQ-25, and T-7A programs. Industrial mechanical, high-voltage electrical, and controls trades pulled hard across the region.
- Energizer Park (formerly CITYPARK) stadium & surrounding district (St. Louis CITY SC)District-scale, ongoingStadium complete; surrounding district build-out ongoing
The stadium itself has been complete since Nov 2022 and was renamed Energizer Park Jan 1, 2025 (naming rights sold) - only the surrounding district is still active. Continued demand for hospitality, mixed-use, and commercial finish trades.
Showing 3 of 6 projects tracked in this metro. The St. Louis market page lists them all.
What credentials matter for commercial trucking, and what kills offers in St. Louis.
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 St. Louis a linehaul market or a last-mile one?
For every light-truck driver BLS counts in St. Louis there are 2.5 heavy and tractor-trailer drivers - 18,270 against 7,180, 20th of 112 on that ratio.
Weighted that far to Class A, the linehaul and regional pool is deeper than the headcount suggests and the local-delivery bench thinner.
Nationally it is 2.1 to one.
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 St. Louis.
What do heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers earn in St. Louis?
BLS puts the St. Louis median for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers at $58,240 a year, about the same as the $58,640 national median. That ranks 63rd of 112 metros with published figures, in the middle of the pack. Most of the market sits between $40,540 and $79,300, a 2.0x gap and a moderate spread, so a few thousand dollars over the median buys real experience. Within Missouri, Kansas City pays more, at $60,170.
Is it hard to hire heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in St. Louis?
It is about average. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers are as common in St. Louis as they are nationally (location quotient 1.03), with about 18,270 in the metro. The 896 general freight trucking companies here average about 12 employees per location. With 50% more of those firms than in 2018, more employers are competing for the same crews.
Which commercial trucking roles pay the most in St. Louis?
Of the roles we recruit for, Fleet Manager pays the most in St. Louis, a $110,070 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Route / Delivery Supervisor at $62,790, 43% below it. CDL-B Truck Driver is the lowest-paid field role at $47,150. Relative to national pay, CDL-B Truck Driver is the strongest-paying role here (5% above). Logistics Coordinator trails national pay the most (7% below).
How many general freight trucking companies operate in St. Louis?
BLS counted 896 general freight trucking companies in St. Louis in 2023, employing about 10,419 people between them. Up from 599 in 2018, a 50% increase against 49% growth nationally. That averages 12 people per location. They pay about the national average of $65,587.
Which nearby metros compete with St. Louis for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are Indianapolis (230 miles, about 20,480, $61,980 median), Kansas City (238 miles, about 18,230, $60,170 median) and Memphis (240 miles, about 19,460, $63,070 median). Indianapolis pays 6% more, which is where St. Louis employers tend to lose people.
The seat is open. The pipeline should not be.
896 general freight trucking companies in St. Louis are drawing on the same 18,270 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers. Let's get your next hire lined up first.
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