How people get into Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers

What it takes to do this work

This one is licensed, and more than one credential applies: Commercial Driver's License (Class A), and Commercial Driver's License (Class B). These are two classes of the same licence rather than different credentials. Class A is the one that covers tractor-trailer work, and it also covers everything Class B covers, so Class A is the one to ask about. Financial aid is available for all of these, so the figures below are what the training lists, not necessarily what you would pay.

Financial aid means you may not pay this yourself. WorkOne checks what you qualify for at no cost and no obligation, and it is worth doing before you rule anything out on price.

The jobs people hold first

These are the jobs people hold before moving into this one. Doing one of them is not the only way in, and it is not a requirement. It is the route the data can actually see.

Work people come from	Typical pay	Step up	Evidence
Driver/Sales Workers No licence we can see I do this now →	$40,590	+$21,390	Named career step
Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity No licence we can see I do this now →	$61,470	+$510	Named career step
Shuttle Drivers and Chauffeurs No licence we can see I do this now →	$32,790	+$29,190	Named career step
Bus Drivers, School No licence we can see I do this now →	$49,890	+$12,090	Named career step
Light Truck Drivers No licence we can see I do this now →	$45,180	+$16,800	Related work
Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors No licence we can see I do this now →	$59,710	+$2,270	Related work

Named career step Lightcast lists this as a career step from your kind of work, based on the skills the two jobs share and what local employers hire for. It is the strongest signal we have, though it is not a record of individual people moving.

Related work The federal O*NET occupation index lists this as related to your kind of work, because the two share skills and day-to-day activities. It is a match on the work itself, not a record of people moving between them.

We keep those labels apart because they are different strength claims, and none of them means we watched individual people make the move.

Routes that already pay more than heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers are left out, because those are side moves rather than ways in. So are routes needing more schooling than you told us about.

Already doing one of these?

Pick it above and we will build you the full picture: what the market pays for your experience now, everywhere it could take you, the job titles to search, and the employers near you who hire for it.

Start from where I am