Six big benefits of becoming a truck driver
You’ve been thinking about getting a new job. Maybe something even better – a career that earns good money, doing work that makes you proud. With all the ads seeking professional truck drivers, maybe it’s time to do a little research and see if it’s the right career for you.
At Halvor Lines, we want to make sure folks starting a trucking career will be happy for the long haul. So we’ve compiled a list of six benefits of becoming a professional truck driver. Read on to see if trucking might be the career for you:
- Truck driving jobs are in high demand – and there are good trucking jobs near you. Unless you’ve been living in total isolation, chances are you’ve heard there’s a truck driver shortage. In fact, we could use up to one million additional truck drivers over the next decade, according to the American Trucking Association. That means jobs are plentiful, and it also leads to the next benefit…
- You can earn good money as a truck driver. The average truck driver in the U.S. earns more than $60,000 a year – good money, considering you don’t need a college degree. And many drivers earn far more than that, depending on where they live, the type of freight they haul, and whether they opt for Class A or Class B CDLs. Halvor Lines drivers in the top 50% of our fleet averaged over $76,000 in 2021, and can expect to earn more this year with increased pay rates. That leads to the third benefit of becoming a truck driver…
- Truckers have lots of options. The trick is finding a company that delivers what you’re looking for. At Halvor Lines, we work hard to offer drivers a wide range of options for things ranging from income and home time to the routes they run and the types of trucks they drive. Because we haul four divisions (van, deck van, flatbed and refrigerated), if a driver doesn’t like hauling one type of freight, they can easily try another.
Drivers looking to maximize their income have lots of options, too. In addition to freight types and routes, drivers can earn more by driving in teams or becoming driver trainers. And we offer a number of attainable performance bonuses, too. And let’s not forget… - As a professional truck driver, you get to drive some really cool trucks! This is especially true at Halvor Lines, where we are constantly adding new vehicles to our fleet. We’re currently scheduled to add more than 350 new trucks to our fleet by the end of 2022. And we purchase a variety of truck models – Volvos, Kenworths, Freightliners and Peterbilts – so our drivers have a greater choice of trucks to drive. We also keep our trucks on regular maintenance schedules, which ensures you have fewer issues when you are enjoying benefit #5…
- Truckers get to travel the U.S. (and often Canada!) When asked what they love most about their jobs, many of our drivers say the biggest benefit of becoming a truck driver is getting to travel across the U.S. and Canada. We’ve gotten photos of Florida beaches, Yellowstone National Park, the Oregon coast and mountain ranges in Alaska and Canada. Sometimes drivers are just passing through; other times they arrange some time off to hike or relax on the beach. And finally…
- Team drive with a loved one, and you’ll maximize your time together. A growing number of people entering Halvor’s Entry Level Driver Training (ELDT) program for paid CDL training are married couples, domestic partners or family teams (e.g. mother/daughter, father/son). Driving as a team offers the opportunity for both people to take advantage of the benefits listed above and stay close to someone they love.
Prefer to drive solo, but want the option of bringing pets or passengers? Halvor Lines has one of the best pet policies of any trucking company in the U.S. At Halvor Lines, pets and passengers are welcome in experienced driver’s trucks from day one. Recent trainees can have pets from day one and passengers after 90 days.
Those are just six great benefits of becoming a professional truck driver. If you’d like to learn more, reach out to a Halvor Lines recruiter online or call 833.4.HALVOR.
