A successful business runs on a highly skilled, highly-driven workforce that makes sure everything that needs to be done is done on schedule. Business companies big and small often hire truck drivers to make local and across-the-state deliveries to get their merchandise closer to more potential consumers. A commercial truck driver’s job is not only transporting goods from one place to another, but also to make sure that these goods are delivered in good condition, to the right places, at the right time.
A commercial truck driver is responsible for loading and unloading his load transports from the source to the destination. He is also required to log his trips accurately each time, and make regular inspections of his vehicle to make sure that it is always in perfect operating order. He may be a truck driver who drives for local delivery services, or a specialized one that transports such special cargoes as cars and hazardous chemicals. No matter what type of truck he drives, he needs to have obtained a CDL or commercial driver’s license in order to be eligible to drive trucks with over 26,000 pounds of gross weight. Specialized transport requires further training and endorsement to get hired.
A number of companies today require applicants for truck driving positions to have received formal training in a vocational school that is approved by the Professional Truck Driver Institute or PTDI. This accreditation is important to make sure that the truck driver has been trained based on both government and industry standards. A CDL license can only be earned by candidates who do not have a driving violation in their records, pass the written exam on regulations in driving, and demonstrate safe and responsible driving. A commercial truck driver needs to be 21 before he can take on interstate routes, while intrastate ones require a driver to at least be 18.
Other requirements for getting hired include a clean bill of health, specifically with passing scores on both hearing and vision tests. And because a job on the road is indeed challenging physically, truck drivers are required to get checked up every couple of years to make sure they are still capable of keeping their licenses, as well as their jobs.
Driving trucks both inside and outside the state will give you an opportunity to get a view of the rest of the country, but also requires you to stay away from home for long periods of time. Long-haul drivers, for example, spend weeks on end on the road, traveling interstate routes to deliver all sorts of goods. They are also often called over-the-road (OTR) drivers. Unlike route drivers that cover a specified area consistently, OTR drivers can choose a variety of routes to get to their destination under the best conditions possible, and at the scheduled time. They would often carry items for transport for interstate retail branches, and/or business and private customers.
In addition, a commercial truck driver must conform to a government regulated schedule of eleven hours of work per day, or sixty hours in a week. He is not to exceed the maximum 14-hour limit, and is required to take a consecutive 34-hour rest after each transport.