Truck drivers transport almost three-fourths of the country’s freight, and 80 percent of communities depend on trucks to deliver their essentials, including medicine, food, and building supplies.

The trucking industry has faced a driver shortage for more than a decade. That shortage of drivers has a major impact on the economy. According to the American Trucking Association (ATA), the trucking industry needs to add 1.1 million truckers within the next 10 years.

Because there will always be a need for services and products, there will always be a need for truck drivers. While there are many positions for over-the-road drivers, which can be gone for several days or even weeks at a time, however, there are driving opportunities that ensure weekends at home, or for the driver to be home every night.

The ATA estimates that the U.S. is currently short about 100,000 truck drivers. The average salary for a trucker falls between $45,900 and $59,190, which is a comfortable income. Usually, trucking companies offer full benefits packages, which include health insurance and other optional coverage, such as life insurance, vision insurance, dental insurance, and so forth.

Diesel Truck Driver Training School was founded in 1959 near Madison, Wisconsin. Diesel Truck Driver Training School is associated with ATS since 1996, the values remained the same, and additional training programs were added.

If you would like to learn more about a truck driving career, call ATS. Financial aid is available for the school.

There is a big demand for professional drivers who have their CDLs. Many trucking companies and other businesses are now paying for employees to get CDL training and provide a salary while the employee is going through training.

Tuition at truck driving school can cost thousands of dollars. When your employer covers the cost of your training, that is beneficial. That is also ensuring you have a job – and a source of income – after training has been completed.

There are many trucking companies that will cover the cost of CDL training. Some of the better-known companies that will pay for CDL training include:

• SWIFT Transportation
• Prime Transportation
• Knight Transportation
• PAM Transport
• FFE Transportation

These companies require an employment contract. If you do not fulfill the contract and leave the place of employment earlier than the contract indicates, you will most likely have to repay your employer for the cost of the training.

Some trucking companies also contract with specific truck driver training schools and CDL programs. While some trucking companies allow you to choose your own school just so long as it meets the requirements and needs of their trucking company.

Professional truck driving is a career that is in demand, and the average salary for a trucker is $50,000. State averages range from a low annual salary of $39,177 in North Carolina to a high annual salary of $56,434 in New Jersey.

Associated Training Services offers heavy equipment training as well as CDL and truck training programs. To learn more about our programs, call (800) 383-7364.

As of February 7, 2022, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations require all entry level commercial drivers to be trained by an FMCSA approved and registered entry-level driver Training Provider in order to be eligible to obtain a Commercial Drivers License (CDL).

Associated Training Services (ATS) is an FMCSA approved and registered entry level driver Training Provider. If you are interested in training your current personnel to qualify for a CDL, let ATS take care of it for you!

What Can ATS Do For You?

• Online theory/classroom training for your trainees. This can be done on their own time if needed.
• Behind The Wheel (BTW) range training at your location with your equipment.
• Behind The Wheel (BTW) road training at your location with your equipment.
• Registration of the trainees training records (theory and BTW) with the FMCSA Training Provider Registry.

Please contact Associated Training Services today for more information on Entry Level Driver Training.

E: admissions@operator-school.com

P: (800) 388-7364

W: www.operator-school.com

A commercial driver’s license (CDL) is a requirement if you want to get behind the wheel of a load-carrying vehicle and drive it. That’s true whether you want to drive a dump truck from one construction site to another or you want to carry vehicles across the country on Big Rig. If there is any reason you need a CDL, it’s the law.

But there are practical reasons, as well, for pursuing a career as a commercial truck driver. For one thing, it’s a construction site position that is in high demand. Finding forklift drivers is as easy as pie. Backhoe drivers are a dime a dozen. Any run-of-the-mill heavy equipment operator can move a scraper. But because you have to have special licensure to become a truck driver, the demand is higher and the qualified applicants are fewer. You’ll instantly stand out in the employment line if you have a commercial driver’s license.

Another reason for obtaining your CDL is the pay. Due to the higher demand and lower supply of qualified truck drivers (most CDL holders go after the adventurous and glamorous long-haul jobs), the pay for these jobs is often higher.

So there are two practical reasons to get your commercial driver’s license. It’s fine to start your career as a heavy equipment operator. But if you want your career to advance beyond the ordinary, get a CDL.

Requirements for a commercial drivers license (CDL) change from state to state, but in general, you need to pay attention to the class of vehicles you’re allowed to drive with your license. There are three classes – Class A, Class B, and Class C.

• Class A – A Class A CDL allows you to drive any combination of vehicle sizes and types. So if you want to drive a Big Rig, you’ll need a Class A CDL. This drivers license will also qualify you to drive box trucks, but it’s not a requirement.
• Class B – A Class B CDL allows you to drive a single vehicle of any weight. In other words, it can’t be a tractor-trailer. You can, however, pull a trailer as long as your gross vehicle weight does not exceed 10,000 pounds. Generally speaking, most box trucks fall into that category, even if fully loaded.
• Class C – You’ll need a Class C license if you are planning to be a bus driver. You can drive a vehicle under 26,001 pounds and with 16 or more passengers.

Where Do You Find Box Truck Driver Jobs?

Most box truck driver jobs fall into one of two categories. You’ll either need a Class B CDL license or no CDL license. The higher paying box truck driver jobs are the ones that require a CDL. If you get a Class A CDL, then you’ll always be qualified for box truck driving jobs.

All students who graduate from Heavy Equipment School also gain access to our jobs database. You’ll learn where the best truck driving jobs are, even box truck driving jobs, and be first in line to apply.

You don’t have to get a Commercial Drivers License when you come to ATS for heavy equipment operator training, but it’s a good idea to consider it. In the decades since Associated Training Services started preparing skilled craftspeople for these important trades, we’ve noticed that heavy equipment operators who also have gone through the CDL Truck Driver Program added a couple more weeks to their schooling and upgraded their career potential to the max.

A lot of times the heavy equipment you learn to operate has to be moved by truck, and the person who can operate the equipment and drive the truck, too, has a better chance of being hired. They also have a higher pay grade most of the time. The more stuff you can do on a work site, the more likely you are to stay working when others get laid off.

It’s pretty simple. Valuable employees are able to do what needs to be done and do it the way it should be done. When the boss needs the backhoe moved to the new site, and the backhoe operator can load it and haul it there, that backhoe operator is valuable. If the backhoe operator can also get in the dump truck, use the grader, and figure out other heavy machinery on the job, then the future looks good, right? Particularly if the task is done professionally like you learn how to do it at ATS.

Every ATS graduate gets help finding jobs for the rest of their career. But the ATS grads who upgraded their training by getting their CDL are able to find more jobs and find them a lot faster.

Some people are a bit surprised when they see that Associated Training Services offers Class-A Commercial Drivers License training. Unless you are in the industry, one might think that truck drivers drive trucks and heavy equipment operators operate heavy equipment. So what is the reasons for an overlap?

1. The more things you can do on the job site, the more valuable you are on the job.
2. A lot of heavy equipment gets transported on flatbed trucks, so if you can transport your heavy equipment yourself, that’s a plus.
3. If all things are equal between two job applicants, the one with the CDL gets hired.

ATS started out training truck drivers 45 years ago, so we know what you need to learn in order to be ready for the job. For students who are learning to operate heavy equipment, adding the training for your Class-A Commercial Drivers License takes less than a month more to do. At the end of that training, you take the test and are equipped for employment with both operator and driver skills and paperwork.

That knowledge includes classroom and behind-the-wheel training. You’ll know the rules, regulations, safety and CDL equipment operations standards. You will be ready to take the CDL road test because you will have already been taught how to drive heavy equipment on roads, back it up, pre-trip inspections, coupling and uncoupling, and all the skills you need to pass the test and get your license.

Then you will be the one who is valuable on the job site, because you are prepared to operate heavy equipment and drive the big trucks that are part of the process.

Technically, you do not need a Commercial Drivers License (CDL) to operate heavy equipment, it’s true. But if you have your CDL, you are going to be much more valuable to an employer, and it can make the difference between getting hired or getting a raise or staying home looking for work that pays the bills. Because of this, ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training School includes short-term truck driver training for those who want to take their career to this higher level.

Driving a tractor-trailer to move heavy equipment to the next job site is necessary with anything that uses tracks instead of wheels. This equipment is slow, heavy, and often wide. To take it down the road would tie up traffic and probably mess up the surface. So a flatbed or lowboy trailer is used; the equipment is driven up a ramp, tied down, and moved by towing the trailer. If you can show a CDL and a training certificate from ATS (a respected school in this business), you are ahead of the rest.

In four weeks at the most, you will be prepared to take the CDL road test. You’ll know Department of Transportation rules & regulations, how to drive heavy equipment on roads, how to back heavy equipment, coupling, uncoupling, pre-trip inspections, and all the rest. ATS started out in truck driver training, so we know the value of this skill.

Employers know that value too and are willing to pay more for an employee who can operate heavy equipment plus drive any of the trucks that may be needed to transport it. The more skills you have, the more valuable you are as an employee. Check into our CDL Truck Driving Program and see how you can be the one who gets the job because you have the right training.

Now is the time to think about what you want to do with your career in the coming year. December is often a time of reflection for many people. Truck drivers are no different. Think about this past year and what you want out of the coming year to kick the New Year off right.

If you are thinking about becoming a truck driver, there is no time better than now.

Truck drivers are in high demand and are paid very well. If you have specific skills related to the truck driving profession, then you’ll earn top dollar. These include the ability to load and unload cargo, the freedom to work long haul, and the skills necessary to perform specialized truck driving services such as carrying hazardous materials and running dual trailers. If you own your own rig, you can make big bucks there too.

The question every truck driver must answer – beginner and veteran alike – is this: What do I want for the future?

Answer that question professionally and personally and you’ll be able to chart your course to the next career progression. If you haven’t kick-started your truck driving career yet, you can start right now. Enroll in a truck driving course at the beginning of the year. Then you’ll be poised to have a great profession the rest of your life.

As Baby Boomers begin to retire, more and more truck driving jobs will become available. When they do, that opens the door for more people to step into these jobs. In order to obtain a truck driving job, however, you have to be trained and qualified. You have to earn a Class A CDL license.

It’s not hard to get one either.

On the whole, heavy equipment operators who have a Class A license enjoy a higher income than other operators. Class A drivers are some of the highest paid workers on the job site because they know how to operate more vehicles.

Even if you don’t plan on a career in heavy construction, you can still earn top dollar as a long haul truck driver. And if you own your rig, then you can charge more still.

Some truck drivers have been known to earn six-figure incomes just by hiring themselves out as long haul truck drivers. And if you carry the right freight (i.e. hazardous materials), then you make even more. All it takes is the right training, the right mindset, and the right financial and career strategies to put you in the position of being a top earner.

If you are ready to start your truck driving career, start it today with training that will lead to your obtaining a Class A drivers license.