Truck driver (CDL) job description template

What a truck driver (CDL) does

Truck drivers move most of the freight in the United States, and good ones are hard to find and harder to keep. Drivers judge a posting by home time, pay method, equipment, and route type before anything else. Say whether the route is local, regional, or over the road, how pay works (per mile, hourly, or by load), and the age and condition of your trucks. Vague postings attract drivers who leave at the first better offer.

Truck driver (CDL) job description template

Copy the description, replace everything in [brackets], and cut any line that isn't true for your job. The duties and requirements are a starting point written by HR practitioners, not a legal standard, so edit them to match the real work.

Truck driver (CDL)

Details
- Department: [Department]
- Reports to: [Manager title]
- Location: [City, State, or remote]
- Employment type: [Full-time, part-time, or seasonal]
- FLSA status: [Exempt or nonexempt]
- Pay range: [$X to $Y per year]

About [Company]
[Two or three sentences about what your company does, who it serves, and why people like working here.]

Job summary
We're hiring a CDL truck driver to deliver freight safely and on time on our [local, regional, or OTR] routes.

What you'll do
- Drive tractor-trailers safely on assigned routes.
- Complete pre-trip and post-trip vehicle inspections.
- Record hours of service accurately in an electronic logging device.
- Load, secure, and unload freight, or oversee loading.
- Deliver freight on schedule and collect required documents.
- Communicate delays, issues, and accidents to dispatch.
- Follow DOT, FMCSA, and company safety rules.
- Keep the truck clean and report maintenance needs.

What you'll need
- Valid Class A commercial driver's license.
- Current DOT medical certificate.
- Clean driving record that meets our insurance requirements.
- Ability to pass DOT drug and alcohol testing and an FMCSA Clearinghouse query.

Nice to have
- [One] or more years of tractor-trailer experience.
- Hazmat, tanker, or doubles endorsements.
- Experience with [freight type].

Skills
Safe driving, Hours of service compliance, Inspection, Time management, Customer service, Independence.

Physical demands and work environment
Truck cab and customer sites. Requires long periods of sitting, climbing in and out of the cab, securing loads, and time away from home for regional and OTR routes.

Pay and benefits
[$X to $Y per year], based on experience and location. [List benefits, such as health insurance, retirement plan match, paid time off, and training.]

Equal opportunity
[Company] is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected by law. If you need a reasonable accommodation to apply or interview, contact [name] at [email or phone].

How to customize it for your job

• State route type and typical home time.
• Explain pay method and average weekly pay.
• Describe the equipment and its age.
• List sign-on bonus, benefits, and safety bonus details.

Then check it against the HRTally job description standard, our 10-point checklist, and run it through the inclusive language swap list. Both take about five minutes.

How much to pay a truck driver (CDL)

Half of US heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers earned more than $28.19 an hour in May 2025, and half earned less, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That national figure is a starting point, not a pay range. Pay for the same job can differ by 30 percent or more between metro areas, so check the BLS occupation profile for state and metro data before you set your range.

To convert between hourly and annual pay, use our salary to hourly calculator. If you hire in a state or city with a pay transparency law, the range must appear in the posting itself. Our pay transparency laws guide lists where, and our guide to salary bands explains how to set ranges you can defend.

Exempt status, licenses, and legal notes

FLSA status: Depends on duties. Job titles don't decide overtime eligibility. Duties and pay do. Our guide to exempt vs non-exempt employees walks through each test, and the overtime calculator shows what a nonexempt employee is owed.

Interstate drivers are often exempt from FLSA overtime under the Motor Carrier Act exemption, Section 13(b)(1), but the small vehicle exception restores overtime for employees who drive vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less in some workweeks. Some states don't follow the federal exemption for intrastate drivers. Employers must run pre-employment drug tests and query the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse before a CDL driver performs safety-sensitive work.

This is general information for US employers, not legal advice. Laws change and vary by state and city, so confirm the current rules or talk to employment counsel before you rely on them.

Interview questions to ask

Ask every candidate the same core questions and score answers against the same criteria. Structured interviews are fairer and predict job performance better than open conversation.

1. Walk me through your pre-trip inspection.
2. Tell me about a time weather or traffic put a delivery at risk.
3. How do you manage your hours of service on a long run?
4. What would you do after a minor accident at a customer site?

When you're ready to schedule, use our interview invitation email template. For a full hiring process, read the recruitment process guide.

Frequently asked questions