Truck driving is a large U.S. occupation with more than two million heavy and tractor-trailer truck-driver jobs, a national median annual wage of $58,640 in May 2025, and an average of about 214,500 projected openings per year from 2025 through 2035. These figures describe the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) occupation classification for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers. Safety figures later in this guide come from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and cover large trucks in fatal-crash datasets, a related but different population.
Truck driver statistics at a glance
- How many truck drivers work in the United States
- Truck driver pay and wage distribution
- Truck driver job outlook and entry requirements
- Where truck drivers work and where jobs are concentrated
- Truck driver age and sex patterns in fatal crashes
- Large-truck crash patterns relevant to drivers
- Licensing, restraint use, and crash outcomes
How many truck drivers work in the United States
The BLS reported 2,062,040 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in May 2025. Its 2025 national employment matrix counted 2,221,200 jobs in the occupation. The two measurements are not contradictory: they come from different BLS statistical products and should be read with their own definitions and reference periods.
The BLS employment matrix projects 83,800 additional jobs between 2025 and 2035, reaching 2,305,000 jobs by 2035. That is a projected growth rate of 3.8% in the matrix; the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook summarizes the same outlook as 4% employment growth. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers represented 1.3% of all U.S. employment in both the 2025 base year and the 2035 projection.
The BLS projects about 214,500 openings per year on average from 2025 through 2035. Openings include opportunities created by employment growth and by workers leaving the occupation, so the annual openings estimate is not the same as the 83,800 net jobs added over the decade.
Truck driver pay and wage distribution
In May 2025, the national median annual wage for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers was $58,640. The national mean annual wage was $59,710, and the mean hourly wage was $28.71. BLS wage estimates exclude self-employed workers, so these figures describe covered wage-and-salary employment rather than every person who drives a truck for work.
Pay varies across the distribution. The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $40,140 annually in May 2025, while the highest-paid 10% earned more than $79,380. Industry medians also differed:
| Industry | Median annual wage, May 2025 |
|---|---|
| Truck transportation | $60,320 |
| Wholesale trade | $58,550 |
| Manufacturing | $56,570 |
| Construction | $56,080 |
An earlier BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics release provides a more detailed May 2023 distribution. Hourly wages at the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles were $18.00, $22.08, $26.12, $30.29, and $36.91. The corresponding annual wage percentiles were $37,440, $45,920, $54,320, $63,010, and $76,780. Those 2023 values should not be presented as current 2025 pay; they are useful for showing the spread between lower, middle, and higher wage positions at that measurement date.
The BLS source for the current median and percentile endpoints is Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers: Occupational Outlook Handbook. The May 2025 national mean figures are from Table 1 of the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, while the detailed historical distribution is in the May 2023 occupation profile.
Truck driver job outlook and entry requirements
The BLS projects 4% employment growth for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers from 2025 to 2035. The occupation typically requires zero years of prior related work experience in the BLS employment matrix. That does not mean no preparation is needed. BLS occupational guidance says professional truck-driving programs commonly last between three and six months.
A commercial driver license (CDL) is required for 100% of long-haul truck drivers, according to the BLS occupational guidance. Federal rules require CDL drivers to pass a physical examination every two years. The BLS also states that drivers are limited to 60 hours in seven days or 70 hours in eight days before taking 34 hours off. These requirements describe the operating and qualification context behind the occupation’s entry path; they do not guarantee a particular wage or hiring outcome.
For people comparing training options, the statistics point to a relatively direct entry route: the occupation has no prior-related-experience requirement in the matrix, training programs commonly run three to six months, and long-haul work requires a CDL. The job-outlook figures remain projections for 2025–2035, not a promise that every region or employer will grow at the same rate.
Where truck drivers work and where jobs are concentrated
The BLS May 2024 industry chart counted 892,450 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in truck transportation. Warehousing and storage employed 92,800; couriers and express delivery services employed 101,300; support activities for road transportation employed 52,190; and freight transportation arrangement employed 11,170. These industry counts show that truck-driving employment extends beyond the core truck-transportation industry.
The May 2023 BLS OEWS estimate put national employment at 2,044,400 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, with a 0.7% employment relative standard error. That estimate is tied to May 2023 and should not be combined mechanically with the May 2024 industry counts or May 2025 national totals.
Geography also affects the size and pay of the local labor market. Alaska had 2,920 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers and an annual mean wage of $65,870 in May 2023. New Jersey had 52,580 drivers and an annual mean wage of $64,270. The New York–Newark–Jersey City metropolitan area had 71,270 drivers with a $65,260 annual mean wage.
The BLS occupation profile provides these May 2023 state and metropolitan figures through Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023: Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers. Local counts and mean wages are not interchangeable with national medians, and a metropolitan figure can span more than one state or county.
Truck driver age and sex patterns in fatal crashes
FMCSA’s Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts 2022 recorded 5,760 drivers of large trucks in fatal crashes in 2022. The comparable counts were 5,668 in 2021 and 4,755 in 2020. These are drivers in the stated fatal-crash dataset, not the total U.S. truck-driver workforce.
The average age of large-truck drivers in fatal crashes was 45.7 years in 2022. Drivers aged 46–55 made up 23.5%, the largest listed age-group share. Drivers aged 36–45 made up 21.2%, those aged 56–65 made up 20.4%, and drivers aged 18–25 made up 7.2%.
Male drivers accounted for 5,490 of the 5,760 drivers, while female drivers accounted for 239. The average age was 45.8 years for male drivers and 43.6 years for female drivers. The reported counts do not sum to the full total, so the remaining records should not be assigned a sex without additional information.
Large-truck crash patterns relevant to drivers
FMCSA counted 5,279 fatal large-truck crashes in 2022, compared with 5,178 in 2021 and 4,423 in 2020. About 54% of fatal crashes involving large trucks occurred in rural areas, and about 27% occurred on Interstate highways in 2022.
Time and day patterns were also different by crash severity. Thirty-nine percent of fatal large-truck crashes occurred at night, compared with 24% of injury crashes and 19% of property-damage-only crashes. Weekdays accounted for 82% of fatal and 88% of nonfatal large-truck crashes.
| 2022 large-truck crash measure | Reported share or count |
|---|---|
| Fatal crashes, midnight–3 a.m. | 481, or 9.1% |
| Fatal crashes, 6–9 a.m. | 813, or 15.4% |
| Fatal crashes in rural areas | About 54% |
| Fatal crashes on Interstates | About 27% |
| Fatal crashes occurring at night | 39% |
A collision with a vehicle in transport was the first harmful event in 73% of fatal large-truck crashes in 2022. Overturning was the first harmful event in 4% of fatal crashes and 2% of nonfatal crashes. Large trucks were involved in 29% of fatal work-zone crashes and 12% of work-zone injury crashes.
The fatal large-truck crash rate was 15.8 crashes per million people in 2022, compared with 10.6 per million in 2010. An average of 1.12 fatalities occurred per fatal crash involving a large truck in 2022, and 90% of those crashes had only one fatality. FMCSA cautions that figures can be rounded, and changes in FARS vehicle classification from 2016 onward limit comparisons with earlier years.
Licensing, restraint use, and crash outcomes
In 2022, a valid license for the class of vehicle was recorded for 90.3% of large-truck drivers in fatal crashes. A valid CDL was recorded for 71.8%, while no CDL was recorded for 23.6%. In 2020, a valid license for the vehicle class was recorded for 90.7% of large-truck drivers in fatal crashes. These records describe the crash dataset and should not be interpreted as a compliance rate for all truck drivers.
Large-truck drivers in fatal crashes used a restraint in 81.4% of cases in 2022; 11.0% used none and 7.5% were unknown. Lap-and-shoulder belts accounted for 80.0% of restraint-use records. Among the drivers, 5,471 were not ejected, 190 were totally ejected, and 63 were partially ejected.
At least one recorded driver-related factor appeared for 33% of large-truck drivers in fatal crashes in 2022, compared with 54% of passenger-vehicle drivers. Vehicle characteristics mattered as well: 67.0% of large trucks in fatal crashes were Class 8 vehicles weighing more than 33,000 pounds, and hazardous-material cargo was recorded for 2.7%.
The occupational and safety figures above use different scopes. BLS statistics use the heavy and tractor-trailer truck driver classification, SOC 53-3032, and BLS wage estimates exclude self-employed workers. FMCSA defines a large truck for fatal-crash statistics as a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 pounds. FMCSA’s 2022 report uses FARS for fatal crashes and CRSS/MCMIS for nonfatal crash estimates. The BLS occupation page was accessed in 2026, but its measurements retain their stated 2025 period.