First let me start off by saying this. I have been driving for over 20 years and as each year goes by our wages stay the same or less. Driving a truck is one of this country's most dangerous jobs. With that said it is also one of the lowest paying jobs! Sure looking at the salary sounds good, but after considering all the time put into it you will see it pays less than minimum wage. It's almost as bad as being homeless. In fact it's very hard on family's your seldom home. If you find yourself at home a lot you will be lucky to make 600.00 a week. This is a great job if you are a loner and like living in small places. With all the hazards of this job from deal with people everyday that should not be allowed to be on the road to shipper and receiver that could careless and unsafe. To a government that puts all the blame on the truck driver I advise RUN Forest RUN!!!
The top 5 best paid driving jobs
By: Drivers staff
Date: Saturday, 31. July 2010
Some jobs pay more because few can do them, some because few are willing to do them and some due to a combination of both. We decided to put together a list of the top 5 best paid driving jobs around the world, from Ice Road truckers in Alaska to convoy truck drivers in Iraq.
1. Ice Road Truckers: truck drivers willing and able to take on the job of the Ice Road Trucker will have to face a 414 mile route, 75% of which is north of the Arctic Circle. They will battle extremely hazardous conditions, frequent storms, occasional 'white outs' and temperatures reaching -40 degrees Celsius. If the seemingly impossible challenge of the job doesn't tempt you in itself, then maybe the salary of $120,000+ for a 3 month season will!
2. Dump truck driver in the mining industry: 'Mining jobs and the mining industry is the highest paid industry in Australia ... within the many mining jobs available in the industry, one of the most sought after is that of Truck Driver on a mine site.' [source: jobs.com.au] Driving one of the enormous dump trucks used in the Australian mines (up to 340 tonnes) is probably one of the few jobs in this industry that requires little or no physical labor and is therefore equally sought after by both men and women. Annual salary for this job is in the region of $100,000.
3. Truck driver in Iraq: Driving a truck in Iraq is a job that pays particularly well, from $125,000 up to a possible $250,000 per year. The obscenely high pay rates are for obvious reasons, the risks range from terrorist attacks to kidnapping. 'Criss-crossing Iraq, the hundreds of civilian truck drivers who form a "shadow army", hauling food and supplies to military bases, are a tempting target for attacks.' [source: cbsnews.com]
4. NASCAR Driver: We just had to throw this one in, although definitely more on the 'few can do' rather than 'few willing to do' end of the scale! The top NASCAR drivers in the US earn in the tens of millions, between winnings, sponsorship and endorsements. In 2009 NASCAR's highest-paid driver was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who reportedly earned $30 million. Get your application in now!
5. Test driver: Test driving cars is a full-time job for a lucky few but test driving a luxury car like the Bugatti is down to one lucky, and very talented man - Pierre-Henri Raphanel. The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is the fastest production car in the world today. Raphanel is responsible for test driving Bugatti car models, pushing them to their very limits to see what they can do. We did try to find out what Raphanel earned but didn't come up with anything conclusive so this particular inclusion is based on the (fairly safe) assumption that Raphanel is well compensated for his days of toiling behind the wheel of the fastest road car on earth!
This top 5 list gives you a glimpse into the types of jobs that are out there for those who want to drive for a living. We will look at jobs such as these in more depth in later articles so bookmark our homepage.
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All Comments (33)
Showing 1 - 33 comments
Zipperstrip2767@aol.,
Serb,
Driver for Allstate peterbilt south saint Paul clean driving record not a single ticket 22 yrs old love to drive if you have a crazy paying job let me know
Richard,
oh, by the way... 2 years off-road experience counts for more than 20 years on the highway.
Bring your Helly Hansen!
Richard,
Alaska, Ice roads... Try just a Canadian winter first. Chaining up every day, 6 triple heavies with studs, fingers cold, can't get the boomer tight... It'll cure many of you adventurers. Any idea what extreme cold does to a truck, to water? Don't forget it's work. Trucks brake down, go find out in the dark and the cold... A mere 12 hours a day is considered an easy job. Try hauling logs starting at 2AM, or Hydro Fracking with tools most of you can't even lift.
The pay is up there, but you'll have to work for it.
Gift Farayi,
Very much interested to drive in Iraq
Mr sharif,
Hi I would love to become a test driver how do I do it
KOTEI IBRAHIM,
Hello world, my name is ibrahim kotei abdullah and am a heavy duty driver by profession. i have worked with KBR TTM comoany in iraq. i have fourteen years working experience and i with that i think am fit for any job regarding heavy duty trucks. koteiibrahim@yahoo.com is my email address.
rose,
i love to drive that is my passion if i had the money i would be a nascar driver love love love
Ken Fairchild,
how do you apply for ice trucker in alaska? will they put up my family while i'm out there working if i come up for three months??
Mark,
Well hauling frack sand was a great job made around 100g a year but likeevery other good paying job that a truck driver gets as soon as the big companies find out they go in and undercut everyone so before you jump at any job based on short lived success remember that it probably wont last long.
jay,
I would like to apply for a truck driving job in America or Australia.Ihave 17 years exprience.
tell me more
paul cartmail,
i would like a new challange with yhe ice road trucking im a international driver now with 20 years exp can i have more info pls .paul.cartmail1@NTLWORLD.COM
paul cartmail,
i would like a new challange with yhe ice road trucking im a international driver now with 20 years exp can i have more info pls .paul.cartmail1@NTLWORLD.COM
kik,
or i can be a nascar driver i dont care witch one can someone give me more information on both
kik,
im working on my highschool diploma and i want to be a test driver for a big ccompany can someone help me out
kl,
can someone tell where a good place to look for more information is
kl,
i want o be a test car driver
kenny,
Carlisle trucking is the company who employs ice road truckers.If you actually watch the show then you would have know this.Google this Carlisle Transportation System trucking.
MISFIT,
Unrealistic. I don't see myself having much of a chance at any of these jobs (even though I am a talented CDL A driver). Therefore this information is practically irrelevant.
t-bone,
you are crazy i spent a year in iraq hauling fuel outside the wire and made 99,000 was not worth it but id do the ice road stuff hook me up been driving trucks since 1972
william jones,
i want to be a ice road trucker
Kevin Garland,
To whom it may concern. I am looking for some info. and a way to apply for a truck driving job0 in Alaska. please respond back to me at keviyng88@yahoo.com
zo,
i just want to be a truck driver in Iraq. what is qualification and to whom i am going to contact? please reply me to my email jackmizo@yahoo.co.in
Carlos La Madrid,
I would love to work for alasks ice road truckers for a few seasons you guys can contact me at carloslama@netzero.con or 845-467-5068
richard,
i love the job
Brian Staton,
I am looking to get a job test driving for a nascar team. I have 6 championships and over 100 wins in the dirt late model and asphalt tracks on the east coast. I feel I have alot to offer any team.
Brad from the U.P.,
I'm having a surprisingly hard time fining websites / companies where I an get ontact info so I an apply to one of these supposed 3 - 4 months - up to $ 120,000 jobs. Can you give us actual company names / websites / contact info of companies that actually hire for these positions ? It'd be a great help, thnxs.
Asim,
@ Ezra Frecehas. I would just like to say that I live in UK and I have beeen a truck driver for nearly 6 years now. Its absolutely impossible to get a truck driving job in North Sea. The sole reason for this is, that North Sea is "Sea" and unfortunately there are no roads to drive trucks on it.
Former KBR Trucker,
Concerning "Truck Driver in Iraq." This is shoddy reporting. Your source, CBS News, says that the pay for truckers is "$80,000 or more a year." So where did you get the "from $125,000 up to a possible $250,000 per year" figure? I've seen inflated figures like that all over the internet. In case you haven't discovered it yet, just because it is on the internet doesn't make it true. Here is the truth about the pay for convoy drivers in Iraq. I worked as a convoy driver in Iraq for 4 years. I made between $95,000 and $104,000 a year. This was about average for American drivers. Drivers from other countries made less. About $80,000 was exempt from federal income tax. I worked at least 12 hours a day, 7 days a week and often more. By the way, it is unlikely that KBR is going to hire anymore convoy drivers. Operations in Iraq are winding down and it has been several weeks since a Heavy Truck Driver position has been posted on the KBR web site.
Drivers staff,
Hi Ezra - we are going to write an article on truck driving in Iraq so would love to hear from you - you can contact us at pde@drivers.com
Ezra Frechas,
Yea, did the Iraqi truck drivers job for 15mths. The experience was great and so was the pay. Looking for my next adventure and reckon if the oilfields of Alaska or North Sea has vacancies I will endeavour to venture there. Any tips on websites.Cheers all you crazy truckers and good luck with future jobs.
Drivers staff,
Ogwuche, you can check out our drivers jobs section and sign up for the free newsletter there - http://jobs.drivers.com
Ogwuche,
i aprecaite the pay package. i am a nigerian how do i aply for this driving job.
