Finding CDL Driver Jobs — and Hiring Reliable Drivers: A Guide for Both Sides

For drivers: how to find a CDL job that fits your home time and pay goals. For carriers: how to hire and keep good drivers, and the FMCSA checks every new hire needs.

Good drivers and good carriers are both looking for each other — they just don't always find each other. Drivers scroll through listings that don't match their home-time needs, and carriers interview candidates who were never a fit. Here's how each side can make the search faster.

For drivers: know what you want first

Before you apply anywhere, decide on the four things that matter most to your day-to-day life:

• Route type: OTR (weeks out, most miles), regional (home most weekends), local (home daily) or dedicated (same lanes every week)
• Equipment: dry van, reefer, flatbed, box truck, hotshot or tanker — and whether you want an assigned truck
• Pay structure: per mile, percentage of the load, hourly or weekly salary
• Home time: how many days out and how many days home

Have your paperwork ready

Carriers move faster when you can provide a valid CDL, a current DOT medical card, your motor vehicle record, ten years of employment history (for CDL positions) and proof of endorsements. Hazmat, Tanker and TWIC endorsements open up higher-paying work.

For carriers: describe the seat honestly

The fastest way to reduce driver turnover is to hire people who actually want the job you are offering. Be specific about lanes, home time, equipment, pay and expectations in every posting, and screen for fit before the first call.

The FMCSA checks every new hire needs

• A driver qualification file with the application, MVR and road test or equivalent
• A pre-employment drug test with a negative result before the driver performs safety-sensitive work
• A pre-employment query of the FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse
• A current DOT medical examiner's certificate
• Previous employer safety-performance history inquiries

Keep drivers once you hire them

Drivers stay where the miles are steady and the communication is good. Consistent, well-paying loads, respected home time and a dispatcher who answers the phone at 2 a.m. do more for retention than almost any bonus.

Pro Dispatch's Drivers program connects CDL and Non-CDL drivers with carriers that are hiring, and our 24/7 dispatch keeps those new hires loaded. Drivers can submit a profile, and carriers can send us an open position, on our Drivers page.