Truck drivers are one of the least happy careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, truck drivers rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 10% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy truck drivers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Brickmason | 2.7 | $28k |
| Tool and die maker | 2.7 | $37k |
| Mining machine operator | 2.7 | $62k |
| Taxi driver | 2.7 | $26k |
| Machinist | 2.7 | $28k |
| Truck driver | 2.7 | $49k |
| Construction worker | 2.7 | $12k |
| Courier | 2.7 | $26k |
| Cargo and freight agent | 2.7 | $48k |
| Delivery service driver | 2.6 | $15k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are truck drivers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do truck drivers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as truck drivers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are truck driver’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are truck drivers making the best use of their abilities?
Are truck drivers happy with their salary?
Truck drivers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most truck drivers having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked truck drivers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
837 truck drivers
13% of truck drivers rated their compensation 5 stars
26% of truck drivers rated their compensation 4 stars
30% of truck drivers rated their compensation 3 stars
16% of truck drivers rated their compensation 2 stars
16% of truck drivers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do truck drivers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, truck drivers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.2/5. The majority of truck drivers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked truck drivers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.2 out of 5 stars
835 truck drivers
6% of truck drivers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
12% of truck drivers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
18% of truck drivers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
25% of truck drivers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
40% of truck drivers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as truck drivers?
Truck drivers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.5/5. The majority of truck drivers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked truck drivers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
885 truck drivers
24% of truck drivers rated their career fit 5 stars
30% of truck drivers rated their career fit 4 stars
22% of truck drivers rated their career fit 3 stars
13% of truck drivers rated their career fit 2 stars
10% of truck drivers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a truck driver’s work environment?
As a whole, truck drivers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.1/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked truck drivers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
882 truck drivers
17% of truck drivers rated their work environment 5 stars
24% of truck drivers rated their work environment 4 stars
27% of truck drivers rated their work environment 3 stars
16% of truck drivers rated their work environment 2 stars
15% of truck drivers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are truck drivers making the best use of their abilities?
Former truck drivers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.4/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a truck driver.
We asked truck drivers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.4 out of 5 stars
890 truck drivers
10% of truck drivers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
13% of truck drivers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
17% of truck drivers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
24% of truck drivers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
35% of truck drivers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars