On this page
- Resume guide for a truck driver resume
- How to write a truck driver resume
- Choosing the best resume format for a truck driver resume
- Include your contact information
- Make use of a summary
- Right vs wrong: the same truck driver summary, twice
- Outline your driving experience
- Your license line is read before your experience: class, endorsements and training record
- Build a snapshot of your key skills
- List your education and certifications
- Choose the right layout and design
- Truck driver job market and outlook
- What salary you can expect as a truck driver
- Truck driver resume sample: a full CDL template you can copy
- CDL-A vs CDL-B driver resume: what changes
- Key takeaways for a truck driver resume
- Related transport and logistics resume examples
- FAQ
A truck driver resume puts the license line first: your CDL class, endorsement letters, training record and medical card date. Below you get three summary examples, a full CDL driver resume sample you can copy, and the skills carriers search for.
That order is not a preference. This matters because it is how the job is gated: a carrier cannot dispatch a driver who is not qualified for the equipment on the load, and no amount of clean mileage repairs a missing endorsement or a medical card that expired in March.
Resume guide for a truck driver resume
To that end, this guide and the corresponding truck driver resume example will cover:
- First, how to write a truck driver resume, block by block
- Then, what the license block must contain, and why it sits above your experience
- Next, three adaptable summaries: new CDL holder, experienced driver and lead driver
- Also, how freight type, route pattern and hours of service belong on the page
- Finally, what the job market looks like and what you can expect to earn
How to write a truck driver resume
Overall, six blocks: contact header, summary, license and qualifications, driving experience, equipment and safety record, and education and training. In general, one page early, then two once you carry several endorsements or a trainer role.
In fact, the order is the opposite of the one most driving resumes use. Qualifications come before experience because they are a gate rather than an achievement.
BlockWhat it answers for the readerWhere it goes
- License and qualificationsCan this driver legally be put on the equipment I need covered?Directly under the summary, never at the bottom
- Driving experienceWhat has this driver hauled, on what route pattern?Reverse chronological, with miles and freight named
- Equipment and safety recordWill this hire raise or lower my inspection and claims exposure?Its own short block, with dates
Date every credential on a CDL resume
Put an expiry date on every line in the qualification block
Almost everything in a driver qualification file carries a date, and almost every driving resume leaves them off. A recruiter reading a bare list of endorsements cannot tell whether any of it is still valid.
Federal rules require a physical examination every two years for commercial drivers, along with random drug and alcohol testing, minimum vision of 20/40 with a 70-degree field of vision in each eye, and the ability to hear a forced whisper at 5 feet (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers, last modified 27 August 2026). On a two-year cycle, an undated medical certificate is a question mark on a document whose purpose is to remove them.
Write the license with its expiry, the medical certificate with its expiry, and each endorsement with its year.
Run the finished document through the ATS resume checker before you send it. Large carriers parse the file into fields before a recruiter opens it, and a license class that lands in the wrong field is one you did not write down.
Choosing the best resume format for a truck driver resume
In short: reverse chronological, with no exception worth making. After all, a carrier reads a driving resume for continuity: which carriers, which equipment, which lanes, how long at each. Functional and skills-first formats read as concealment here, because the dates are the part being checked.
Carriers verify previous employment before they hire, so a gap missing from the page becomes a phone call. Therefore, write any gap in plainly: a medical leave, a layoff, time out of the seat, a course.
Include your contact information
Marvin Threadgill
Class A CDL, Endorsements N, H, X, TLittle Rock, AR, open to a dedicated lane(501) 555-0946, marvin.threadgill@example.comMarvin Threadgill
Experienced professional truck driverLittle Rock, AR(501) 555-0946, bigrig_marv@example.comAlso put the class and the letters in the header itself. For example, a recruiter filtering fifty applications for a tank lane is looking for the letter N.
Make use of a summary
In practice, four lines: class and endorsements, years and route pattern, the freight you have hauled, and the safety record with a number attached.
New CDL holder adaptable resume summary example
Experienced truck driver adaptable resume summary example
Lead driver adaptable resume summary example
Right vs wrong: the same truck driver summary, twice
As a result, the left column can be dispatched on Monday. In contrast, the right column has to be phoned about first.
Outline your driving experience
Carrier, city, equipment, route pattern and dates, then three to five bullets. Then every bullet names freight, equipment, a lane or a number: the license block proved you are eligible, and this one has to prove you are useful.
In practice, four route patterns cover nearly all of this work and they are not interchangeable. Over the road means weeks out. For instance, regional means a defined multi-state area, most weekends home. Similarly, dedicated means one customer and one repeating lane. Finally, local means home nightly, more stops, more hand work. Say which you ran.
- Instead of
Drove a truck for a large carrier
UseRan a dedicated regional tank lane, 2,400 to 2,700 miles a week
- Instead of
Delivered freight safely and on time
Use612,000 miles with no preventable accidents and no hours of service violations across nine years
- Instead of
Trained new employees
UseTrained 31 drivers through their first solo dispatch; 27 were still with the carrier at 12 months
Adaptable resume employment history example
Lead Driver and Driver Trainer, Pinnacle Valley Transport, North Little Rock, AR, March 2019 to Present
Run a dedicated food-grade and placarded tank lane, 2,400 to 2,700 miles a week, home twice weekly, under N, H and X endorsements.
Train new drivers from onboarding to first solo dispatch: 31 drivers to date, 27 still with the carrier at 12 months.
1.6 million career miles with no preventable accidents, and three Level 1 roadside inspections in the last 24 months with no violations recorded.
Hold hours of service inside the 14-hour window on a lane with two live loads a day, with no violations in seven years on the account.
Your license line is read before your experience: class, endorsements and training record
Above all, the most useful thing you can do to a driving resume is move the regulatory block to the top and write it out in full. After all, a carrier's first decision is not whether you are good; it is whether you are eligible, and eligibility has four parts: class, endorsements, training record and medical card.
First, the class comes from 49 CFR 383.91, which the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration writes as three vehicle groups.
| Group | What 49 CFR 383.91 covers | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| A, combination vehicle | "Any combination of vehicles with a gross combination weight rating (GCWR) of 11,794 kilograms or more (26,001 pounds or more) provided the GVWR of the vehicle(s) being towed is in excess of 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds)" | Tractor-trailer work |
| B, heavy straight vehicle | "Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 11,794 kilograms or more (26,001 pounds or more), or any such vehicle towing a vehicle not in excess of 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) GVWR" | Straight, dump and box trucks |
| C, small vehicle | A vehicle meeting neither Group A nor Group B "but that either is designed to transport 16 or more passengers including the driver, or is used in the transportation of hazardous materials" | Small placarded loads |
Therefore, write the group letter, not a description: "Class A" is a fact a recruiter can filter on, and "licensed for large commercial vehicles" is not.
CDL endorsement letters and the loads they open
Then the endorsement letters, which decide the loads you can be assigned. FMCSA publishes six, each tested differently.
| Letter | What it authorizes | Testing |
|---|---|---|
| T | Double and triple trailers | Knowledge test only |
| P | Passenger vehicles | Knowledge and skills tests |
| N | Tank vehicles | Knowledge test only |
| H | Hazardous materials | Knowledge test only |
| X | Tank vehicle and hazardous materials combined | Knowledge test only |
| S | School bus | Knowledge and skills tests |
The Handbook notes separately that a hazardous materials endorsement requires additional testing beyond the standard CDL examination (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, last modified 27 August 2026). Next, list the letters you hold in the header and again in the qualification block, with the year each was added.
Your entry-level truck driver training record
The third part is the training record, and it is the part that changed most recently. FMCSA's entry-level driver training rules apply to a driver who will "Obtain a Class A or Class B CDL for the first time; Upgrade an existing Class B CDL to a Class A CDL; or Obtain a school bus (S), passenger (P), or hazardous materials (H) endorsement for the first time." The regulations took effect on 7 February 2022 and are not retroactive: a driver issued a CDL, or an S, P or H endorsement, before that date does not have to complete the training. Specifically, completion is recorded on the FMCSA Training Provider Registry.
Then write whichever sentence is true of you. If you qualified after February 2022, name the registered provider and the completion date. If you qualified before it, say so in one clause, so a reader who only knows the current rule does not hunt for a provider name that does not exist.
CDL license and qualification block example
Adaptable resume license and qualification block example
Commercial Driver's License: Class A, Arkansas, #AR-4471028, valid through August 2029
Endorsements: N tank vehicle (2019), H hazardous materials (2023), X tank and hazardous materials combined (2023), T double and triple trailers (2017)
Entry-level driver training: CDL issued in 2016, before the 7 February 2022 compliance date, so ELDT did not apply to the license itself. The H endorsement obtained in June 2023 was a first-time endorsement and its theory training is recorded on the FMCSA Training Provider Registry, provider Ouachita Valley Driver Academy.
Medical: DOT medical examiner's certificate valid to May 2028, issued by an examiner listed on the FMCSA National Registry.
Record: no preventable accidents in nine years, no moving violations in the last five years, no hours of service violations, last three Level 1 roadside inspections recorded with no violations.
Hours of service on a truck driver resume
The second regulatory layer is hours of service. The Handbook sets out the federal limits plainly: a maximum 14-hour work window with up to 11 hours of it spent driving, a minimum of 10 hours off duty between work periods, and a ceiling of 60 hours in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, last modified 27 August 2026). In other words, your resume does not need to explain those rules; it needs to show you have run inside them, which is why "no hours of service violations across nine years on an account with two live loads a day" beats a sentence about being safety conscious.
Freight type and route pattern belong in your experience instead, as the work the license lets you do.
Build a snapshot of your key skills
In addition, twelve to sixteen entries in four groups: equipment, compliance, systems and paperwork, and freight handling.
Adaptable resume skills example
Equipment: Tractor-trailer, food-grade tank trailer, dry van, reefer, flatbed with securement, automated manual transmission, tight urban dock backing
Compliance: Hours of service and the 14-hour window, pre-trip and post-trip inspection, cargo securement, placarding and shipping papers, weight distribution and scaling
Systems and paperwork: Electronic logging device, in-cab messaging, bills of lading, seal and wash-out records, fuel and toll reporting
Freight handling: Bulk liquid loading and unloading, product changeover, temperature control, open-deck securement
List your education and certifications
In fact, driving is one of the few skilled occupations where a degree is close to irrelevant and the training record is everything. The Handbook records a postsecondary nondegree award as the typical entry-level education for these drivers, with no related work experience required and short-term on-the-job training after hire (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, last modified 27 August 2026). Name the school and the program.
Adaptable resume education and training example
Commercial Driver Training, Class A program, Ouachita Valley Driver Academy, Little Rock, AR, 2016. Provider listed on the FMCSA Training Provider Registry.
Hazardous materials endorsement theory training, Ouachita Valley Driver Academy, June 2023, recorded on the FMCSA Training Provider Registry.
High School Diploma, Little Rock, AR, 2014
Certifications: Class A CDL, Arkansas, #AR-4471028, valid through August 2029. DOT medical examiner's certificate, valid to May 2028. Driver trainer certification, carrier program, 2020.
Choose the right layout and design
Above all: one column, 11 or 12 point type, clear headings, no photograph and no graphics. That matters because most large carriers read the file into structured fields, and a two-column layout is where that breaks.
Do
- Put the class and endorsement letters in the header.
- Give every credential an expiry date or a year.
- Name the route pattern for each carrier.
- State miles as a weekly or annual figure.
- Write the freight by name: dry van, reefer, flatbed, food-grade tank, placarded hazardous materials.
- Explain any gap in one line.
Don’t
- Do not bury the license block under education.
- Do not write "all endorsements" when the letters are what a recruiter filters on.
- Do not list a lapsed endorsement without saying it lapsed.
- Do not call yourself safety conscious in place of giving the record.
- Do not leave a medical certificate undated.
Truck driver job market and outlook
A very large occupation with steady growth and enormous replacement demand, so the constraint is rarely openings. It is whether you are qualified for the equipment on the lane.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Heavy and tractor-trailer truck driver jobs, 2025 | 2,221,200 |
| Projected change, 2025-35 | 4% (about as fast as the average) |
| Projected annual openings | ~214,500 |
| Typical entry-level education | Postsecondary nondegree award |
| Work experience in a related occupation | None |
| On-the-job training | Short-term on-the-job training |
| Median annual wage, May 2025 | $58,640 ($28.19 per hour) |
The openings number tells you what your resume is competing against
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about 214,500 openings a year for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers on average over the decade, against total employment of 2,221,200 in 2025 and projected growth of 4 percent between 2025 and 2035 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, last modified 27 August 2026).
An annual openings figure close to a tenth of total employment, on an occupation growing at about the average rate, describes churn rather than expansion.
Churn rewards a resume that removes friction rather than one that impresses. The file stating the class, the letters, the training record and the medical expiry gets called first: it can be checked in ninety seconds.
Where truck drivers work and what each sector pays
Where the work sits, and what it pays there:
| Industry | Share of employment | Median annual wage (May 2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Truck transportation | ||
| Wholesale trade | ||
| Manufacturing | ||
| Construction |
For example, four in ten of these jobs sit in truck transportation, the for-hire carrier sector and the best paid of the four published. Meanwhile, most of the rest are private fleets moving their own freight, usually with more local running and more hand work at the customer end. If that is the job you want, show stops and unloading rather than long-haul mileage.
What salary you can expect as a truck driver
The median annual wage for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers was $58,640 as of May 2025, or $28.19 an hour (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, last modified 27 August 2026).
The spread between industries is narrower than drivers expect: $60,320 in truck transportation down to $56,080 in construction, a gap of about $4,200 (BLS, May 2025). Even so, choosing a sector is not where the money is.
Instead, pay moves with the qualifications that open a better lane inside a sector. Tank and hazardous materials endorsements, doubles and triples, flatbed securement and a clean inspection history are what let a carrier put you on a premium account, and they are exactly what a resume either states with dates or leaves out. Alternatively, a trainer role is the other route.
Likewise, pay structures differ: per mile, per hour, percentage of the load and per stop are all common, and the same annual figure can come from very different weeks. Ask which an offer uses.
Truck driver resume sample: a full CDL template you can copy
Use this truck driver resume template as a one-page starting point. Keep the order: header with class and endorsements, summary, license block, experience, skills, then training. Swap in your own carrier, lane, miles and dates. Leave out any line you cannot back with a record.
Truck driver resume template (CDL-A, regional)
MARVIN THREADGILL
Class A CDL, Endorsements N, H, X, T, Little Rock, AR, (501) 555-0946 marvin.threadgill@example.com
SUMMARY
Class A driver with nine years over the road and regional. 612,000 miles with no preventable accidents and no hours of service violations.
LICENSE AND QUALIFICATIONS
- Class A CDL, Arkansas, valid through August 2029
- Endorsements: N (2019), H (2023), X (2023), T (2017)
- DOT medical examiner's certificate, valid to May 2028
EXPERIENCE
Lead Driver, Pinnacle Valley Transport, North Little Rock, AR, March 2019 to Present
- Run a dedicated tank lane, 2,400 to 2,700 miles a week, home twice weekly
- Trained 31 new drivers to first solo dispatch
- Three Level 1 roadside inspections in 24 months with no violations
SKILLS
Tractor-trailer, tank and dry van, ELD and in-cab messaging, Pre-trip and post-trip inspection, Cargo securement Bills of lading
TRAINING
Class A program, Ouachita Valley Driver Academy, 2016
Fill it in, then check it with the ATS resume checker before you apply. Carriers that use applicant tracking software read the license class as a field, so it must parse cleanly.
CDL-A vs CDL-B driver resume: what changes
The structure stays the same. What changes is the equipment, the route and the proof. A CDL-A resume leads with tractor-trailer miles and endorsements. A CDL-B resume leads with the straight truck, the stops per day and the hand work at each stop.
- CDL-A driver resume: name the trailer types, the weekly miles and the route pattern (over the road, regional or dedicated).
- CDL-B driver resume: name the truck (box, dump or straight truck), the stops per shift and the loads you unload by hand.
- Both: list the endorsement letters with the year added, and the date your medical card expires.
- Moving up from B to A: add the training provider and completion date, since an upgrade from Class B to Class A falls under the entry-level training rule described above.
Key takeaways for a truck driver resume
- To start, put the license class and endorsement letters in the header, not at the bottom.
- Also date every credential: license expiry, medical certificate expiry, and the year each endorsement was added.
- Say whether your training is on the FMCSA Training Provider Registry, or that your CDL predates 7 February 2022.
- In addition, name the route pattern for each carrier: over the road, regional, dedicated or local.
- Similarly, write the freight by name and the miles as a weekly or annual figure.
- Finally, state the safety record as facts, not adjectives.
- Keep it single column, because a carrier portal reads it before a recruiter does.
Related transport and logistics resume examples
- Delivery driver resume
- Tractor driver resume
- Dispatcher resume
- Logistics coordinator resume
- Warehouse worker resume
- Warehouse manager resume
- Transport and logistics resume
- Supply chain resume
- Inventory manager resume
- Package handler resume
- Order filler resume
- Procurement manager resume
Truck driver resume questions, answered
How long should a truck driver resume be?
One page for your first few years. Two once you carry multiple endorsements, a lead role, and a history long enough that listing it carrier by carrier is the point. Never three, and never a page of generic duties.
What do I put on a truck driver resume with no experience?
Write the training as a job: the program, the provider, the completion date, the registry entry, the hours behind the wheel and the equipment you trained on. Then anything adjacent, such as dock work, yard hostling or non-CDL delivery driving. The Handbook lists no prior related work experience as typical for this job, with short-term on-the-job training after hire (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, last modified 27 August 2026), so a new driver is not applying from behind.
Should I put my driving record on the resume?
Put the facts, not the file: preventable accidents, moving violations in a stated period, hours of service violations and roadside inspection outcomes, each with a number and a time frame. A carrier pulls the record anyway, so writing it means it is answered before they do. If something is not clean, give the honest figure.
Do I need to mention entry-level driver training if I have driven for years?
One clause is enough. The ELDT rules took effect on 7 February 2022 and are not retroactive, so a CDL issued before that date did not require the training. If you have added an S, P or H endorsement since that date, that one did, and the provider and date belong on the page.
How do I show hours of service compliance without sounding defensive?
Attach it to the work. "No hours of service violations across nine years on an account with two live loads a day" says as much about the lane as about compliance. The federal limits are a 14-hour window with up to 11 hours driving, 10 hours off between work periods, and 60 hours in 7 days or 70 in 8 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, last modified 27 August 2026). Every reader knows them; the interesting fact is the schedule you kept inside them.
Is there a truck driver resume template I can copy?
Yes. The CDL template above follows the order carriers read: header with class and endorsements, summary, license block, experience, skills and training. Copy it, then replace every name, lane, mile figure and date with your own.
What skills should I put on a CDL driver resume?
Group 12 to 16 skills under equipment, compliance, systems and freight handling. Name the trailers you pull, ELD use, pre-trip inspection, cargo securement and the paperwork you handle. Skip soft skills like hard-working unless a number backs them up.
What is the difference between a CDL-A and a CDL-B driver resume?
A CDL-A resume leads with tractor-trailer miles, trailer types and endorsements. A CDL-B resume leads with the straight truck, stops per shift and unloading work. Both need the license class, endorsement letters and medical card date near the top.