Blog post: June 3,2021 Brian Flynn/ Driving As A Career Choice
A personal note:
We all know the Covid-19 Pandemic has reached us all. It has impacted businesses around the globe which of course has in turn impacted every employee in one way or another and certainly those looking for re-entry into the job market.
Watching the evening news, stories covering family members and friends lost as a result continue; too horrific to imagine. My family and I have been blessed thus far. It has come to our family. Thankfully, we did not lose her. However, we have seen one close friend lost and one co-worker that I am aware of who survived.
Finally, we are seeing states opening and people insisting that governing bodies be more transparent. So, these signs of a positive spirit bode well for our industry.
As you read further into the post, I share some statistics and links to credible sources that will direct you to a few of the many encouraging opportunities for drivers.
Wishing you the best in your career and if currently between jobs, the absolute best in your search!!!
Driving as a Career Choice:
Given, all that has and continues to be reported on pandemic the situation has inspired me to choose this as my first blog post topic. I had to look closely at the driving ‘career sector’ to determine whether it appeared sustainable for driver job seekers as well as those drivers, currently working within its varied sub-categories.
Here’s what I found: Our industry is quite varied as expected. In some ways positive and in others I learned there are concerns having to do with needing more trained drivers than there are applicants.
My driving background has been entirely focused on the passenger carrying sector where we have experienced a particularly challenging time recently. However, there are positive signs everywhere of ridership returning slowly. It remains my favorite driving sector as it is for so many who enjoy working with riders over delivery and freight sectors.
Trucking on the other hand, is a sector aggressively advertising for drivers. As I understand it, the many opportunities offered for the right driver experience come with high income and benefit packages; definitely, worth looking into.
As a job seeker, this industry challenge represents a great opportunity for drivers and those seeking a new career in transportation!
More on the PLUS SIDE, some drivers I know or have spoken with, have in fact remained employed, but are working fewer hours.
Others have taken advantage of the wide variety of driving sub-catagories that continue as vital transportation providers and either matched prior pay grade levels or increased pay and benefits. Very encouraging!
As I am writing this post, I must admit that my own search has led me to the decision to create this blog. I have always enjoyed helping others and feel this medium is one way to share my experience and passion. My writing may not be the best, but they tell me it gets better the more one writes.
In my view one of the most fulfilling things a person can do, in life is to be of service to others.
For me, the answer to the question “what-can-I-do?”, in the run up to my decision to start a blog took several weeks of checking job postings, company websites and looking at a steady flow of recruiter emails claiming to have specific jobs matching my criteria. One could see there was difference between what was claimed and the actual reality, well let’s just say I became frustrated.
I realized what I wanted to do. Besides, some of these were robotic responses to my specific search terms expanded to include jobs not even close to what I had entered in their ‘search box’. Had I not been seeking a trainer position I would have found multiple of jobs available, which is the point to this post. If, you are interested in a driving job the possibilities are amazing.
Numerous driver job categories. You will find under the search term ‘driver’ an amazing number of resources including specific details focused on up to 30 or more sub-categories of driving opportunities.
There are literally, hundreds of thousands of driving relevant jobs out there to choose from…a very sustainable career category that holds positions available in other supporting areas as well.
Upward career growth. It is quite common in the transportation industry for drivers to start out as a driver and later progress to supervisory and management positions; based upon performance as a driver and in some cases a combination including education or expertise.
In every driving job I have had, there were management team members up to and including director level. Those senior managers I felt were most successful initially entered the industry as a driver.
So, my message is, the industry offers a broad array of employment needs and specializations. In today’s transportation industry a person can truly go wherever their passion leads them.
A wide variety of driving jobs and income (see examples below)
In my home state of Washington, I uncovered the following relevant occupational statistics for 2020. The graph below offers proof of the advantageous points I have made to show the career category sustainability, even in the most challenging of times.
*The statistics shown do not include all related business structure jobs such as marketing, accounting, warehouse, recruiting, human resources, and others.
| Occupational Titles | Estimated # Employed | Average Hourly Wage | Annual Wage |
| Bus/Truck Mech. | 6,569 | $22.50 – $33.51 | $59,351 |
| Bus/transit | 5,851 | $24.97 – $33.79 | $60,018 |
| Couriers | 917 | $16.40 – $19.61 | $37,529 |
| Driver/Sales | 7,998 | $13.10 – $20.19 | $35,961 |
| Dispatchers | 4,115 | $19.23 – $29.80 | $53,241 |
| Heavy Truck | 32,432 | $21.21 – $29.82 | $53,267 |
| Light Truck | 18,098 | $15.94 – $25.06 | $44,142 |
| Bus/Truck Mech. | 6,569 | $22.50 – $33.51 | $59,351 |
| Passenger Vehicle | 16,759 | $16.46 – $24.30 | $43,126 |
Range & Benefits research eventually took me to visit a recruiting website where I was able to use their helpful career search tool. To be completely transparent I do not have an established business relationship with this following organization. That said, once there you can easily narrow a job search and employer qualification to more specific areas of interest. Examples I found included Insurance, 401k, paid training and signing bonus incentives. You will also find the employer’s job and applicant requirements detailed as you would in other recruiting sites.
There are many such sites, this is one I felt worthy of mention. Here’s that link: https://www.indeedcom/career/salaries/driving?from=whatwhere