Driver: your questions, answered

Not for most jobs posted as plain Driver. Plenty of them use vans, pickups, sedans or box trucks kept under the commercial weight limit on purpose, and a posting that says non-CDL is telling you exactly that. You need a CDL once the vehicle crosses the federal weight threshold, carries enough passengers, or hauls placarded hazmat. Your state DMV issues it and sets the testing details, so check their site for the steps where you live.

The pay figures on this page come from live postings, so use those rather than any number someone quotes you. What moves your pay is mostly the license class, how you're paid (by the hour, the stop or the mile), how much overtime the route runs, and whether nights and weekends pay extra. Union fleets and hazmat work tend to sit higher. Getting a CDL is often the single biggest raise a local driver ever sees.

Expect them to pull your motor vehicle record, run a background check and send you for a drug screen. For jobs that need a CDL, federal rules add a DOT physical and a pre-employment drug test through a clearinghouse query. Most fleets also give you a road test with a supervisor in the passenger seat. The bar on tickets and accidents is often set by the company's insurance carrier, not the manager, which is why a manager who likes you still can't always say yes.

Yes, just in different ways depending on the freight. Sitting for hours stiffens your lower back and hips, and the fix is getting out and walking at every stop you can. Delivery work adds lifting, twisting and climbing in and out of the cab more times than you'd believe. The back of a cargo van in summer is its own kind of tired. If a posting lists a lifting requirement, take it seriously and ask whether you'll have a liftgate or a pallet jack.

A company vehicle is the better deal for most people starting out. The fuel, repairs, tires and insurance are someone else's problem, and your own car doesn't pile up wear. Jobs that use your personal vehicle usually pay mileage, but personal auto policies often exclude business use, so call your insurer before your first shift. Rideshare and gig apps sit at the far end of that trade, with total control over your hours and every cost on you.

Traffic you can't control, measured against a schedule that pretends there isn't any. Dispatch sees a dot on a map that should be moving, the customer sees a delivery window that's closing, and you see a lane closure on the only bridge. Parking in a dense city is a daily fight, and some tickets land on you. The quiet is the other thing. You spend most of the day alone, which some drivers love and others can't stand after a month.

The most common step up is a CDL, which opens trucking, bus and tanker work and usually a pay bump. Drivers who know every route and every dock often move into dispatch, route planning or a fleet supervisor role, where you're the one watching the dots. Experienced drivers with clean records train new hires on ride-alongs. Some go the other way and buy their own truck or van, which is real money and real risk in the same package.

Lead with the license class, any endorsements and a clean record, right at the top. Then use whatever you've done that looks like the job. Warehouse work shows you can lift and scan. Restaurant delivery shows you can find addresses and handle customers, and retail shows you stay polite when someone's angry. Knowing the local roads is worth saying out loud in the interview. Entry-level fleets hire for reliability first, so a steady attendance record counts for more than you'd think.