The first image of truck driving often involves long hours on the interstate with little else than your phone and your cargo, but is that really the best truck driver job? Often, these long haul truckers spend two to three weeks on the road before getting a chance to go home. Some regional jobs may not be able to go home for four to six weeks.
If you really want a trucking job that lets you be home every night, whether it’s to get some alone time or spend time with your family, then becoming a drayage truck driver could be your best choice.
Drayage Driving
Drayage driving is the transport of cargo over short distances. Usually, the process involves transporting cargo from a port or railyard to another for longer distance transport, or transporting cargo from those ports and rail yards to customer warehouses or shopping centers. Drayage often takes place in one metropolitan area, which means you’re not driving massive distances that take you far away from home.
Drayage driving is also known as the “first mile” in logistics and shipping. This is because it is usually drayage transport that gets cargo from a warehouse or its start location to the longer-distance intermodal transport, usually ship or train, required for it to reach its destination. This also comes to play at the end when the cargo is delivered to its final location.
Alone, drayage is a multi-billion dollar industry in the already large logistics and shipping industry. Without drayage and drayage truckers, rail yards and ports would be congested with cargo. Containers would be sitting in warehouses, or perhaps still stuck on the ships they arrived in, slowing deliveries and shipments on a global scale. Drayage driving may not cover as large of a distance as other forms of cargo transport, but it is equally important and a great opportunity for truck drivers. It’s no wonder that truck drivers are turning to opportunities in intermodal drayage.
Benefits of Drayage Truck Driving
Short Routes
Many truck drivers are willing to compromise higher pay for the chance to be home as often as they can. The short routes of drayage truck driving make it an appealing candidate as one of the best trucking jobs that allow you to spend time at home. Most drayage routes focus on one metropolitan area. Most routes are actually less than 40 miles, especially if they are trips involving ports. For routes in the 40-60 mile range and longer are often limited to one or two turns a day. A very small number of routes go over the 100 mile mark and even then, the majority of drayage trucking routes can be completed in a day.
In short, the localized routes of drayage truck driving make it a great trucking opportunity while also remaining close to home.
The Pay
Of course, we can’t discuss the benefits of becoming a drayage truck driver without looking at the pay. According to Indeed, the average salary of a drayage truck driver is $24.50 per hour, a rate that is 14% higher than the national average. There are also often opportunities for bonuses and increased salary with seniority.
Skip the Back Breaking Work
As a drayage driver, most of what will be transported are cargo containers and other “no touch” cargo. As such, the drayage trucker themselves will be doing very little, if any, of the physical loading or unloading. The lack of intensive labor in drayage trucking also makes it a good option for older truck drivers.
Predictable Schedules and Routes
The routes and distance are often planned beforehand, because drayage is often moving cargo from one mode of transportation to another. The planning helps ensure efficiency and safety of deliveries in the shipment process. This gives drayage drivers a lot of security and surety that things will go as planned.
Familiarity with Route and People
Drayage truck drivers often work closely in one metropolitan area. The familiarity with the city, its people, and its streets will help drivers ditch the GPS, more easily navigate streets for greater efficiency, connect with the people and familiarize yourself with the local processes for easier completion of assignments.
Manageable Problem Solving
Every now and then, problems will arise during the transport process. However, due to the shorter routes involved in drayage, problem solving is more manageable compared to the complicated, long-distance hauls. Drayage drivers and operators are then more easily able to come up with solutions to the problems that occur.
Greater Unionization
Like the longshoremen that work on ports, drayage truck drivers are often more unionized than other professions. This gives them chances to voice their opinions, speaking up against labor practices that feel unsafe or unfair. Becoming a drayage truck driver means you are likely to join a community where people will listen to your needs, especially with us as Heavy Weight Transport, where we are supportive of our employees.
Opportunity and Security
The US and countries worldwide are facing a trucker shortage. More often than not, there are more open trucking positions than there are truckers, and that includes drayage trucking jobs. This lack of competition would mean there is ample opportunity for a prospective driver to find a drayage trucking job that suits their needs. The demand also helps prospective drayage truck drivers with less experience find a position where they can start their career.
The drayage driving industry is also expected to grow in the coming years, with an estimated $2.9 billion growth worldwide in the next few years. Once you get your Commercial Driver’s License, you can be certain that wherever you move to, there will be demand for a drayage truck driver, a demand that you now have the means to fulfill.
Find Drayage Trucking Opportunities
Heavy Weight Transport Inc. is looking to hire more drayage drivers. Drayage truckers are a core part of our shipping services and we would be happy to have you on board. If you’re looking for an excellent trucking opportunity that also gives you time to be home, drive for us today!
