Best programs to become a light truck driver
You do not need a college degree to become a light truck driver. BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. The field of study that leads most directly to this job is Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor (IPEDS completions).
1 college program at 232 schools trains light truck drivers, graduating 17,965 people a year (IPEDS completions). The job pays a median of $44,860 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About light truck drivers
Drive a light vehicle, such as a truck or van, with a capacity of less than 26,001 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW), primarily to pick up merchandise or packages from a distribution center and deliver. May load and unload vehicle.
Best programs to study to become a light truck driver
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 49.0205 | 17,965 | 100.0% | 232 | $42,812 | $7,572 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
What light truck drivers earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia | $44,050 | 26,050 | 0.84× | 22 | 1,996 |
| Texas | $42,500 | 78,540 | 0.88× | 12 | 1,225 |
| California | $46,790 | 111,950 | 0.97× | 6 | 1,097 |
| Pennsylvania | $44,120 | 42,380 | 1.10× | 16 | 1,075 |
| Illinois | $47,380 | 47,190 | 1.22× | 15 | 965 |
| Utah | $45,860 | 9,930 | 0.90× | 10 | 960 |
| Connecticutlimited | $44,500 | 10,720 | 1.00× | 2 | 913 |
| Ohio | $42,600 | 35,130 | 1.00× | 9 | 875 |
| Kentucky | $43,230 | 15,630 | 1.24× | 14 | 840 |
| Florida | $41,810 | 67,390 | 1.07× | 16 | 839 |
| Mississippi | $38,140 | 7,030 | 0.96× | 8 | 828 |
| Rhode Islandlimited | $45,660 | 3,110 | 0.98× | 1 | 626 |
| Arizona | $45,140 | 18,400 | 0.90× | 6 | 587 |
| Louisianalimited | $39,440 | 14,300 | 1.17× | 2 | 577 |
| Tennessee | $45,050 | 33,710 | 1.63× | 14 | 555 |
| Kansas | $43,730 | 9,140 | 1.01× | 8 | 427 |
| Wisconsin | $45,670 | 19,140 | 1.03× | 7 | 425 |
| Marylandmoderate | $48,150 | 18,420 | 1.05× | 4 | 420 |
| Massachusettslimited | $48,110 | 23,350 | 1.02× | 1 | 396 |
| Arkansas | $37,080 | 9,340 | 1.13× | 9 | 316 |
| Alabamalimited | $38,490 | 13,980 | 1.05× | 2 | 287 |
| Michiganlimited | $43,000 | 26,160 | 0.94× | 2 | 258 |
| North Carolina | $39,910 | 31,810 | 1.02× | 5 | 257 |
| West Virginia | $38,860 | 3,330 | 0.75× | 5 | 196 |
| Washington | $49,070 | 23,290 | 1.04× | 8 | 193 |
| Nebraskalimited | $44,120 | 4,210 | 0.65× | 2 | 117 |
| Missourilimited | $45,500 | 16,210 | 0.87× | 1 | 114 |
| Virginialimited | $42,450 | 25,170 | 0.97× | 1 | 107 |
| New Mexicomoderate | $42,360 | 4,220 | 0.77× | 3 | 93 |
| South Carolinamoderate | $37,680 | 11,950 | 0.82× | 3 | 87 |
| Oklahomalimited | $39,840 | 10,020 | 0.93× | 2 | 81 |
| Minnesotamoderate | $48,880 | 17,360 | 0.93× | 3 | 76 |
| North Dakotamoderate | $47,950 | 1,950 | 0.72× | 3 | 38 |
| Indianalimited | $44,560 | 19,880 | 0.98× | 1 | 31 |
| Oregonlimited | $47,150 | 11,120 | 0.89× | 1 | 27 |
| New Hampshirelimited | $46,260 | 4,670 | 1.08× | 1 | 25 |
| Montanalimited | $46,420 | 2,960 | 0.91× | 2 | 19 |
| Wyominglimited | $43,780 | 1,450 | 0.81× | 1 | 5 |
| Delawarelimited | $43,990 | 4,200 | 1.37× | 1 | 4 |
| Iowalimited | $42,750 | 9,680 | 0.98× | 1 | 4 |
| South Dakotalimited | $43,240 | 4,820 | 1.67× | 2 | 4 |
Skills and knowledge
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Obey traffic laws and follow established traffic and transportation procedures.
- Report any mechanical problems encountered with vehicles.
- Verify the contents of inventory loads against shipping papers.
- Inspect and maintain vehicle supplies and equipment, such as gas, oil, water, tires, lights, or brakes, to ensure that vehicles are in proper working condition.
- Read maps and follow written or verbal geographic directions.
- Load and unload trucks, vans, or automobiles.
- Present bills and receipts and collect payments for goods delivered or loaded.
- Maintain records, such as vehicle logs, records of cargo, or billing statements, in accordance with regulations.
Skills
- Monitoring3.1
- Active Listening3.1
- Speaking3.1
- Reading Comprehension3.1
- Critical Thinking3.0
- Writing2.8
- Mathematics2.3
- Active Learning2.1
Knowledge areas
- English Language3.8
- Transportation3.4
- Customer and Personal Service3.4
- Public Safety and Security2.9
- Administrative2.6
- Mechanical2.5
Abilities
- Far Vision3.6
- Multilimb Coordination3.6
- Spatial Orientation3.5
- Problem Sensitivity3.3
- Near Vision3.3
- Deductive Reasoning3.1
Core activities
- Handling and Moving Objects4.5
- Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment4.4
- Performing General Physical Activities4.4
- Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials4.4
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.2
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events4.1
How to get in
How to become a light truck driver
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Light Truck Drivers1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 49.0205Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a light truck driver?+
You do not need a college degree to become a light truck driver. BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. The field of study that leads most directly to this job is Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor (IPEDS completions).
Which college majors lead to becoming a light truck driver?+
The field of study that leads most directly to this job is Truck and Bus Driver/Commercial Vehicle Operator and Instructor (IPEDS completions). In all, the NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 program to this job, which graduates about 17,965 people a year.
How much do light truck drivers earn?+
The median is $44,860 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $30,800 at the 10th percentile to $80,310 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for light truck drivers growing?+
BLS projects a +7.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 120,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
232 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 program that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do light truck drivers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Driver, Truck Driver, Delivery Driver, Package Car Driver among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 53-3033.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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