Truck driver

A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; a lorry driver, or driver in Ireland, the United Kingdom, India and Pakistan) is a person who earns a living as the driver of a truck (usually a semi truck, box truck or dump truck).

Truck drivers provide an essential service to industrialized societies by transporting finished goods and raw materials over land, typically to and from manufacturing plants, retail and distribution centers. Truck drivers are also responsible for inspecting all their vehicles for mechanical items or issues relating to safe operation. Others, such as driver/sales workers, are also responsible for sales and customer service.

There are three major types of truck driver employment:

Both owner operators/owner driver and company drivers can be in these categories.

In Australia, drivers of trucks and truck and trailer combinations with gross vehicle mass greater than 12 tonnes must rest for 15 minutes every 5.5 hours, 30 minutes every 8 hours and 60 minutes every 11 hours (includes driving and non-driving duties). In any 7 day period, a driver must spend 24 hours away from his/her vehicle. Truck drivers must complete a logbook documenting hours and kilometres spent driving.

In Canada, driver hours of service regulations are enforced for any driver who operates a "truck, tractor, trailer or any combination of them that has a gross vehicle weight in excess of 4,500 kg or a bus that is designed and constructed to have a designated seating capacity of more than 24 persons, including the driver." However, there are two sets of hours of service rules, one for above 60th parallel north, and one for below. Below latitude 60 degrees drivers are limited to 14 hours on duty in any 24-hour period. This 14 hours includes a maximum of 13 hours driving time. Rest periods are 8 consecutive hours in a 24-hour period, as well as an additional 2-hour period of rest that must be taken in blocks of no less than 30 minutes.

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