The Complete Guide to Becoming A Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Driver

Chapter 1: What Does a Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Driver Actually Do?

Let's strip away the romantic image of the open road and the cowboy of the highway. You need to see exactly what a heavy and tractor-trailer truck driver does on a Tuesday. Because the job is less about "driving" and more about "managing a complex, heavily regulated, 80,000-pound machine through a system of people who are often in a hurry."

First, the equipment. A "tractor-trailer" is the combination of a tractor (the engine and cab you sit in) and a trailer (the box, flatbed, or tank behind it). A "heavy" truck, like a dump truck or a concrete mixer, is the other main branch of this occupation. A Class A Commercial Driver's License (CDL) lets you drive the truck-and-trailer combos. A Class B CDL lets you drive the heavy straight trucks that don't have a detachable trailer. The physical act of driving is only a fraction of your day.

Your real day starts before the engine turns over. You are responsible for a pre-trip inspection. This is not a quick walk-around. You'll check the tires for cuts and proper inflation (the drive tires on a tractor can be worth over $400 a piece), inspect the brake hoses and air lines for leaks, look at the fifth-wheel coupling (that's the metal plate that connects the tractor to the trailer) to ensure the jaws are locked, verify the lights work, and test your air brakes. You must physically walk around