Жүк көлік жүргізушісінің қызметі

Person who earns a living as the driver of a truck

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; an HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Malaysia and Singapore) is a person who earns a living as the driver of a truck, which is commonly defined as a large goods vehicle (LGV) or heavy goods vehicle (HGV) (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 responsible for inspecting their vehicles for mechanical items or issues relating to safe operation. Others, such as driver/sales workers, are also responsible for sales, completing additional services such as cleaning, preparation, and entertaining (e. g. cooking, making hot drinks) and customer service. Truck drivers work closely with warehouse associates and warehouse workers who assist in loading and unloading shipments.

In Canada, driver hours of service (HOS) regulations are enforced for drivers who operate a "truck, tractor, trailer, or any combination of them that has a gross vehicle weight in excess of 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. These 14 hours include 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 fewer than 30 minutes. The concept of "Cycles" refers to the total amount of time drivers can be on duty in a given period before they must take time off. Cycle 1 is 70 hours in a 7 day period and cycle 2 is 120 hours in a 14 day period. Drivers using cycle 1 must take off 36 hours at the end of the cycle before being allowed to restart the cycle again. Cycle 2 is 72 hours off duty before being allowed to start again. Receipts for fuel, tolls, etc., must be retained as MTO officers can request them to further verify the accuracy of information contained in drivers' logbooks during inspections.

In the United States, the hours of service (HOS) of commercial drivers are regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers are limited to 11 cumulative hours driving in a 14 hour period, following a rest period of no fewer than 10 consecutive hours. Drivers employed by carriers in "daily operation" may not work more than 70 hours, and continue driving, within any period of 8 consecutive days. Drivers must maintain a daily 24 hour logbook record of duty status documenting all work and rest periods. The record of duty status must be kept current to the last change of duty status and records of the previous seven days retained by the driver in the truck and presented to law enforcement officials on demand. Electronic on board recorders (EOBR) can automatically record, among other things, the time the vehicle is in motion or stopped. An FMCSA ruling mandated use of EOBRs, also known as Electronic Logging Device (ELD), began on December 18, 2017. The new mandate applies to all carriers not under FMCSA exemptions. A shortage of truck drivers has been reported in the United States. Retention rates are low.

Truck drivers are paid according to many different methods. These include salary, hourly, and a number of methods which can be broadly defined as piece work. Piece work methods may include both a base rate and additional pay. Base rates either compensate drivers by the mile or by the load. A company driver who makes a number of "less than truckload" (LTL) deliveries via box truck or conventional tractor trailer may be paid an hourly wage, a certain amount per mile, per stop (aka "drop" or "dock bump") or per piece delivered, unloaded, or tailgated (i. e., moved to the rear of the trailer). The main advantage of being paid by the mile may be that a driver is rewarded according to measurable accomplishment. The main disadvantage is that what a driver may accomplish is not so directly related to the effort and, perhaps especially, the time required for completion. Household goods drivers deal with the most complexity and thus are typically the highest paid, potentially making multiples of a scheduled freight hauler.

Mileage calculations vary from carrier to carrier. Hub miles, or odometer miles ("hub" refers to hubometer, a mechanical odometer mounted to an axle), pay the driver for every mile. Calculations are generally limited to no more than 3–5% above the estimates of mileage by the carrier before red flags appear, depending on the carrier's financial compensation or how it rates the mileage estimation capabilities of the software used. One version of hub miles includes only those per carrier designated route, i. e., a set number of miles. "Out of route" miles of any incentive are provided by the driver to the carrier for free. Many of the largest long haul trucking companies in the United States pay their drivers according to short miles. Short miles are the absolute shortest distance between two or more zip codes, literally a straight line drawn across the map. These short miles rarely reflect the actual miles required to pick up and deliver freight, but they will be used to calculate driver earnings. Short miles are on average about 10% less than actual miles, but in some cases the difference can be as large as 50%. An extreme (but not unheard of) example would be a load that picked up in Brownsville, Texas, and delivered in Miami, Florida, a journey requiring a driver to travel over 1,600 miles. The short routing, however, would measure the distance as only 750 miles, as if the truck could drive across the Gulf of Mexico. Another extreme example would be a load that picked up in Buffalo, New York, and delivered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, not giving any consideration that three of America's Great Lakes lie between that load's origin and destination. Other obvious obstacles would be mountains and canyons. Truck prohibited routes sometimes create this same phenomenon, requiring drivers to drive several truck legal routes and approach a destination from behind (essentially driving a fish hook shaped route), because the most direct route cannot accommodate heavy truck traffic. Some trucking companies have tried to alleviate these discrepancies by paying their drivers according to "practical miles." This occurs when dispatchers provide a route to follow and pay the driver accordingly based on the route. This is done to compensate drivers for the actual work done. These routes largely follow the Interstate Highway system but sometimes require drivers to use state and U. S. highways and toll roads. Trucking companies practice this method to attract and retain veteran drivers. Household goods (HHG) miles, from the Household Goods Mileage Guide (aka "short miles") was the first attempt at standardizing motor carrier freight rates for movers of household goods, some say at the behest of the Department of Defense for moving soldiers around the country, long a major source of steady and reliable revenue. Rand McNally, in conjunction with the precursor of the National Moving & Storage Association developed the first Guide published in 1936, at which point it contained only about 300 point to point mileages. Today, the 19th version of the Guide has grown to contain distances between more than 140,000 cities, zip codes, or highway junctions.

Percentage based pay is a common pay structure for owner operators signed on to haul freight for specific companies. In this type of pay structure, owner operators are paid a percentage of the gross load revenue. This percentage varies depending on the services provided by the company. For example, an owner operator who receives 95% of the load revenue may only be provided with dispatch services while an owner operator who receives 65% of the load revenue may have a company provided trailer, insurance, or other benefits. In most cases, the owner operator also receives 100% of the fuel surcharges. While not common, company drivers can also be paid by percentage of the load. This is typically a percentage of revenue, the same as owner operators, with some company drivers instead paid a percentage of the load profit.

Companies such as Dupré Logistics, which traditionally paid by the mile, have switched to hourly wages. Regional and local drivers are usually paid by the hour. In 2011 the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the average heavy and over the road truck driver hourly wage to be $21.74 per hour. The BLS reported in 2012 that the median hourly wage was $18.37 per hour. In May 2013, the BLS reported a mean average hourly pay ranging from $12.21 (bottom 10%) to $28.66 per hour (top 10%). In March 2014, Payscale. com published that the entry level truck driver ranged from $11.82 to $20.22 an hour and the average hourly rate was reported as $15.53 an hour. Certain special industry driving jobs such as oilfield services like vacuum, dry bulk, and winch truck drivers can receive a $22.00 or higher hourly wage. A December 2020 survey found the average truck driver in the United States works 70–80 hours per week and earns between $.28 cents to $.40 per mile.

In Australia, heavy vehicle licenses are issued by the states but are a national standard. There are 5 classes of license required by drivers of heavy vehicles:

A Light Rigid (LR class) license covers a rigid vehicle with a gross vehicle mass (GVM) not more than 8 tons, with a towed trailer not weighing more than 9 tons GTM (Gross Trailer Mass). Also, buses with a GVM up to 8 tons which carry more than 12 adults including the driver. A Medium Rigid (MR class) license covers a rigid vehicle with 2 axles and a GVM of more than 8 tons, with a towed trailer not weighing more than 9 tons GTM. A Heavy Rigid (HR class) license covers a rigid vehicle with 3 or more axles with a towed trailer not weighing more than 9 tons GTM. Also articulated buses. A Heavy Combination (HC class) license covers semi trailers, or rigid vehicles towing a trailer with a GTM of more than 9 tons. A Multi Combination (MC class) license covers multi combination vehicles like Road Trains and B Double Vehicles. A person must have a C class (car) license for one year before they can apply for an LR or MR class license and two years before they can apply for an HR. To upgrade to an HC class license, a person must have an MR or HR class license for one year. To upgrade to an MC class license, a person must have an HR or HC class license for one year.

Driver's licenses in Canada, including commercial vehicle licenses, are issued and regulated provincially. Regarding CDLs (commercial drivers licenses), there is no standardization between provinces and territories.

In the United States, there is a lot of unpaid time, usually at a shipper or receiver where the truck is idle awaiting loading or unloading. Prior to the 2010 HOS changes it was common for 4–8 hours to elapse during this evolution. CSA addressed this and incorporated legal methods for drivers and trucking companies to charge for this excessive time. For the most part, loading/unloading times have fallen into a window of 2–4 hours although longer times are still endured.

In 2006, the U. S. trucking industry as a whole employed 3.4 million drivers. A major problem for the long haul trucking industry is that a large percentage of these drivers are aging, and are expected to retire. Very few new hires are expected in the near future, resulting in a driver shortage. Currently, within the long haul sector, there is an estimated shortage of 20,000 drivers. That shortage is expected to increase to 63,000 by 2018. Trucking (especially the long haul sector) is also facing an image crisis due to the long working hours, long periods of time away from home, the dangerous nature of the work, the relatively low pay (compared to hours worked), and a "driver last" mentality that is common throughout the industry. To help combat the shortage, trucking companies have lobbied Congress to reduce driver age limits, which they say will reduce a recruiting shortfall. Under current law, drivers need to be 21 to haul freight across state lines, which the industry wants to lower to 18 years old. Employee turnover within the long haul trucking industry is notorious for being extremely high. In the 4th quarter of 2005, turnover within the largest carriers in the industry reached a record 136%, meaning a carrier that employed 100 drivers would lose an average of 136 drivers each year. At the end of 2020, turnover for truck drivers in fleets with more than $30 million of annual revenue was 92%. There is a shortage of willing trained long distance truck drivers. Part of the reason for the shortage is the economic fallout from deregulation of the trucking industry. Michael H. Belzer is an internationally recognized expert on the trucking industry, especially the institutional and economic impact of deregulation. He is an associate professor, in the economics department at Wayne State University. He is the author of Sweatshops on Wheels: Winners and Losers in Trucking Deregulation. His major opus was critically well received. Low pay, bad working conditions and unsafe conditions have been a direct result of deregulation. "[This book] argues that trucking embodies the dark side of the new economy." "Conditions are so poor and the pay system so unfair that long haul companies compete with the fast food industry for workers. Most long haul carriers experience 100% annual driver turnover. As the Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote: "The cabs of 18 wheelers have become the sweatshops of the new millennium, with some truckers toiling up to 95 hours per week for what amounts to barely more than the minimum wage. [This book] is eye opening in its appraisal of what the trucking industry has become."

A truck driver's "DAC Report" refers to the employment history information submitted by former employers to HireRight and USIS Commercial Services Inc. (formerly called DAC Services, or "Drive A Check"). Among other things, a truck driver's DAC Report contains the driver's identification (name, DOB, SSN), the name and address of the contributing trucking company, the driver's dates of employment with that company, the driver's reason for leaving that company, whether the driver is eligible for rehire, and comments about the driver's work record (e. g. good, satisfactory, too many late deliveries, etc.). It will also indicate whether the company stored drug and alcohol testing information with USIS. A separate section of the DAC report contains incident/accident information as well as CSA 2010 Pre Employment Screening Program (PSP) Reports.

The DAC report is as critical to the livelihood of a professional truck driver as the credit report is to a consumer. When a trucking company reports negative information about a truck driver, it can ruin the driver's career by preventing him or her from finding a truck driving job for several years or more. It is widely known that trucking companies often abuse this power by willfully and maliciously reporting false information on truckers’ DAC reports, either in retaliation for seeking better paying trucking jobs elsewhere or for any number of other fraudulent, anti competitive reasons. As long as truck drivers can be threatened with a false DAC report for standing up to management or leaving their company for a better job elsewhere, working conditions at truck driver jobs will not improve.

Truck drivers in the United States were on the frontline delivering essential goods to Americans during the COVID 19 pandemic. Many truck businesses refused to take assignments that traveled to areas experiencing active outbreaks, such as New York City.

In 2010 the FMCSA enacted the Compliance, Safety, and Accountability program, formerly known as Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 or CSA 2010, a data driven safety compliance and enforcement program. The program was implemented to improve commercial motor vehicle (CMV) safety and prevent crashes, injuries, and fatalities using the carrier Safety Measurement System (SMS) using the Behavior Analysis Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs). The categories are: 1) Unsafe Driving, 2) Hours of Service (HOS) Compliance, 3) Driver Fitness, 4) Controlled Substances and Alcohol, 5) Vehicle Maintenance, 6) Hazardous Materials (HM) Compliance, and 7) Crash Indicator. The HM and crash indicators are not currently publicly available. There have been improvements, such as the combining of the original Inspection Selection System (ISS) and the Motor Carrier Safety Status Measurement System (SafeStat) to create ISS 2 in 2000 but many issues remained unsolved. A 2012 FMCSA rule change addressed issues but still presented many problems including the Hours of Service rules for those drivers falling under the required "record of duty status" (RODS). The system in use until 2019 uses a relative scoring system that is based on comparing carriers to their peers

There have long been truck driver and trucking industry members concerns over the scoring, the bias, especially to smaller carriers according to a General Accountability Office report, associated with the scoring when non preventable accidents are included, the public posting of the scoring, and a lack of state mandatory procedures ensuring that a citation that was not prosecuted, or that ended favorably for the driver or carrier, was retracted from the national database because it is flawed, artificially raising the driver or carrier scores, and the insurance industry uses these scores to assess risks on insurance. The FMCSA had released a report that the CSA scoring works. The hours of service rules has been changed several times since 2010 and is a concern to carriers and drivers. With the new electronic logging device (ELD) rules that became mandatory on 18 December 2017, for carriers subjected to the RODS rules, more issues have resulted. Drivers need to be aware that along with the ELD rule is a mandate to carry a paper log book and verify that the ELD manual and instruction sheet is in the truck. A driver must be able to email or fax the data if directed by a DOT officer. If an ELD malfunctions a driver must create a paper log to comply with the seven or eight day requirements, as well as recording the vehicle inspection. Congress has mandated the system to be overhauled and proposed FMCSA rules were scrapped as a result. New rules being proposed and testing includes a new Item Response Theory (IRT) model to replace the current relative rankings system began being tested in September 2018 with changes due in 2019.

In 2014 the Road Haulage Association and Freight Transport Association (FTA) have called for the government to help address the shortage of qualified truck drivers in the UK. According to the FTA, there was a shortage of 59,000 truck drivers. The average age of a truck driver was noted to be at 57. During February 2016, an independent survey on the driver shortage was carried out by a UK freight exchange. The purpose of the survey was to get the drivers opinions about the HGV driver shortage. The aim was to establish whether the results of the driver's survey could help the industry and government understand the issues that the drivers are currently facing. The findings of the survey showed that, in the opinion of the drivers, the three main contributing factors to the driver shortage are 1) Poor wages, 2) Poor driver facilities and 3) The way drivers are treated. Over a third of all drivers who participated in the survey felt that they were not being treated well by the companies they drove for. The 2021 United Kingdom fuel supply crisis and the shortages of stocked food supplies within supermarkets and restaurants, were attributed to the chronic shortage of HGV truck drivers and its associated factors of excessive hours, poor working conditions and unsustainably low wages. In response to the HGV driver shortage crisis that accelerated due to lower migration (of immigrant truck drivers) resulting from Brexit and the COVID 19 pandemic, the U. K. government initiated a temporary visa program to allow 5,000 foreign HGV truck drivers to work within the United Kingdom until Christmas. Specifically for the fuel shortages, the U. K. government also readied 150 Army tank drivers to undergo specialised training (for 5 days) and be on standby, in preparation of driving fuel tankers and delivering fuel to fuel stations. Huw Merriman, a Conservative MP and chairman of the Transport Select Committee, said that while readying the army was a "good example" of ministers trying to use as many levers at their disposal as possible and would be used as a "last resort", Merriman lamented that told the long standing driver shortages should be fixed by industry, instead of being reliant on constant government intervention to resolve market failure. text=You’ll be working a minimum of 45 hours per week on an ‘any five from seven day’ shift pattern, so your working days may change each week and could include weekend working. You will also be starting early AM and must be prepared to work through the night.|author=XPO Logistics|source=
Despite the strenuous hours and the required self funded driver qualifications (approximately £1,500), incomes of truck drivers have been slipping down the wage ladder. In 2010, the median HGV driver in the UK earned 51 per cent more per hour than the median supermarket cashier, in 2020 the premium was substantially reduced to 27 per cent. Truck drivers experienced a tighter pay squeeze from 2015 to 2021; median hourly pay for truck drivers rose 10 per cent to £11.80, instead of 16 per cent for all UK employees. text=Why would I want to be a truck driver, with all the responsibility, the long, unpredictable hours, if I can go to Aldi and earn £11.30 an hour stacking shelves?|author=Tomasz Oryński|source=a truck driver and journalist based in Scotland, who planned to move to Finland. Kieran Smith, chief executive of Driver Require, a recruitment agency, noted that employers have pushed labour costs down to compete for powerful customers such as supermarkets. text=Customers have enormous purchasing leverage [and] they have nailed down the haulage companies to the tiniest margins. Lots of drivers leave in their 30s because the hours make it almost impossible to participate in bringing up children, yet the wage isn’t high enough to support the other partner staying at home.|author=Kieran Smith|source=CEO of Driver Require, a UK based logistics management consultancy and recruitment firm.

Many companies today utilize some type of satellite vehicle tracking or trailer tracking to assist in fleet management. In this context "tracking" refers to a location tracking and "satellite" refers either to a GPS or GLONASS satellites system providing location information or communications satellites used for location data transmission. A special location tracking device also known as a tracker or an AVL unit is installed on a truck and automatically determines its position in real time and sends it to a remote computer database for visualizing and analysis. An "in cab" communication device AVL unit often allows a driver to communicate with their dispatcher, who is normally responsible for determining and informing the driver of their pick up and drop off locations. If the AVL unit is connected to a Mobile data terminal or a computer it also allows the driver to input the information from a bill of lading (BOL) into a simple dot matrix display screen (commonly called a "Qualcomm" for that company's ubiquitous OmniTRACS system). The driver inputs the information, using a keyboard, into an automated system of pre formatted messages known as macros. There are macros for each stage of the loading and unloading process, such as "loaded and leaving shipper" and "arrived at the final destination". This system also allows the company to track the driver's fuel usage, speed, gear optimization, engine idle time, location, the direction of travel, and the amount of time spent driving. Werner Enterprises, a U. S. company based in Omaha, Nebraska, has utilized this system to implement a "paperless log" system. Instead of keeping track of working hours on a traditional pen and paper based logbook, the driver informs the company of his status using a macro.

Most truck drivers are employed as over the road drivers, meaning they are hired to drive long distances from the place of pickup to the place of delivery. During the short times while they are in heavily polluted urban areas, being inside the cab of the truck contributes much to avoiding the inhalation of toxic emissions, and on the majority of the trip, while they are passing through vast rural areas where there is little air pollution, truck drivers in general enjoy less exposure to toxic emissions in the air than the inhabitants of large cities, where there is an increased exposure to emissions from engines, factories, etc., which may increase the risk of cancer and can aggravate certain lung diseases, such as asthma in the general public who inhabit these cities. However, the few drivers who are hired to drive only within urban areas do not have this advantage of spending more time away from toxic emissions that is enjoyed by over the road drivers. Other conditions affecting the health of truck drivers are for example vibration, noise, long periods of sitting, work stress and exhaustion. For drivers in developing countries there are additional risks because roads are in appalling conditions and accidents occur more frequently. Truck drivers are a high risk group for HIV infection in those countries. Drivers who work in mines have extra health hazards due to their working conditions, as the roads they travel are particularly treacherous. Factors that increase truck driver fatigue include lack of sleep (quantity and quality), long work hours, sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, and general stress. Research has shown that while some truck drivers may get a sufficient amount of sleep, many suffer from undiagnosed sleep disorders that impact the quality of their sleep. One study found that within a sample of surveyed truck drivers, 68.1% reported waking up during the night, 64.2% reported waking up feeling unrefreshed, and 51.6% reported waking up too early and not being able to go back to sleep. Better electronic methods for maintaining and managing drivers' logs are needed to help reduce truck driver stress. The FMCSA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conducted an extensive study from April 2001 to December 2003 investigating the causes of large truck crashes. Researchers reported that in thirteen percent of the crashes resulting in fatalities or injuries, truck driver fatigue was present. Another FMCSA study published in 2011 reported that large truck crashes were increasingly associated with driving times greater than 7 hours, which is when fatigue begins to affect performance. The FMCSA also reported that in 2016 truck driver fatigue was a larger contributing factor than alcohol and drugs in fatal truck crashes.

A new law was passed in Australia requiring that all "over the road" drivers carry their medical information with them when they "are on the clock". This will help drivers comply with this new law and can also help deliver quick, accurate medical assistance if and when needed.

According to a 2007, study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 86% of the estimated 3.2 million truck drivers in the United States are overweight or obese. A survey conducted in 2010 showed that 69% of American truck drivers met their criteria for obesity, twice the percentage of the adult working for population in the US. Some key risk factors for obesity in truckers are poor eating habits, lack of access to healthy food, lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyle, long work hours, and lack of access to care. Eighty percent of truckers have unhealthful eating patterns as a result of poor food choices and food availability at truck stops is partially to blame. The options at truck stops are generally high calorie and high fat foods available through restaurants, fast food, diners and vending machines. Fresh produce and whole grain items are few and far between. Though 85% of mini mart items are categorized as extremely unhealthy, 80% of these meals are considered a truck driver's main meal of the day. Also, most of the foods carried by drivers in their trucks, whether or not stored in a refrigerator, are purchased from truck stops. This is largely determined by long work hours and tight deadlines, the adoption of a sedentary lifestyle and a lack of a place to exercise. Though some fitness resources are available for truckers, most are scarce. Available areas are truck stops, highway rest areas, trucking terminals, warehouses, and the truck cab. the truck driving industry falls under these categories. Also, daytime sleepiness and night disturbances are associated with obesity, There is now an 11 hour per day limit with 10 hours off required after the weekly shift. Fines for companies which allow work beyond 11 hours are up to $11,000 and for drivers up to $2,750. Though these fines exist, there is minimal enforcement of the law. Some are able to be seen at doctor's offices or private clinics while a large percentage depend on emergency rooms and urgent care visits.

A study of 1,600 truck drivers from 2014 found that truckers in the US smoke at twice the rate of other working adults in the United States; 51% of truckers reported that they smoked in a 2010 survey. 61% of truckers in the same survey reported having two or more risk factors, which were defined as high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, high cholesterol, no physical activity, or sleep deprivation (6 or fewer hours of sleep per 24 hours). In fact, high blood pressure in truck drivers is 26.4% higher than the global prevalence of hypertension. In another study from 2015, more than 91,000 truck drivers were surveyed and similar types of morbidity were found. Truck drivers also suffer from musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular disease, and stress at higher rates.

One form of unspoken communication between drivers is to flash headlights on or off once or twice to indicate that a passing truck has cleared the passed vehicle and may safely change lanes in front of the signaling vehicle. The passing driver may then flash the trailer or marker lights to indicate thanks. This signal is also sometimes used by other motorists to signal truck drivers. Continual flashing of headlights or high beams after emerging from around a corner beside a high wall or from any roadway out of sight to oncoming traffic will alert a truck driver in the oncoming lanes to an accident or other obstruction ahead and will warn him to reduce speed or to proceed with caution. Since truck driver language has no signal for "Do not move in front of me", nor has any understood length of time for turning headlights or high beams on or off, flashing the high beams to say "Do not move in front of me" may be misinterpreted to mean that the truck is clear to proceed with the lane change in front of the vehicle giving the signal.

As a rule, "thanks" is signaled to the vehicle behind by switching between the left and right turn signal several times, whereas turning on the hazard warning lights (both turn signals) means "Slow down; danger ahead". As cars would normally use the hazard warning lights for "thanks", in trucks distinction is necessary. The truck blocks the view of drivers behind it, hence a distinction must be made between "Thanks for letting me pass" and "Danger in front, I may brake hard!" Turning on the left turn signal (in a right hand traffic country) when a vehicle behind attempts to overtake means "Back off; lane not clear", and turning on the right turn signal means "Go ahead; lane clear". Truck drivers also use flashing headlights to warn drivers in the oncoming lane(s) of a police patrol down the road. Though not official, two consecutive flashes indicate a police patrol, whereas a rapid series of flashing indicates DMV or other law enforcement agency that only controls truck drivers. During the day time, the latter is sometimes accompanied by the signaling driver making a circle with both hands (as if holding a tachograph ring). Flashing headlights to the vehicle in front (intended for the other driver to see in their mirror) has two meanings. Long flashes are used to signal a truck driver that they are clear to return to the lane. A series of rapid flashes generally means "You're doing something stupid or dangerous" as in "Do not move in front, trailer not clear!" or "I'm overtaking, move aside". Truckers also use their 4 ways flashing up a steep hill, mountain roads and on ramps on express ways to let others know that they are traveling at a slow speed and to be cautious approaching them.

In Europe, the general rule for truckers in a right hand driving country is to raise the left hand and to simply open the hand with all fingers extended without waving it at all with the palm facing forward, known as 'the flat hand'. Or a shorter version is to simply extend the fingers while still keeping the palm in contact with the steering wheel. Raising the right hand is also used in the same way but very rare.

Truck drivers have been the subject of many films, such as They Drive by Night (1940), but they became an especially popular topic in popular culture in the mid 1970s, following the release of White Line Fever, and the hit song "Convoy" by C. W. McCall, both in 1975. The main character of "Convoy" was a truck driver known only by his CB handle (C. B. name), "Rubber Duck". Three years later, in 1978, a film was released with the same name. In 1977, another film Smokey and the Bandit, was released, which revolves around the escapades of two CB talking truck driver friends, one driving point as they transport a load of bootleg Coors beer across state lines. Smokey and the Bandit spawned two sequels. The 1978 film F. I. S. T. was a fictionalized account of the unionization of the trucking industry in the earlier 20th century, while the future of truck driving was speculated on in the 1996 film Space Truckers in which trucking has gone beyond planetary loads to interplanetary ones. One episode of Cowboy Bebop, "Heavy Metal Queen", also features spacefaring "truck" drivers. Truck drivers have also been villainously portrayed in such films as Duel, Joy Ride, The Transporter, Breakdown, The Hitcher, Thelma & Louise, Superman II, Supergirl, and Man of Steel. B. J. and the Bear is a television series depicting the exploits of a truck driver and his chimpanzee companion. Another is Movin' On, starring Claude Akins and Frank Converse. On 17 June 2007, the History Channel began to air Ice Road Truckers, a documentary style reality television series following truck drivers as they drive across the ice roads in the Northwest Territories in Canada, as they transport equipment to the oil and natural gas mines in that area.