Bad Economy Jobs
Cross Country CDL Truck Driver Jobs
CDL truck driver jobs can offer individuals the chance to travel across the country and work outside the confines of an office. Drivers can also look forward to an occupation that is expected to grow by 9% until 2018.
Truck drivers are responsible for picking, moving and delivering goods from one location to another. The work can involve transporting items from a manufacturing plant to a distribution warehouse or from a distribution warehouse to a retail business. Other key parts of the job may include loading and unloading shipments, ensuring the equipment is working properly and updating logs of pickups and deliveries.
A person with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) may transport freight for a railroad, ship or an airline company. A driver may be employed to move freight for an individual client or they can work for themselves as owner/operators on a contractual basis.
Often, CDL truck driver jobs can vary depending on the mileage driven and the kind of cargo transported. For example, long-haul truck drivers are typically responsible for planning their cross-country routes and destination times. Pick-up and delivery drivers work in urban areas on consistent and scheduled routes. Specially trained drivers may carry hazardous industrial chemicals, dangerous materials, over-sized loads or other unique loads in vans or semi-trailers. A truck driver may also work as a sales or route driver and be responsible for delivering and arranging items that are sold in grocery and other retail stores.
Education for a CDL Truck Driver
Although formal education is not needed, a general high school diploma is preferred by most employers. In addition, a vocational training program from an accredited truck driving institution can open up more job opportunities and provide higher pay for individuals.
A driver that uses a truck with a gross weight of 26,001 pounds, or that operates a vehicle loaded with hazardous materials or an over-sized load, needs a commercial driver’s license. Several states also require drivers to complete a truck safety and driving skills course before individuals can obtain a license.
CDL Truck Driver Jobs Salary
In May of 2008, individuals that operate heavy tractor-trailer trucks made $17.92 per hour on average. Pick-up and delivery drivers typically earned an hourly rate of $13.27. Sales and delivery truck drivers were paid $10.70 hourly including commissions according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Drivers Needed for Long Haul Trucking Jobs
Long haul trucking jobs are cargo hauling and driving jobs. Long haul truck drivers transport cargo from one part of the country to another. Although some drivers own their own trucks, the vast majority of long haul truckers drive company-owned trucks.
Although you do not need to complete college in order to work as a long haul trucker, you will need to complete driver training. In fact, you will need to obtain a special type of driver’s license in order to legally drive a large truck. This is because large cargo trucks are difficult to drive. You will need to master specific driving skills in order to operate these big rigs safely. Training for a CDL license can be completed in as little as one month if you are able to participate in a full-time training program. Training programs can cost around a thousand dollars.
Long Haul Trucking Jobs Salary
Long haul truck drivers do not make a great deal of money. Most trucking companies pay long haul drivers by the mile. Because of this payment structure, many drivers spend long hours on the road away from their family. Long haul truck drivers can be away from home for over a week at a time. The average yearly salary for a truck driver is around fifty thousand dollars. Despite the economic downturn, many trucking companies continue to hire new drivers, so there is some job security in this industry.
Truckers also need to be aware of the driving regulations of each state that they drive through. Many states require that truckers weigh their cargo at weigh stations located along the interstate. Additionally, there is often a lower speed limit for trucks. If a truck driver fails to follow these regulations and gets caught, they will need to pay the ticket. The trucking companies make the drivers pay for any tickets. If you get too many tickets and lose your license, you will be out of a job. Despite the irregular hours and relatively low pay, many individuals love their lives as long haul truck drivers. The freedom of the open road and the excitement of travel make the hard work worth it.
Outsourcing Your Work Online to Increase Productivity
As a busy professional, corporate officer, or entrepreneur, you need all the time and effort you can devote to the kind of decision-making and planning that will determine the direction of your business. However, you can easily be bogged down by a multitude of routine tasks or projects that are essential but outside your expertise, relatively minor, or too time consuming as to hinder the development of other business areas that need your full attention.
Outsourcing Work Online to Solve Problems
This predicament would greatly benefit from outsourcing to a firm or hiring a virtual assistant, depending on your particular circumstances such as the complexity of the tasks, your compensation budget, and the like. Offshore outsourcing, or hiring an online worker assistant who resides in another country, will allow you to save considerably on wages and bonuses, while maintaining the quality of work that you require.
Outsourcing, or delegating tasks to workers from an independent company or to freelancers, leads to more productivity and higher profits. By outsourcing your business and work, individuals and companies can save great amounts of time and resources. Marketers, medical coding and billing, and customer service agencies are just a few businesses that gain a lot from outsourcing. In addition, outsourcing makes it easier to find specialized workers who are experts on a particular task. Nowadays, online outsourcing and the hiring of virtual assistants are common business practices.
What are Online Virtual Assistants?
Online virtual assistants do exactly the same tasks that conventional or actual assistants perform. Thus, once you provide appropriate instructions through email or a VoIP system, he or she can accomplish tasks such as correspondence, research, editing and proofreading your documents, filing, scheduling, and many more. This delegation of work will increase your productivity because you will not be deluged with menial work but instead can focus on the bigger goals.
There are several outsourcing and freelance jobs websites where you can seek out, interview, and select a suitable individual or team from among numerous capable applicants for full-time or part-time work. Some popular online workplaces are oDesk, Freelance, ProFreelance, and Freelance Switch.
Currently, the top sources for freelance workers, outsourcing firms, and virtual assistants are India, the Philippines, and Eastern Europe. Of course, freelancers from the United States, United Kingdom, and other first world countries are just as capable, but if you happen to reside in the same geographical location, then you would not be saving money as much money.
Saving Money By Outsourcing Online
Typically, an excellent virtual assistant from any of the top sources mentioned would require not more than $4-5 an hour. Getting this low price on an excellent virtual assistant will require some screening and will involve rejecting many unqualified or overpriced workers. Once you find one that suits your needs, the savings are phenomenal. On the other hand, one from the same location where you live would require at least the minimum wage in your particular area. Similar to overseas assistants, finding the right one that meets your price range will take some time.
If you feel overwhelmed with certain tasks such as content writing and programming code, then outsourcing work online is the best option for minimizing costs and maximizing productivity and profits. By sticking to
reputable freelancing and virtual assistant companies, it is easy to find the right offshore applicant for the right price.