Updated
PERM occupation, SOC 53-3032, #83 of 1,410 by filings
Heavy and TractorTrailer Truck Drivers
- Biggest sponsor
- POLMAX LLC dba Experior Transport · 10% of its filings
- Busiest state
- IL · 37% of its filings
- Major group
- Transportation and material moving · SOC 53
Weighing an offer for this job?
Where it falls among certified offers, and the four wage levels DOL sets for it by area.
Median wage
$54,288
all PERM $103,272
Filings
781
#83 of 1,410
Approval
87.6%
field 96.8%
Median days
392
85 faster than the field
What it pays
Where its median offer sits among every occupation, then the whole ladder of certified offers by year and by state.
Median offered wage
$54,288above 38%
Approval rate
87.6%ahead of 10%
Median days to decision
392 daysahead of 77%
Each bar counts occupations at that value. More
Who files it
The sponsors and firms with the most PERM filings under this code, the places the work sits, and who the workers were.
Sponsors filing it
- POLMAX LLC dba Experior Transport 79 filings · 100.0% approved
- PLANET LOGISTICS INC. 55 filings · 100.0% approved
- BRIGHT SKY TRANSPORT LLC 36 filings · 100.0% approved
- EMS Serrot LLC 34 filings · 100.0% approved
- ALL FRIENDS ENTERPRISES, LLC DBA AF SERVICES 29 filings
- FORZA TRANSPORTATION SERVICES, INC. 29 filings
How this is counted
The employers with the most applications under this code. 262 of 781 filings, 34% of the total.
Firms filing it
- Kurczaba Law Offices PC 128 filings · 100.0% approved
- Najla AbuShaaban Associates, PC 118 filings · 100.0% approved
- Hammond Neal Moore 111 filings · 98.2% approved
- Miranda and Maldonado PC 63 filings · 100.0% approved
- Kriezelman Burton Associates, LLC 50 filings · 68.0% approved
- Experienced Associates LLC 48 filings · 79.2% approved
How this is counted
The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 518 of 781 filings, 66% of the total.
Where the jobs are
- Illinois 291
- Texas 203
- Michigan 57
- Nebraska 33
- Iowa 24
- Oregon 22
How this is counted
The worksite state on the application, which is where the job is and not where the company is headquartered. Volume by state across everyone is on the state map. These 6 states cover 630 of 781 filings.
Where the work is
- Chicago, IL 101
- El Paso, TX 88
- Alsip, IL 79
- Laredo, TX 68
- Romulus, MI 36
- Canutillo, TX 34
How this is counted
The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 6 cities cover 406 of 781 filings.
- Every sponsor that files it, by state, approval rate, offered wage and time to a decision
- Every filing for it, PERM, wage requests and H-1B, case by case
Who filled these jobs, FY2016 to FY2023
From DOL's old form; the form in use since mid-2023 doesn't carry them. Top six of each.
Country of citizenship
- Mexico 1,739
- Zimbabwe 1,397
- South Africa 883
- Poland 628
- Macedonia 149
- Colombia 123
Worker's education
- None 6,050
- High School 302
- Bachelor's 52
- Other 32
- Associate's 15
- Master's 8
Visa held when filed
- NOT IN USA 4,830
- B-1 264
- H-2A 68
- B-2 62
- H-2B 40
- TPS 30
Schools
- NA 5
- N/A 3
- QUOT;LETEAQUOT; TECHNICAL COLLEGE 3
- TODIRESTI HIGH SCHOOL 3
- BOARD OF INTERMEDIATE AND SECONDARY EDUCATION 2
- CHERCHER SECONDARY SCHOOL 2
Fields of study
- HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA 81
- GENERAL STUDIES 59
- HIGH SCHOOL 42
- GENERAL 20
- SECONDARY EDUCATION 18
- NA 11
The job itself
What O*NET says the work is, what the market pays it by BLS's survey, its outlook, and DOL's wage levels year by year.
- United States2,062,040 jobs
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-INChicago, Alsip
- El Paso, TXEl Paso, Canutillo
- Laredo, TXLaredo
- Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MIRomulus
- middle half of pay (BLS)
- median
- 10th to 90th percentile
- DOL's Levels I to IV, left to right
- median PERM offer
| Area | BLS median | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $58,640 | ||||
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $62,300 | $45,802 | $55,432 | $65,083 | $74,714 |
| El Paso, TX | $49,270 | $37,398 | $45,947 | $54,517 | $63,066 |
| Laredo, TX | $49,010 | $34,715 | $44,054 | $53,373 | $62,712 |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | $59,120 | $43,618 | $50,814 | $57,990 | $65,187 |
How these figures fit together
BLS surveys employers on what they pay everyone in a job; DOL builds its four levels from the same survey a year later (the July 2026 wage year uses BLS's May 2025 estimates). DOL publishes levels by area, not nationally, so the United States line has none. Levels are hourly in DOL's tables; here they're shown a year at 2,080 hours, as DOL computes them. The metros are the ones holding the most of this job's PERM filings, placed by Census's county files.
The block is the middle half of what employers report paying everyone in this job, citizen or not; the ticks under it are DOL's four prevailing wage levels for that metro, the floors a PERM or H-1B offer is held to. More
DOL's levels for this job in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN, year by year
Each July DOL resets the four levels from BLS's newest survey. A determination keeps the figures of the year it was issued in.
| Wage year | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | $45,802 | $55,432 | $65,083 | $74,714 |
| 2025-26 | $46,405 | $55,661 | $64,896 | $74,152 |
| 2024-25 | $42,370 | $52,291 | $62,234 | $72,155 |
| 2023-24 | $38,979 | $48,547 | $58,115 | $67,683 |
| 2022-23 | $39,229 | $47,986 | $56,763 | $65,520 |
| 2021-22 | $38,626 | $46,446 | $54,288 | $62,109 |
What the job is
Drive a tractor-trailer combination or a truck with a capacity of at least 26,001 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW). May be required to unload truck. Requires commercial drivers' license. Includes tow truck drivers.
- Preparation
- Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- O*NET Job Zone 1-2
- DOL's education basis
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Wage year 2026-27
- Jobs, 2025 to 2035
- +3.8%
- About 214,500 openings a year (BLS)
- Typical entry
- Postsecondary nondegree award
- BLS
Bright Outlook O*NET OnLine lists this job for numerous job openings.
The work, most important first
- Check all load-related documentation for completeness and accuracy.
- Inspect loads to ensure that cargo is secure.
- Check vehicles to ensure that mechanical, safety, and emergency equipment is in good working order.
- Crank trailer landing gear up or down to safely secure vehicles.
- Obtain receipts or signatures for delivered goods and collect payment for services when required.
- Maintain logs of working hours or of vehicle service or repair status, following applicable state and federal regulations.
The education workers in it report
- 26%
Less than a High School Diploma
- 54%
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 19%
Post-Secondary Certificate
Titles people use for it
Driver, Line Haul Driver, Over the Road Driver (OTR Driver), Truck Driver, CDL Driver (Commercial Driver's License Driver), Log Truck Driver, Production Truck Driver, Road Driver.
Related jobs: Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators, Light Truck Drivers, Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders, Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists, Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining, Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors.
This section includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database and O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. PERM Tracker has modified some of this information (the shares are rounded and only the top tasks are shown); what changed. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Against other jobs
Where this sits in the ranking
Ranked 83 of 1,410 by volume: 82 filed at least as many filings, and 1,327 filed no more.
- Just above
- Nursing Assistants 781 filings
- Just below
- Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products 765 filings
Other transportation and material moving roles
Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. More
Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. Wages inside a group still swing hard, because the group holds every seniority level and every metro.
- #85 Stockers and Order Fillers 756 filings · 17 denied
- #67 Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment 905 filings · 4 denied
- #99 Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand 586 filings · 11 denied
- #109 Packers and Packagers, Hand 497 filings · 76 denied
- #37 Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand 1,832 filings · 3 denied
- #23 Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers 2,590 filings · 728 denied
The same job on H-1B
12 certified H-1B labor condition applications for this occupation since FY2020, offering a median of $48,869 a year; the middle half ran $40,700 to $53,820. By state and year in the salary explorer.
Notes on these numbers
Reading the wage
A floor, not a salary survey: every level and metro mixed. DOL's four wage levels for this job, by area.
What the median is
The median wage employers committed to in federal filings for this occupation. It mixes every experience level and every metro, and it's a floor: the employer must offer at least the prevailing wage DOL determines for the occupation, level and county. Across all PERM filings the middle half of offered wages runs $45,178 to $141,357, so a figure inside that band is unremarkable whichever occupation it belongs to. The levels page reads DOL's OFLC wage search live.
What these numbers don't say
4 notes
- The code is the identity
- This one is SOC 53-3032. Two SOC codes can carry the same job title, so a title that looks duplicated on the ranking is two different occupations. Match on the code when you're checking a specific filing.
- A median isn’t an offer
- It's the middle of all 781 wages committed to for this occupation across the country, entry level and principal alike. The same role's medians swing hard by worksite, which the state map shows directly.
- Approval isn’t about the occupation
- The denial rate moves with what happened in the filing rather than with the job title, so nothing here is a property of Heavy and TractorTrailer Truck Drivers. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
- Nothing here is pending
- All 781 counted here carry a decision date, because every case in DOL's disclosure files does, so a case still waiting is in none of them. The largest filer of this occupation is POLMAX LLC dba Experior Transport. Where the queue stands today is on the processing times page.
The window these figures cover: DOL's PERM disclosure files for fiscal years 2024 to 2026, through the third quarter of 2026, 373,939 decided cases. Nothing pending is counted here. How each figure is built
Weighing an offer?
Compare it against this median, then check the state map, where the same occupation's medians swing hard by worksite.
Setting one?
All 1,410 occupations sort together on the wages page, and denial rates show how outcome moves with the offered wage.
Filings newer than DOL's last published file can't be attributed to this occupation until DOL publishes them. The live list on the case search page carries them by employer.
Case data: DOL quarterly disclosure files (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly
Employers and firms: Derived from DOL's disclosure files · data through Jun 30, 2026 · rebuilt with each quarterly load
O*NET occupation data: O*NET Database, USDOL/ETA (onetcenter.org) · data through Aug 16, 2026 · twice a year
BLS market pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (bls.gov) · data through May 31, 2025 · yearly, each spring
BLS employment projections: BLS Employment Projections (bls.gov) · data through Dec 31, 2025 · yearly, each autumn
DOL wage tables: DOL OFLC wage data downloads (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jul 1, 2026 · yearly, each july
What each source includes
Case data: Decided PERM cases only. A case still waiting isn't in here, so counts and durations describe finished cases.
Employers and firms: Employers, law firms and occupations ranked from decided cases only.
O*NET occupation data: What O*NET says each occupation is and takes: its description, tasks, Job Zone and the education workers report. A description of the job everywhere, not of any one employer's opening.
BLS market pay: What employers report paying everyone in each job, nationally, by state and by metro, from BLS's yearly survey (May of the year named). Citizens and immigrants alike; not PERM offers.
BLS employment projections: BLS's ten-year projection of each job's employment and yearly openings, and the entry education it calls typical. A projection, not a count.
DOL wage tables: The four prevailing wage levels DOL publishes for every job in every area, each wage year from 2021-22, as DOL's own tables print them. The floors an offer is held to, not what anyone was paid.
Cite this page
Waiting on a PERM case?
- When it'll likely be decided
- An email when DOL moves it