Why Truck Drivers Work Holidays

Now that Memorial Day is over, let’s have a frank talk about holidays and truck driving. If you think that you’ll be one of those rare truck drivers who are always home on every holiday, then you might rethink your plans to acquire truck driver training. Heavy equipment operators are another story.

Typically, heavy equipment operators work on a job site that is owned by a private company, public corporation, or government entity. Many of them get holidays off, but there is no guarantee. A truck driver, on the other hand, is more likely to work holidays for one simple reason – they deliver the goods that serve as the backbone of modern society.

Truck drivers transport everything from basic toiletries to lumber and automobiles. Anything that is sold in a store has to be transported from the manufacturer to the retail outlet where consumers purchase it. Also, raw materials are often transported by truck drivers so that manufacturers can build the products they sell over the retail counter. All of this means that holidays like Christmas and Easter are especially busy times for truck drivers. But other holidays might be busy times, as well.

If you deliver hardware and tools, for instance, you might be busier around Father’s Day than most other times of the year. If you deliver flowers and fabric, you might be busier around Mother’s Day. Deliver turkeys? Thanksgiving will likely be a peak season. If you deliver produce, you’ll be busy all year.

That’s not to say that you’ll be delivering ON Christmas Day. You may be on the road up to Christmas Day. Many retail stores will receive a new product on the morning of Christmas Eve, and if that is the case, you’ll likely be there with your truck. But if you are thousands of miles from home, you’ll be traveling on Christmas Day to get back to your family.

Most truck drivers understand this when they enter the profession. You have to be flexible if you want to make the big bucks as a truck driver.