How Much Does a Truck Driver Make in Texas?

Texas is the "heavyweight champion" of the U.S. freight economy and also employs the most truck drivers in the country. Skilled commercial truck drivers are always in demand, especially in the Dallas and Houston areas. They are always moving tons of freight goods.

This means if you are a professional driver or looking to get into the business in Texas, the most important question to ask is, "How much does a truck driver make in Texas?"

The short answer is enough. Just enough to make a very comfortable living. Your ability to make much more money is determined by your specialization, your experience, and your effort.

Truck Driver Salary in Texas: The Baseline Figures

Let's not sugarcoat it: the starting pay of a truck driver can seem a little low. But here's the thing those big, official averages don't tell you: they're mixing everyone into one pot. They're counting the person who delivers for a local store part-time right alongside the trucker who's been hauling cross-country for twenty years.

The government's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will tell you that the average truck driver salary in Texas for a heavy or tractor-trailer driver is somewhere around $54,550 a year, or a little over $26 an hour. Note that the above number is a conservative floor, and you should not use it as a ceiling. To understand the truck driver pay in Texas, especially for people ready to take the long-haul OTR level, you need to analyze specific market segments:

There is a lack of understanding of the base compensation numbers when looking at the actual compensation for specialized OTR drivers.

How Much Do Local Truck Drivers Make in Texas?

The pay structure for local drivers (those who run a route to/from Texas but go home at night to their residence) is different than OTR drivers in general.

Although some national data shows that local truck driving may have an annual income of over $112k, local truckers in Texas are often paid hourly. In most cases, pay will range from $20 to $35 per hour. The hourly wage is common for local truck routes since local routes usually involve more predictable stop-and-go traffic, delayed deliveries, and longer wait times, making it unrealistic and impractical to pay by Cents Per Mile (CPM) rate.

For truckers who prefer predictable paychecks, this can be a good thing. If you get paid hourly, and you work 50 hours a week for 5 days at $28 per hour, you will bring home $1,400 a week. In many cases truckers simply prefer the weekly paycheck, since they would rather get paid 5 days a week versus maximizing income potential. In general, truck drivers earn more money on local routes as compared to OTR routes, as even metropolitan areas like Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington pay more than the Texas average, which is nearly $59,000 per year for local truck drivers overall in that area.

CDL Driver Salary in Texas: The OTR Specialization Premium

If you’re ready to live the OTR life, haul complex loads, and spend weeks away from home, your potential pay ceiling rises dramatically. The core of maximizing your CDL truck driver salary in Texas comes down to specialization.

Dry Van vs. Flatbed

The type of trailer you pull is the fastest way to boost your income. Hauling specialized loads always pays more:

1. Dry Van (Standard OTR): This is the high-volume backbone of the industry. Experienced OTR drivers generally make somewhere between $75,000 and $95,000 per year hauling dry van loads.
2. Flatbed (Specialized OTR): This is where the premium really kicks in. Flatbed freight (machinery, construction materials, and oversized loads) requires more physical labor for tarping and load securement and carries higher risk. Carriers pay $10,000 to $15,000 more per year on average for this skill. Flatbed specialists in Texas can reliably expect to see annual income ranging from $82,500 up to $104,500 or more.

Market economics justify the higher pay as the contracted rate for flatbed freight is $2.60 per mile which is higher than the $2.18 per mile rate for dry van loads. As a skilled CDL driver, you need to be compensated fairly for the added work and the risk you take.

The Real-World CPM Trade-Off: Pay vs. Home Time

When checking common job boards like Indeed, you will see differing CPM offers, which basically all come down to a trade-off of the carrier’s size. The real contention is not a few cent per mile difference; it’s the time you get to spend with your family every month.

Most of the large, national, and often called mega-carriers provide a stable W-2 position with a base CPM that is on the lower side, typically starting experienced drivers at $0.55 to $0.65 per mile for dry van OTR. Sure, you are starting with a lower rate, but it comes with the massive advantage of guaranteed benefits, and reliable weekly miles of often 2,500-3,000 miles a week, and most importantly, predictable home time. Their massive terminals and dedicated routes allow them to guarantee that drivers will be home every week or every two weeks, which compensates for the lower base pay with better quality of life and reliable pay. For example, the top 25% of OTR drivers at one major carrier can earn an annual income of $92,800 or more, driven by consistent mileage, not just a high base rate.

Smaller family-run operations provide noticeable specialized reefer or niche dry van services and advertise base CPMs within the $0.65 to $0.75 per mile range, occasionally advertising higher CPMs. These smaller operations primary recruiting tool is the advertised pay premium, but the pay premium is false advertising because of their home-time policies being extremely restrictive. These smaller companies will typically financially incentivize their drivers to stay out three to four consecutive weeks. For drivers, that means four daily resets away from home every 21 to 28 days. The extra CPM you earn is, for all intents and purposes, transactional payment for the sacrifice of your home life.

In specialized services like flatbed, your base CPM will likely be around $0.50 to $0.60, but it will likely drop significantly because of additional pay. For flatbed, there's extra work in tarping and securing freight for which CDL drivers are typically paid $30 for each load. This guaranteed accessorial revenue increases the effective CPM to the point that flatbed hauling pays an additional $2,000 to $5,000 per year in comparison to standard dry van work, despite the perception that the base mileage rate is the same.

What Are the True Factors That Determine Your Texas Truck Driver Salary?

In addition to your choice to run either local or OTR – there are other factors to consider in determining your pay as a statewide truck driver in Texas, ranging roughly from $60k to $110k.

Experience and Proven Safety

Your driving years correlate with efficiency, safety, and lower liability for the carrier.

• New Drivers (0-1 Year): This is the time to sharpen your skills and a good safety record. Expect to be on the lower end in pay, which can be from $34,500 to $50,000 a year.
• Senior Drivers (5+ Years): These Over the Road (OTR) professionals with this level of experience and a great safety record become a total necessity. They receive the highest-paying loads and the best cost per mile (CPM) which drives their earnings to more than $80,000 and up to $120,000 or more.

CDL Endorsements (The Skill Multiplier)

A CDL driver who obtains specialized endorsements demonstrates a willingness to tackle tough and high-liability freight – and carriers pay for that skill.

• Hazmat (H) Endorsement: Required for transporting dangerous goods (like chemicals or fuel). Because a Hazmat incident carries extreme risk, this endorsement is a top earner, paying a huge bonus.
• Tanker (N) Endorsement: You need this if you’re carrying bulk liquids or gases in special tanker-trailers. This usually adds an extra $3,000 to $7,000 per year to your CDL salary.

Pay Structure: CPM vs. Percentage

Your income stream is defined by your carrier’s pay model:

• Cents per mile, or routinely abbreviated as CPM, is mainly used for OTR drivers. You earn a set fee, for instance, $0.60 CPM for each mile you drive. In a rapidly changing market, this type of compensation structure offers the most consistency and reliability.
• Percentage of Load: You earn a percentage (typically 20%-35% for company drivers) of the load’s total revenue. This means your paycheck can be huge when freight rates are high, but it can drop quickly during recessions.

Owner-Operator Potential

If you're an ambitious owner-operator who owns your truck and manages all the business expenses, your potential for gross revenue skyrockets – often between $200,000 and $380,000 per year.

Keep in mind though, these are gross numbers and are yet to account for significant costs that the owner-operator has to pay, including up to $70,000 for fuel and maintenance. A proficient owner-operator brings home a net profit of $70,000-$150,000! However, the amount of risk involved in such operations can be significantly higher.

Looking Ahead to 2026

The long-term trends still favor the driver, which is a positive in light of the soft economic conditions in the freight market. The chronic driver shortage worsens the aging driver population and guarantees that pay rates for carriers will increase in 2025 and the years to come. This is especially true for states such as Texas and for the high-value freight drivers with CDL permits. If you are a skilled CDL driver specializing in high-value freight, your CDL driver salary in Texas will continue to reflect your critical value to the supply chain.

HMD Trucking is looking for CDL truck drivers in Arlington, Dallas, and Fort Worth. We have immediate openings for dry van and flatbed drivers in the three locations. We also have steady freight and competitive pay. In Dallas, HMD Trucking has more job openings for qualified drivers and, on top of that, has specialized hazmat and doubles team drivers. We have lease purchase trucking jobs in Dallas for those looking for the next step in their career. HMD Trucking is not only looking for drivers with a solid safety record and one year of verifiable OTR but also committed to giving their drivers dependable weekly miles and reliable home time. Come work for a company that cares for their drivers and wants you to prosper in the trucking industry.