If you are a Truck Driver and Want to Make up to 150K, Join the Alaskan Fleet Amid Drilling Boom

This may be a tad bit melodramatic, but there are few professions left in America that embody the old Wild-West pioneering spirit of yore quite like trucking does.

A surge in approvals of various mining and drilling projects means an inevitable surge in demand for various pieces of heavy machinery and equipment, local trucking fleets are planning to hire drivers around the United States — particularly on its fearsome Dalton Highway, a remote, 414-mile road that connects Fairbanks to oil fields near the Arctic Ocean.

The developments, particularly ConocoPhillips Alaska’s Willow project, have been controversial as they may mar some of Earth’s most remote land. However, for the residents of the United States’ third-least-populated state, the new investments could bring an economic boom that many locals say the state needs.

In response, Alaskan trucking companies are searching for truck drivers to haul equipment — and they’re paying them massive salaries.

Drivers who can tackle the so-called haul road, which is packed with ice in the winter and prone to dust and mud the other three seasons, are in particular demand. The best conditions on the haul road are in the winter, when temperatures in the negative 20s give the ice-packed highway its best traction.

Norum said Sourdough Express drivers on the haul road earn $95,000 to $120,000, in addition to health care, retirement and paid time off benefits. Compensation has increased by 15% over the past two years.

Sourdough Express currently employs 85 company drivers in addition to contractors, Norum said, adding that over the next few years the company will add 50 to 100 new drivers.

Gage Schutte, vice president of freight operations for Alaska West Express, also said the company is looking to add 50 to 100 new drivers to its fleet. According to a federal database, the company currently has 121 drivers.

Alaska West Express increased driver compensation by 11% this year. Each round trip between Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay on the haul road pays around $1,500, Schutte said. Drivers can expect to make 100 to 115 trips to Prudhoe a year. That means Alaska West Express drivers can earn around $150,000 to $170,000 a year, in addition to benefits.

It’s important to know that the cost of living in Alaska is much higher than the lower 48. RentCafe reports that the cost of living in Alaska is 29 percent higher than the national average, and some necessities range even higher than that. While housing is 18 percent higher, groceries are about 30 percent higher and health care is 49 percent higher, according to the site.

But it is a hefty salary that Alaskans can earn, with that last word being the operative one.

 In this economy, nobody can turn their nose up at a six-figure salary, even if it means risking their lives.

 Would you drive a commercial truck for a living?

Yes: 51% (110 Votes)

No: 49% (104 Votes)