Having a driving license can be a real lifesaver. If you have a clean driving license, then you are never too far away from being able to get some temporary work if your circumstances get tricky and you need to find a job sharpish. Having a heavy-duty vehicle license is even more useful, but it isn’t essential for making money on the road. In the United States, a commercial driver’s license is not particularly hard to get. If you are in Europe or the United Kingdom, you do have to jump through a few more hoops before you can take on jobs in a heavy vehicle.
Here are three ways you can make some cash behind the wheel – and you only need a commercial driver’s license for one of them.
Car Delivery
Car delivery companies like Acertus offer a service known as ‘drive away’. Driveaway car transportation services are typically completed like so: a qualified driver picks up a set of car keys from a client, travels by public transport or moped to the vehicle’s location, and drives it to where the client wishes it to go. The car does not have to be loaded onto a truck. Instead, the company is expected to provide comprehensive insurance to qualified drivers to legally transport the car on public roads.
You don’t have to have a special license in order to work as a car transportation driver. You need a clean license and a track record of being a safe and responsible driver. Car delivery companies rely on their clients receiving their cars in perfect condition and can’t afford the damage to their reputation that an accident would cause. Only the safest drivers need to apply. You’ll need to have been driving for a few years so that you can instantly get used to different vehicles.
Taxi App Services
Taxi app services have taken over the market in recent years, with companies like Uber leveraging technological innovation to outcompete traditional hackney carriage services. Driving for a company like Uber has downsides and is highly reliant on buggy tech, but the flexible working hours make it a reasonable way of earning some extra money on the side.
Long Distance Trucking
Long-distance trucking isn’t just a way of earning a little money on the side: it is a way of life with its own slang, lifestyle, and music. Trucking has played a large part in the development of American road culture. You’ll need a commercial driver’s license to become a long-distance trucker in the United States. The pay is remarkably good. Truckers earn an average of 64 thousand dollars a year and can earn even more if they specialize in certain difficult routes and loads. Trucking can be a lonely job, however. If you have family and friends you want to see regularly, trucking might not be for you. Far more than any of the other jobs on this list, long-distance trucking takes a huge amount of commitment.