⚠⚠ A federally licensed job with about 214,500 openings a year and a training requirement that became federal law in 2022: first-time Class A and B CDL applicants must train with a provider on the FMCSA Training Provider Registry. Florida's public Class A course is 320 clock hours. ⚠ Florida pays $50,640 at the median against $58,640 nationally, and drivers under 21 may drive only within Florida.
Licensure and accreditation
⚠⚠⚠ THE CDL IS FEDERAL. First-time Class A and B applicants must complete entry-level driver training from a provider on the FMCSA Training Provider Registry (49 CFR 380.609, from 7 February 2022), so ask any school whether it is listed and for which class. ⚠⚠ The steps: a DOT medical certificate (49 CFR 391, valid up to 24 months), a commercial learner's permit held at least 14 days (49 CFR 383.25), registry training, then the skills test. ⚠ Florida issues a CDL at 18 but restricts drivers under 21 to intrastate operation (FLHSMV); crossing state lines requires 21 (49 CFR 391.11). Drivers are subject to random drug and alcohol testing, and a hazardous materials endorsement adds a knowledge test and a background check.
⚠⚠⚠ The job is licensed by the federal government, and the training is now a federal requirement too
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (53-3032)
Entry-level education (BLS)
⚠ Postsecondary nondegree award
Median, 2025
$58,640 — ⚠ Florida $50,640
Jobs
2,221,200
Outlook 2025–35
+4% (+83,800)
⚠⚠ Openings a year
about 214,500
Self-employed
7%
⚠⚠⚠ Since 7 February 2022 there has been no way around the school. Federal rule 49 CFR 380.609: “An individual who applies, for the first time, for a Class A or Class B CDL, or who upgrades to a Class A or B CDL, must complete driver training from a provider listed on the Training Provider Registry (TPR).” The same applies the first time someone seeks the passenger, school bus or hazardous materials endorsement.
⚠⚠ So the first question to any programme — a public technical college or a private truck-driving school — is whether it is listed on the FMCSA Training Provider Registry, for which class. A course that is not listed does not count toward the CDL, however good it is.
⚠⚠⚠ The steps to a Class A licence
Age. Florida issues a CDL at 18, but “applicants under 21 will be restricted to intrastate operation only” (FLHSMV). Federal rule 49 CFR 391.11 requires a driver crossing state lines to be “at least 21 years old.” ⚠ So an 18-year-old can drive within Florida only, and any job that crosses a state line has to wait until 21.
A DOT medical certificate. A driver must be physically qualified under 49 CFR 391 Subpart E, and the certificate lasts at most 24 months (49 CFR 391.45), less for some conditions. BLS: federal rules “do not allow people to become truck drivers if they have a medical condition, such as high blood pressure or epilepsy.” ⚠ Get the medical examination before paying for training.
A Commercial Learner’s Permit. 49 CFR 383.25: “The CLP holder is not eligible to take the CDL skills test in the first 14 days after initial issuance of the CLP.”
Entry-level driver training from a Training Provider Registry provider (above).
The skills test for the class.
⚠ BLS adds that drivers “are also subject to random testing for drug or alcohol abuse,” and that a hazardous materials endorsement needs another knowledge test and a background check.
⚠⚠ What Florida’s public programmes are
Course
Hours
What it is
Public carriers
⚠⚠ TRA0080 Tractor Trailer Truck Driver
320
completion point A — the Class A course
12 (plus Pensacola State as TRA0080C)
TRA0084 Truck Driver Heavy, Florida Class “B”
150
completion point A of the Class B route
8
TRA0086 Tractor Operator
150
completion point B
2
⚠⚠ 320 hours is about eight weeks full time; BLS describes truck-driving programmes that last “between 3 and 6 months,” so ask how a college schedules it. FSCJ packages the same 320 hours as four 80-hour courses (TRA0081, TRA0082, TRA0083, TRA0089).
⚠ Florida’s output is all short certificates and all at technical and state colleges: 1,038 credentials in 2023 at 19 public institutions, led by Sheridan Technical (198), Indian River State (149), FSCJ (107), Marion Technical (81) and Orange Technical (80). Private truck-driving schools and carrier-run academies also train drivers, but this site lists public institutions only.
⚠ Some institutions that award the credential do not show the TRA courses in the state course file (Indian River State is the largest). Ask the college directly how its programme is packaged and whether it is on the Training Provider Registry.
⚠⚠ What Florida pays
Percentile
Florida
United States
Difference
10th
$37,700
$40,140
−$2,440
25th
$45,500
$47,960
−$2,460
Median
$50,640
$58,640
−$8,000
75th
$62,380
$69,120
−$6,740
90th
$74,330
$79,380
−$5,050
⚠ Florida pays below the national figure at every percentile, by $8,000 at the median. BLS: drivers “usually are paid by how many miles they have driven, plus bonuses,” so the job’s type — long haul, regional, local — changes both the pay and the life. “Working as a long-haul truck driver is a lifestyle choice because these drivers can be away from home for days or weeks at a time.”
⚠ Federal hours-of-service rules cap a driver at 11 hours of driving within a 14-hour window, with 10 hours off between shifts (BLS summary). ⚠ BLS does not mention automation, self-driving trucks or AI in its outlook; it expects demand to grow with freight and online shopping.
What the programme is for, and what else to know
⚠⚠ Ask about cost and who pays. If an employer offers to pay for your training, read what you would owe if you leave before an agreed period.
⚠ Class B is a shorter route to driving straight trucks rather than tractor-trailers, and Florida numbers it separately (TRA0084, 150 hours).
The management route is logistics: dispatch, fleet management and supply chain. See the Logistics Analyst path; Miami Dade’s TRA1420 Introduction to Trucking Operations is the college-credit bridge.
Where people come from
There is no single required programme for this path. These are the fields students
actually arrive from — each is a place in the catalog you can browse.
A program is a field of study, one level above a degree — each page says which degrees it
covers and which Florida institutions award them. ⚠ The count is institutions that
awarded a credential in the field in 2023;
it is not a promise that a school runs this exact degree, and it counts something different
from the course-based list further down.
Careers filed under the same broad field in the federal classification
(TRANSPORTATION AND MATERIALS MOVING) — often they share early coursework, and each row says which group it is filed in.
⚠ Worth reading BEFORE you commit: switching between neighbours is cheap early and
expensive late.
Selected, not exhaustive — the courses specific to this path plus the foundations it is built on.
A course number does not identify a course in Florida: always check your own
institution's catalog and take a syllabus to an adviser.
Tractor Trailer Truck Driver — occupational completion point A, 320 clock hours, at 12 Florida public institutions. ⚠⚠ The Class A course. Ask whether the programme is on the FMCSA Training Provider Registry, because 49 CFR 380.609 requires first-time Class A applicants to train with a listed provider.
⚠ ⚠ Pensacola State carries it as TRA0080C, and FSCJ splits the same 320 hours into four 80-hour courses: TRA0081, TRA0082, TRA0083 and TRA0089.
Truck Driver Heavy, Florida Class B — completion point A of the Class B route, 150 clock hours, at 8 institutions. ⚠ The shorter route, for straight trucks rather than tractor-trailers; Class B also requires registry training for first-time applicants.
Tractor Operator — completion point B, 150 hours, at Miami Lakes Technical and Withlacoochee Technical. ⚠ Offered by two institutions only, so check before planning around it.
Commercial Vehicle Driver Test Preparation — FSCJ, 80 hours. Preparation for the CDL knowledge and skills tests. ⚠ A learner's permit must be held 14 days before the skills test (49 CFR 383.25).
Commercial Vehicle Driving Training/Experiences — FSCJ, 80 hours: straight-line and offset backing, parallel parking and alley docking, the basic control skills the CDL skills test examines.
Introduction to Trucking Operations — Miami Dade, 3 credits. ⚠ DOT requirements, shipping documents, tracking, scheduling and equipment management. The college-credit step toward dispatch, fleet management and logistics.
Where you can take these courses in Florida
13 Florida public institutions teach courses on this path. The count is
how many of the 7 listed courses each one carries — it shows where
the path is best covered. It is not a statement that a school offers this as a
degree; for that, check the institution’s own programme list.
FSCJ
Florida State College at Jacksonville
3 of 7
MDC
Miami Dade College
3 of 7
MLEC
Miami Lakes Educational Center & Technical College
3 of 7
WHTC
Florida Panhandle Technical College
2 of 7
NFC
North Florida College
2 of 7
NFTC
North Florida Technical College
2 of 7
OTCSC
Orange Technical College-South Campus
2 of 7
PTCSP
Pinellas Technical College-St Petersburg
2 of 7
RTC
Ridge Technical College
2 of 7
STC
Sheridan Technical College
2 of 7
FLAGTC
Flagler Technical College
1 of 7
FGC
Florida Gateway College
1 of 7
TSC
Tallahassee State College
1 of 7
Sources
Requirements change. These are the authorities that decide them — check them directly before
committing to a route.
BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers — $58,640 median (2025), 2,221,200 jobs, +4% for 2025–35, about 214,500 openings a year; entry-level education postsecondary nondegree award; 7% self-employed; paid mostly by the mile. No mention of automation, self-driving trucks or AI.
49 CFR 380.609 — Entry-level driver training — First-time Class A or B CDL applicants, and upgrades, must complete training from a provider on the Training Provider Registry; applies from 7 February 2022.
49 CFR 383.25 — Commercial learner's permit — A CLP holder may not take the CDL skills test in the first 14 days after the permit is issued; the permit is valid for up to one year.
SCNS statewide course file — TRA — TRA0080 Tractor Trailer Truck Driver OCP A (320 hours) at 12 public institutions; TRA0084 Class B OCP A (150) at 8; TRA0086 Tractor Operator OCP B (150) at 2; FSCJ's TRA0081–0089 at 80 hours each. All guaranteed transfer.
IPEDS completions — Florida, CIP 49.0205 — 1,038 credentials in 2023 at 19 public institutions, all certificates, led by Sheridan Technical 198 and Indian River State 149.