On the road with heavyweights

The range of commercial vehicles in freight transport is wide. The weight class of the truck determines which driving license the drivers must hold.

More than one in ten drivers should be able to operate a loader crane. On these vehicles or their trailers, a loader crane is permanently installed. This vehicle type is probably mentioned most frequently, because the truck driving license alone is not sufficient for it. To operate a truck loader crane, employees additionally need the so-called “loader crane certificate”.
Almost as often, the sought-after drivers will drive an articulated truck – the “standard vehicle” among trucks. Here, a semi-trailer is attached to a tractor unit that has no loading area of its own. A good one in ten employers points out that the future employees will also drive with a trailer. Some time ago, e-trucks were introduced to great public attention. However, they still make up only a fraction of all trucks on German roads. Accordingly, there is only one mention of a vehicle with this drive type.

“Heavy” license classes dominate

The basic requirement for the profession is a valid driving license. By far most frequently, job seekers need driving license class CE, which entitles the holder to drive heavy articulated trucks and road trains. It appears in three quarters of the analyzed job advertisements (74.9 %). Holders of this license can be deployed flexibly, since they can drive all trucks. Often a class C license for heavy trucks also seems to be sufficient (38.9 %), although here trailers may not exceed a total weight of 750 kg. In addition, a wide variety of license classes were found, including those for buses or tractors.