Do you get a non-drug induced “high” from driving through some of America’s best scenery? If so, you’ll get a full dose pursuing your truck driving job in Colorado. Even if you’re working in the high plains east of the Rockies, the impressive mountain range can be seen for many miles. The same holds if you are working west of the Rockies. And when you’re up for a thrill, go ahead and try your luck crossing from east to west. During any season, you might find a snowstorm, but it’s the safest thing next to “Ice Road Truckers.” The type of freight you might haul from Colorado is as varied as any state in the country; after all, Colorado exports a little bit of everything and a lot of nothing. Beef, the main export, makes up only about 7% of freight leaving the state, with everything from aircraft parts to mined ore also driving the state’s economy. In fact, if you do have to cross the Rocky Mountains in winter, a heavy load of mined ore may be just what you need to keep your tires on the road — but we don’t recommend heading out without you winter survival kit!
Geographic Advantages
The Continental Divide, a geographic line running through Colorado’s Rocky Mountains divides the western U.S. from the Great Plains and the eastern U.S. But the Continental Divide is really a matter of the direction water travel than traffic. Those holding truck driving jobs in Colorado will find a majority of the opportunities east of the Rockies, from Fort Collins Denver southward to Colorado Springs. Still, truck drivers haul in both directions, over the Rockies to the west and eastward through the Great Plains and Texas. Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico all offer direct routes to Mexico’s border.
Bordering States/Countries
Colorado is completely landlocked with no navigable rivers creating even inland ports. The state is bordered to the south by New Mexico and Arizona, to the west by Colorado, and to the east by Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. The western border is formed by Utah, with Wyoming and a portion of Nebraska to the north.
As the economy experiences is ups and downs, Colorado’s position as a state with natural resources, livestock, high tech manufacturing, and military-industrial products provides for many truck driver jobs both in and out of state. across the country helps it maintain hundreds of thousands of truck driver jobs.
Products Moved by Trucks
Whether they are exported out of state, out of the country, or simply remain in the state for the use of those living in Colorado,, according to the latest data from World’s Top Exports, the following are the primary products moved by truck drivers and offering many truck driving jobs to those calling Colorado home: Beef cuts (boneless, fresh/chilled); Integrated circuits (excluding processors/controllers); Medical/dental/veterinarian instruments; Aircraft including engines, parts; Beef cuts (boneless, frozen); Orthopedic appliances; Beef (bone in, frozen); Molybdenum ores, concentrates; Pork cuts (fresh/chilled; Integrated circuits (processors/controllers): $108 million (1.3%).
Colorado’s Deep Water Ports
As noted, Colorado has no deep water ports, the closest being those in California.
Colorado’s Highways
For those holding truck driving jobs, Colorado has enough interstates and major highways to access any point within the state and most point beyond. But truck drivers should learn that due to weather conditions created by the Rocky Mountains, it is best to stick to the interstates as much as possible. The following are major interstates truck drivers use when traveling through California
I-70 from the Kansas border to Denver and westward to Grand Junction
I-76 the northeast corner of the state to Denver
I-8 from Yuma to San Diego
I-25 from Denver southward to Trinidad near the New Mexico border
I-80 from Reno, Nevada to Oakland
Auxiliary interstates around larger cities
Several Major U.S. Highways throughout the state.
For more information on Colorado and its truck driver jobs, visit: www.cmca.com