13 Garbage Truck Driver Jobs in New York

Nationally, CDL Driver roles in the waste industry average $26.50 per hour, about $55,000 a year. Most positions fall between $19.23 and $35.10 per hour; those hourly figures are converted from annual pay at 2,080 hours per year, not separately surveyed. Actual pay in New York varies by employer, route type, and contract. Check each listing for the posted rate.

Route work regularly runs past eight hours and storm, holiday-backlog and short-staffing weeks push hours higher, so overtime is a routine part of driver earnings rather than an exception. Advertised hourly rates therefore understate actual annual take-home for many drivers.

You cannot drive a collection truck without a Class B CDL, but you do not need prior waste-industry experience to get hired. Many haulers and municipalities run paid CDL training or tuition-reimbursement programs and recruit directly from their own helper and laborer ranks, so the common no-experience route into this job is to start as a helper and earn the licence on the payroll.

Collection drivers are one of the most heavily unionised roles in the industry. Teamsters locals represent drivers at many private haulers, and municipal sanitation drivers are typically covered by a public-sector contract. Where a collective bargaining agreement applies, pay follows a published wage scale with fixed progression steps rather than individual negotiation, and the scale, shift premiums and overtime rules are set out in the local contract. Ask the local for the current rate sheet, since scales differ by local and expire on their own schedule.

Most collection driving is full-time on a fixed route, but part-time and weekend work does exist: roll-off and transfer-station relief driving, Saturday commercial routes, and casual or extra-board slots at municipal departments that cover absences. These are usually paid at the same hourly rate as full-time routes rather than a reduced one.

Based on current listings on this site, the most openings are in Buffalo (3), Chester (3), Rochester (2), Altamont (1), Halfmoon (1). Listing counts change as jobs are filled and new ones are posted.