Log trucks play a vital role in the lumber industry, transporting freshly cut timber to mills to be made into finished wood products. Log truck drivers must be licensed to drive commercial vehicles under normal roadway conditions, and many must also be adept at bringing their rigs over substandard roads into remote logging sites. The average annual salary for a log truck driver is $33,000 as of January 2011, according to Simply Hired.

Average Salaries

Truck drivers with the skills needed to safely transport a heavy load down backwoods roads and across the highway system may expect to earn an average annual salary of $33,000 as of January 2011, according to Simply Hired. Log truck drivers’ earnings may vary widely, however, depending upon their region, experience levels and other factors.

Comparative Salaries by Region

Salaries for log truck drivers vary considerably by the region in which they work, and many areas offer salaries above the national average for the position. Log truck drivers in Massachusetts and New York report the highest salaries for the job ($42,430 and $47,752, respectively, as of January 2011), according to Salary Expert. Six out of 10 areas surveyed by this source report average annual salaries for log truck drivers of $40,734 or more.

Comparative Salaries by Occupation

Truck drivers earn some of the best salaries in the logging industry. Logging workers, including fellers, graders and equipment operators earn average hourly wages ranging from $14.66 to $15.64 per hour as of May 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook. The midpoint in those wages, $14.99 per hour, calculates to an annual salary of $31,179 annually. Log truck drivers earn on average about six percent more than other workers in the industry.

Comparative Salaries for other Truck Drivers

Although they earn wages above the average in the logging industry, log truck drivers earn less than other truck drivers. The average annual salary for a commercial truck driver is $37,980 as of January 2011, according to Salary.com, and 75 percent of all truck drivers earn more than $33,437 annually. The average log truck driver’s salary is 87 percent of the average for the industry, and sits below the 25th percentile for earnings by all truck drivers.