Is It At All Possible To Be A Trucker In The USA Coming From The UK?

Realistically is it possible? Assuming one manages to jump through all the hoops, how common is it for American businesses to hire foreign drivers? Even as an experience Class 1 driver here in the UK with 5+ years experience hauling a variety of freight, an American employer may still be unwilling to A) jump through all the hoops to hire me and B) Willing to take the risk associated with hiring foreigners.

Do you personally know of any Brits that have managed to land a trucking job in America (without a green card), purely as an immigrant worker?

Welcome to our forum!

Your plan won't work here. The U.S. doesn't issue work Visas for truck driving jobs, so the U.S. companies can't sponsor you. Another issue is that your license is not reciprocal here. You'll have to have a U.S. CDL (commercial drivers license). That raises another problem. You need to hold a standard U.S. driver's license for one full year before being allowed to apply for the commercial license.

No reputable company here will hire you without a green card. It is possible to come here and drive a truck, but the obstacles are fairly tough. We've had a couple of Brits in here before who managed it. Both of them had a green card, stayed here doing other forms of work until they met the requirement of having a standard U.S. driver's license for one year, then they went to truck driving school (another requirement) and got their CDL.

Your experience will mean nothing here. I know it sounds stupid, but that's the facts.

Thanks for the reply, I thought it was going to be a long shot and almost impossible without a green card.

Well looks like Canada it is then 🙂 I might not be able to live in America but at least I can do cross border trucking and drive through your beautiful countries.

I know Canada has its own hurdles too but certain provinces make entry quite a bit easier.

I'm curious how that might work the opposite way? Drivers from the US heading over to the UK to drive in Europe, or perhaps Central/South America. I understand our US license won't work. Just curious about the opportunities

I'm curious how that might work the opposite way? Drivers from the US heading over to the UK to drive in Europe, or perhaps Central/South America. I understand our US license won't work. Just curious about the opportunities

Why on earth would a north american trucker wanna be a trucker in the UK / Europe? Driving on European roads is horrible, constant traffic jams, narrow roads, roundabouts every 5 minutes, hardly any dedicated truck stops and very limited driving hours per day...

But from an employment perspective I'm really sure. I think it would be incredibly rare for Americans to immigrate to the UK / Europe seeing as America is just a better place to live and work as far as I'm concerned.

At my company we do have a brit who is a driver. He's been here for quite a few years and the company does indeed get him a work visa. It's quite rare though.

At my company we do have a brit who is a driver. He's been here for quite a few years and the company does indeed get him a work visa. It's quite rare though.

That's good to hear, do you know what visa type he is one? The H2-B visa says "This visa type is for a job where the employer’s needs must be one time, seasonal, peak load or intermittent" and "The job must be for less than 1 year".

I don't qualify for a H1-B visa as I don't have a degree and even if I did, an employer still wouldn't be permitted to sponsor someone on a H1-B visa for a job which doesn't require a degree.

I'm sure there are loop holes or ways employers can retain their foreign workers but I'm not familiar with the whole visa system at all.

Work visas are damn near impossible going either direction. My partner is from the UK and i live in texas so we been having to do the flights back and forth honestly the only visa’s that have promise are either the k1 fiancee or cr1 spouse visa.

The CR1 is the only visa that allows immediate work in the US or in the UK

At my company we do have a brit who is a driver. He's been here for quite a few years and the company does indeed get him a work visa. It's quite rare though.

That's good to hear, do you know what visa type he is one? The H2-B visa says "This visa type is for a job where the employer’s needs must be one time, seasonal, peak load or intermittent" and "The job must be for less than 1 year".

I don't qualify for a H1-B visa as I don't have a degree and even if I did, an employer still wouldn't be permitted to sponsor someone on a H1-B visa for a job which doesn't require a degree.

I'm sure there are loop holes or ways employers can retain their foreign workers but I'm not familiar with the whole visa system at all.