Skills
Select one or more knowledge areas or skills to find related occupations.
0 skills selected
Overview
Refuse vehicle drivers handle the truck side of waste collection, keeping to routes, manoeuvring heavy vehicles and transporting waste from homes or facilities.
In job descriptions, look for waste collection vehicles, route schedules, depot parking, collection records, protective equipment, domestic or industrial waste and treatment-site delivery.
Explore this occupation
Search jobsWhat the work can involve
The work is route-based and vehicle-focused. It can include pre-use checks, driving through narrow streets or collection areas, coordinating with loaders, recording collections and taking waste to the correct facility.
Skills and specializations
Key strengths are heavy-vehicle manoeuvring, route discipline, safe reversing, depot routines, protective equipment and knowledge of waste types. Some jobs add hazardous or industrial waste procedures.
Salary context
Pay expectations are shaped by vehicle size, shift pattern, route complexity, waste type, record duties and responsibility for safe collection in public areas. Extra procedure-heavy waste streams can change the role scope.
Career paths
Experience can lead toward route planning, depot coordination, waste transport supervision, driver training or wider logistics roles in municipal and environmental services.
Good to know
Check whether the advert names the vehicle type, collection area, crew setup, record system, lifting equipment and destination facilities. It should be clear how much loading work is expected.
Editorial note
This guide is editorial career context, not official labour-market statistics or role-specific pay data.
Map overview
Click the map to search for refuse vehicle driver jobs.
— Jobs total — Countries with jobs
O*NET relationships
See occupations connected to this ESCO occupation in the official O*NET–ESCO mapping. The relationship type comes from the source and is not a ranking or recommendation.
O*NET relationships: 2
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers
53-3032.00
O*NET occupation is broader
The O*NET occupation covers a broader field of work than this ESCO occupation.
Open in O*NETRefuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
53-7081.00
Close relationship
The occupations are closely related, but the official mapping does not treat them as exact equivalents.
Open in O*NETSource and method
These relationships come from the official European Commission O*NET–ESCO crosswalk.
Relationship direction: O*NET occupation to ESCO occupation.
Several O*NET occupations can point to the same ESCO occupation, and one O*NET occupation can point to several ESCO occupations.
AltoTrail preserves the source relationship type. The order is technical and does not show which occupation is best, most relevant or recommended.
AltoTrail validates and presents the source relationships without adding ranking or recommendation semantics.
Alternative labels
Occupation group
Heavy truck and lorry drivers (8332)
Source facts
| ESCO URI | http://data.europa.eu/esco/occupation/2480f8b0-4c02-4c66-84ad-2677c1548e03 |
|---|---|
| ESCO code | 8332.8 |
| ISCO group | 8332 |
| Concept type | Occupation |