Dedicated CDL-A Position Home Daily

CDL-A Dedicated E-Commerce Shuttle Driver – Columbus, OH

Home Daily • Evening / Overnight • Central Ohio

Columbus, OH Facility-to-Facility Shuttle 2021–2025 Day Cabs

Keep e-commerce and parcel trailers turning between Central Ohio fulfillment centers and sortation buildings on evening and overnight cycles. Base rate $28/hour with overtime and night differential produces $1,700–$1,900 typical weekly gross while returning home after every shift.

Typical Weekly Gross
$1,700–$1,900
Typical Annualized: ~$93,600
Base Rate $28/hour
Overtime $42/hour after 40
Night Differential +$2.75/hour
Sign-On Bonus $1,500
Home Time Home Daily

Core Responsibilities

The role centers on timed trailer movement that supports nightly parcel sort and fulfillment cutoffs rather than residential delivery or hand unloading.

  • Confirm correct trailer number, seal and destination data before coupling.
  • Execute safe drop-and-hook or live trailer exchanges at customer yards.
  • Notify local dispatch immediately of gate queues or delayed releases.
  • Maintain accurate ELD logs and stay within hours-of-service limits.
  • Work with gate personnel and yard hostlers without interrupting facility flow.
  • Complete thorough pre-trip and post-trip inspections each shift.

Compensation Details

Pay is structured as an hourly package built for evening and overnight facility work. Overtime and night differential form a meaningful part of the weekly total.

Base Hourly $28.00
Overtime $42.00 after 40 hours
Night Differential $2.75 per qualifying overnight hour
Typical Weekly Range $1,700–$1,900
Typical Week ~$1,800 gross
Typical Annualized ~$93,600
Sign-On Bonus $1,500 ($500 at 30 / 90 / 180 days)
Detention $30/hour after 60 minutes of qualifying delay

Work Window & Radius

Home Time Home daily after every shift
Shift Pattern Evening and overnight; common starts 4:00–8:00 PM
Weekly Hours Approximately 48–52 paid hours
Operating Area Primarily Central Ohio, generally 75–175 air miles
Weekly Miles 1,000–1,500 (secondary to hourly pay)
Terminal / Parking Columbus-area terminal or designated customer yard

Power Units & Trailers

Primary Tractors 2021–2025 Freightliner Cascadia day cabs
Additional Units 2021–2024 Volvo VHD day cabs
Transmission Automatic
Trailers 53-ft dry vans (approximately 2019–2025)
Technology & Safety ELD, electronic DVIR, GPS/dispatch, dash cameras, collision mitigation, lane-departure warning, adaptive cruise on selected tractors
Assignment Practice Assigned when fleet allows; temporary or slip-seat possible during maintenance or volume spikes

Primary equipment is late-model day cabs. A limited number of older, well-maintained units remain in the broader fleet. Maintenance is handled through the Columbus-area shop and approved vendors.

Freight & Typical Lanes

Freight is cartonized consumer merchandise, apparel, electronics, household goods, small appliances, packaged retail products, general merchandise, e-commerce returns and seasonal goods moving on dry vans between fulfillment centers, sortation facilities, cross-docks and regional distribution yards.

  • Groveport and Lockbourne facilities to Columbus-area sort or cross-dock locations
  • Columbus to West Jefferson, Springfield, Zanesville or Dayton
  • Frequent empty repositioning inside the Central Ohio network
  • Primary roads: I-70, I-71, I-270, I-670, US-33, US-23
  • Longer Midwest moves (Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Louisville) occur mainly during peak volume and remain exceptions to the home-daily pattern
  • Nightly sequence is adjusted by dispatch according to sort cutoffs and trailer readiness

Shift Flow

  • First assignment arrives several hours ahead of the main evening cycle.
  • Pre-trip, tractor check and departure to the initial trailer location.
  • Most nights involve three to five facility-to-facility movements, depending on trailer availability, traffic and sort timing.
  • Majority of stops are drop-and-hook or quick trailer exchanges; live waits occur when a trailer is still being processed.
  • Dispatch may revise later moves while the driver is still at a previous facility.
  • Shift ends at the assigned terminal, customer yard or approved parking spot; HOS constraints are addressed early when a longer run is involved.

About the Carrier

Parcel and e-commerce networks require reliable trailer turns that match nightly sort and fulfillment schedules. This mid-sized regional carrier focuses on dedicated shuttle capacity inside the Central Ohio logistics cluster. The operation stays inside a practical home-daily radius so drivers can support high-volume facility cycles without shifting into long-haul linehaul or residential delivery work.

Benefits

Health Medical, dental and vision options with employee contributions
Retirement 401(k) with company match
Time Off Paid vacation after eligibility period; paid holidays per policy
Training & Orientation Paid orientation plus dry-van, coupling, yard-safety and customer-site training
Other Paid DOT physical renewal, company ELD and electronic paperwork, terminal parking, high-visibility vest, rider eligibility subject to policy and customer restrictions

Qualifications

  • Valid Class A CDL and current DOT medical card
  • Six months of CDL-A tractor-trailer experience preferred; recent graduates with clean records may be considered after additional training
  • Acceptable MVR; ability to pass drug/alcohol testing, Clearinghouse query and background screening
  • Willingness to work evening, overnight and occasional weekend shifts; ability to perform coupling, uncoupling and outdoor inspections in all weather
  • No HazMat, Tanker or TWIC endorsement required for this freight

Typical Operating Friction

  • Facility queues and dock congestion during high outbound volume
  • Empty equipment concentrated at one site while another needs trailers
  • Evening traffic on I-270, I-70 and warehouse access roads
  • Weather, construction or incidents that stretch travel times
  • Late trailer releases or sudden sort-priority changes

Hiring Sequence

1
Initial Contact
Recruiter call within one business day
2
Documentation Review
CDL, MVR, employment history, drug screen, Clearinghouse
3
Decision Window
Usually 3–7 business days after results return
4
Orientation
Paid one-day orientation at Columbus terminal followed by equipment and facility orientation

Driver Questions

Q: Do I unload packages or make residential deliveries? ▼
No. This is pure tractor-trailer shuttle work between facilities. Warehouse staff handle the freight.
Q: How often does the planned sequence change during a shift? ▼
Pre-planned moves are the starting point, yet dispatch regularly adjusts later assignments when a trailer is delayed or a sort priority shifts.
Q: Can I take the tractor home? ▼
Selected drivers may be allowed when the assignment and local parking situation permit. It is not automatic.
Q: What happens if hours run short on a longer move? ▼
Contact dispatch early. They arrange legal parking rather than directing continued operation past available hours.
Q: How does volume behave after the holiday peak? ▼
Volume normally eases after the holiday peak, although weekly demand still varies by customer and network needs.
Q: What share of stops are live loading versus drop-and-hook? ▼
Most stops are drop-and-hook or trailer exchanges. Live waits occur when a trailer has not yet been released.

CDL-A Market in the Columbus Area

Central Ohio supports a dense concentration of home-daily and dedicated CDL-A work. Fulfillment centers, parcel sortation buildings, private fleets, LTL terminals and warehouse shuttle operations around the outerbelt generate steady demand for Class A drivers who prefer facility-to-facility runs over long-haul OTR. Groveport, Lockbourne, West Jefferson, New Albany and the Rickenbacker logistics zone form the core of this activity. Local and regional dedicated accounts dominate openings; pure over-the-road positions exist but represent a smaller share of available seats. Peak retail periods increase the need for evening and overnight capacity, while the rest of the year continues to offer consistent shuttle, dedicated and private-fleet opportunities for drivers who want predictable home time.

Columbus Freight Geography

Columbus sits at the intersection of I-70, I-71 and I-270, giving freight direct paths east-west and north-south across the Midwest. I-70 connects Indianapolis and western Ohio with Zanesville and points farther east; I-71 links Cleveland with Cincinnati and Louisville; I-270 distributes traffic among the warehouse and fulfillment clusters in Groveport, Lockbourne, Obetz, West Jefferson, New Albany and neighboring outerbelt communities. Rickenbacker International Airport and its surrounding logistics parks add air-cargo and e-commerce capacity, while Norfolk Southern and CSX intermodal facilities provide rail options. The combination of interstate access, available industrial land and proximity to major population centers has concentrated retail distribution, parcel sortation and consumer-goods fulfillment in the metro. Evening sort schedules and seasonal retail volume keep trailer demand active throughout the year.

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