How to become a waste truck driver
Official title: Waste truck driver
Also called: Hooklift trucks with roll-on container driver, Refuse truck driver, Mechanical Operator/Waste and Recyclables Collection Truck Driver, Hooklift trucks with roll-on container driver, Refuse truck driver
Waste truck driver drives large vehicles used for refuse collection. He/she drives the vehicles from the homes and facilities where the refuse is collected by the refuse collectors on the lorry and transports the waste to the waste treatment and disposal facilities.
Main tasks
- Driving and tending a heavy motor vehicle, such as a lorry with or without a trailer or a dump-truck, to transport goods, liquids or heavy materials over short or long distances
- Determining the most appropriate routes
- Assisting with or carrying out loading or unloading operations, using various lifting or tipping devices
- Carrying out minor maintenance to vehicles and arranging major maintenance and repairs
- Estimating weights to comply with load limitations and ensuring the safe distribution of weights
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: $49,680 a year. The middle half earn $41,292 to $57,360 a year.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
How much does a waste truck driver earn in Singapore?
Median full-time pay is $49,680 a year (Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg)). The middle half earn $41,292 to $57,360.
Will AI change the work of a waste truck driver?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg): Resident Occupational Wages (Occupational Wage Survey) (June 2024 (data.gov.sg update 2026-04-01)), Singapore Open Data Licence v1.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Updated 4 October 2026