Costco Truck Driver Reviews: SAFER File, Hourly Pay

A Costco depot seat is the private-fleet rumor: hourly pay, benefits, drop-and-hook, home most nights. Then the search mixes warehouse ratings, Schneider “dedicated Costco” ads, and a SAFER card with no safety rating on file. Look up Costco Wholesale Corporation in Issaquah before you treat a warehouse-club job board as a mega-carrier offer. Same private-fleet genre as Walmart truck driver reviews — different size, different pay math, different wait.

Pay, home time, and online ratings move. Verify current figures with Costco recruiting, on Indeed, and on the FMCSA SAFER Company Snapshot. Rules change. Verify current requirements at fmcsa.dot.gov before you act on anything in this guide.

Costco safety record: what FMCSA data shows

Start with the federal file. People searching “Costco SAFER” or “Costco DOT number” need the Issaquah motor carrier, not a lookalike. On the Company Snapshot pulled for this article, USDOT 589006 is Costco Wholesale Corporation, DBA Costco Wholesale, at 999 Lake Drive, Issaquah, WA 98027, phone (425) 313-6275. Mailing address: ATTN Licensing, PO Box 35005, Seattle, WA 98124. Entity type: carrier / shipper. USDOT status: ACTIVE. Out-of-service date: none. Authority: authorized as a motor carrier of property (except household goods) under MC-1778380. Operation classification on that card is both authorized for-hire and private (property), interstate. If a recruiter or job board hands you a different number, stop.

The same snapshot — FMCSA systems dated 09/10/2026 — lists 1,436 power units and 2,612 drivers. MCS-150 mileage is 112,166,298 for 2026, form date 06/25/2026. Cargo checkboxes include general freight, household goods, fresh produce, liquids/gases, intermodal containers, dry bulk, refrigerated food, beverages, paper products, and IEP. That matches a retail depot feeding warehouses, not a 48-state dry-van board.

U.S. roadside inspections, 24 months before 09/10/2026: 1,572 total (plus 6 IEP inspections). Vehicle 1,147 inspections, 79 out of service (6.9%). Driver 1,569 inspections, 4 out of service (0.3%). Hazmat 2 inspections, 0 out of service (0%). IEP 6 inspections, 2 out of service (33.3%). National averages printed on that snapshot (table dated 08/28/2026) are 22.26% vehicle, 6.67% driver, 4.44% hazmat. Vehicle and driver OOS both sit well under the printed averages. Hazmat and IEP are tiny samples — do not treat a 0% or 33.3% line as a fleet grade.

U.S. crashes, same window: 4 fatal, 27 injury, 62 tow, 93 total. FMCSA counts involvement in reportable crashes without a determination of responsibility. A fleet this size will show volume. Read the current file yourself.

Canada on the same snapshot: 0 inspections and 0 crashes in 24 months. Do not invent a Canadian average.

Safety rating: None. Rating date: none. Later review date 06/02/2020, typed Non-Ratable. A blank rating is common on private fleets that have not been through a ratable compliance review. It is not a Satisfactory stamp and not a failing grade. Walk the fields with our SAFER score company lookup.

A SAFER name search for “Costco” also returned Costco 2 U Corp (Santa Barbara, CA, USDOT 2652289), Costcopy (Northridge, CA, USDOT 2616613), Norcostco Inc (Minneapolis, USDOT 409345), and junk DBA strings that mention Costco in a moving-job name. Those are not the club’s Issaquah file. Open SAFER by 589006 and confirm 999 Lake Drive.

Who Costco’s private fleet actually is

Costco is a warehouse-club retailer that runs its own depot trucks to keep warehouses stocked (careers.costco.com). Headquarters is Issaquah. Careers copy talks warehouses, distribution depots, and Costco Logistics for bulky member deliveries — different jobs. The Class A seat this article covers is the depot driver: split-axle tractor-trailer from depot to warehouses and other depots, plus yard work with a hydraulic fifth-wheel tractor.

That is why the queue exists. Private-fleet seats do not post like a mega-carrier’s weekly OTR board. The Morris, Illinois, listing used here described local work inside about 100 air miles, Volvo VNR day cabs, drop-and-hook, dry van and reefer, home daily, weekends and holidays required, overtime, day and night shift. Hiring bars on that post: Class A, three years tractor-trailer experience, three years clean abstract, a Costco road test, and a physical exam on Costco’s schedule. Requirements change. Verify current hiring bars with the depot that would actually dispatch you.

Do not confuse Costco company drivers with dedicated Costco freight at another carrier. Indeed’s “costco class a truck driver” search also returned Schneider dedicated reefer ads that use Costco in the title. Those drivers work for Schneider. Their SAFER file is not USDOT 589006. If the W-2 or settlement says another legal name, you are not on Costco’s private fleet.

Pay: hourly depot range, not a CPM card

Costco’s public Class A listing paid by the hour. The figures below are from public posts when this article was researched. Rates change by depot, tenure, and overtime. Verify current pay for your role — base hourly, Sunday or holiday premium, the 40-hour guarantee if any, overtime rules, and whether the seat is company Costco or a dedicated contractor — in writing.

• Morris, Illinois, Class A (Indeed listing): $31.00–$37.95 an hour. The same posting’s body also printed $31.00–$37.45. Treat the live listing as the source of truth. Full-time. Home daily. Local. Drop-and-hook. Benefits listed: 401(k) and match, medical/dental/vision, PTO, life, FSA, EAP, disability, guaranteed hours. Apply path on the post: costco.com/job.htm.
• Indeed salary page for “Truck Driver” at Costco Wholesale: about $27.08 an hour from five postings, last updated 08/17/2026, with a displayed low of $13.70 and high of $43.10. That cut can mix titles. Do not treat it as the Class A depot floor.
• A Morris driver write-up (07/19/2023) described good benefits, a 90-day probation, slip-seating, local driving, home every day, and 40 hours a week guaranteed. That is one attributed review, not a nationwide guarantee.

There is no public CPM card on the Costco company posts pulled here. Hourly local work is the product: you are not selling miles on the spot market, and you are not collecting a 70-cent OTR line. Overtime, Sunday premium, and whether the depot actually runs a full week are what move the check. A College Park, Georgia, Class A write-up (10/16/2023) called pay “decent” and still wanted more overtime for cost of living. A Tracy, California, write-up (12/21/2020) praised Sunday premium and medical cost, and said days ran close to eight hours. Verify current pay for your depot.

What drivers actually say — including why people wait or quit

Public review pages are not a verdict, and Costco’s company-wide stars are not the fleet. Indeed’s Costco Wholesale page filtered to Truck Driver, updated 07/18/2026, listed 22 truck-driver write-ups. The 4.0 out of 5 headline on that scrape sat on 18,310 company-wide reviews — warehouse, meat, tires, and office mixed in. Do not quote 18,000 stars as driver sentiment. Indeed’s own likes on the filtered page: personal appreciation, a clear sense of purpose, fair pay.

Glassdoor’s Costco Wholesale truck-driver cut sat at 4.1 out of 5 on 13 reviews, with 91% saying they would recommend the job to a friend (verify current). That sample is small. Weigh recent titles, not the warehouse-club brand.

The stay-or-quit split on the driver-titled write-ups is consistent:

• Hourly pay, benefits, and home daily are why people stay. Recurring notes: drop-and-hook, newer equipment, medical that is cheap relative to OTR, a 40-hour floor at some depots, and not living in a sleeper.
• Overtime, six-day weeks, and sitting are why people leave or warn others. A Tracy Class A title from 07/23/2021 was “Work six days a week I have no family life.” A New Jersey Class A note (10/11/2020) called the work drop-and-hook to stores, easy on the body, and still flagged NYC runs. Dock sitting and live unloads show up next to “home daily.”
• Culture versus the wait. Recent titles include “Sometimes, you recieve a blessing,” “If they would hire me back I would go,” “Laid back and paid well,” and “Don’t believe the hype.” Favoritism and “everyone in your business” sit next to “great benefits.” The three-year experience bar and depot-by-depot openings are the real gate — not a published wait-list number. We did not find a public Costco page that states how long an application sits.

TheTruckersReport did not return a usable Costco carrier-review page in this research pass. Do not invent a TTR star rating.

Who a Costco seat fits — and how to vet it

Costco tends to fit a CDL-A driver with about three years of tractor-trailer time, a clean abstract, and a home base near a Costco depot who wants hourly local work, drop-and-hook, and nights at home more than OTR miles. The Morris listing is one depot. Tracy, Brookshire, College Park, Monroe, and Sumner write-ups describe other yards. Ask which legal name is on the truck.

Look elsewhere if you need a first CDL job, you will not live near the depot, you want a published CPM card, you need 48-state OTR, or you will not re-open SAFER the week you would start. Dedicated “Costco” contractor seats are a different employer. Compare other private-fleet and carrier files in our trucking company reviews hub rather than picking a warehouse-club logo.

1. Confirm the legal name and USDOT. Costco Wholesale Corporation, Issaquah, 589006. Not Schneider dedicated, not Costco 2 U Corp.
2. Re-open the SAFER snapshot the week you would start. Authority, vehicle OOS, driver OOS, crashes, and the blank rating. Use the SAFER lookup walkthrough.
3. Get pay in writing. Hourly range for that depot, overtime, Sunday premium, the 40-hour guarantee if it exists, and a sample slow week.
4. Name the work. Local 100-air-mile depot runs, yard hostling, weekends, nights — not a sleeper OTR board.
5. Cross-check people, not just the brand. Indeed’s truck-driver filter, Glassdoor’s small sample, and a carrier search on cdlscan. cdlscan is two-sided — carriers review drivers, and you can research the house — and search does not require buying a full report. It will not replace SAFER or the offer letter.

If you have already run for Costco’s fleet, add a review on cdlscan so the next applicant is not guessing from a warehouse-club careers page. Search is free; a full report is paid. Neither one replaces looking up USDOT 589006.

Frequently asked questions

Is Costco a good company to drive for?

It depends whether you want hourly local depot work — home daily, drop-and-hook, retail freight — and whether you can clear the experience bar. USDOT 589006 shows active authority, no safety rating on file, and vehicle out-of-service under the national average printed on that snapshot. Indeed’s truck-driver filter is a small set of write-ups, not the 18,000-review company score. Verify current pay and home time for your depot.

What is Costco’s USDOT number?

On the snapshot used here, Costco Wholesale Corporation in Issaquah, Washington, is USDOT 589006, MC-1778380, DBA Costco Wholesale. Confirm the number on the truck matches 589006.

How much do Costco truck drivers make?

The Morris, Illinois, Class A listing posted $31.00–$37.95 an hour. Indeed’s mixed “Truck Driver” average sat near $27.08. Some driver write-ups mention a 40-hour guarantee and Sunday premium. Rates change; get the current package in writing for your depot.

Does Costco pay by the mile?

The company Class A post pulled for this article was hourly, not CPM. Dedicated Costco freight at another carrier can pay differently. Ask which legal name would cut the check.

Does Costco hire new CDL drivers?

The Morris listing required three years of tractor-trailer experience and a clean abstract. That is not a finishing-program seat. Verify current hiring bars with the depot. Do not treat warehouse-club hiring as an open CDL school.

Why is it hard to get a Costco truck driving job?

Seats are depot-specific, the experience bar is high relative to mega-carrier OTR, and openings do not post like a national board. Public pages used here did not publish a wait-list clock. Ask recruiting which yard is hiring and what the current abstract rules are.

Is a dedicated Costco truck the same as driving for Costco?

No. Ads titled “dedicated Costco” at Schneider or another carrier are that carrier’s jobs. Look up their USDOT, not 589006.

How do I look up Costco on SAFER?

Do not search the brand and stop. Open FMCSA’s Company Snapshot for USDOT 589006 and confirm Costco Wholesale Corporation at 999 Lake Drive, Issaquah, Washington. Read authority, inspections, crashes, and the rating line — which showed None on the snapshot used here.