Joining a Film Union · Teamsters (Motion Picture Division)
Driver / Transportation: how to join the Teamsters
Transportation moves the production: the trucks, trailers, crew shuttles, and cast cars, run by drivers, captains, and coordinators. It's Teamsters work, and most driving needs a Class A CDL with the right endorsements plus union days on covered shows.
Good to know
Transportation is Teamsters, and the prerequisite most people underestimate is a Class A CDL with the right endorsements before anyone puts you on a covered show. From there it is seniority-list driven, and the coordinators and captains who run the department almost all started behind the wheel.
Roles in this craft
The jobs that make up this craft, each with its own page on pay, the day-to-day, and how to break in.
How to join, step by step
Know your union
- Transportation is Teamsters (Local 399 in LA, 817 in NY, regional elsewhere).
- It covers drivers, captains, coordinators, and mechanics.
Carry the license the work needs
- Most equipment and crew-transport driving wants a Class A CDL with air-brake and passenger endorsements, plus a DOT medical card and a clean MVR.
- The license is the hard prerequisite before anyone puts you on a covered show.
Get covered days
- Non-union, commercial, and right-to-work productions are where your first covered days come from.
- The department is seniority-list driven: reliability gets you called back.
Join through the local
- In LA your days go through the local's process; elsewhere, apply to the local covering your market.
- Keep call sheets, deal memos, and pay stubs.
What you’ll need
- Class A CDL with air-brake & passenger endorsements
- Current DOT medical card
- Clean MVR (productions' insurers will pull it)
- Set experience + coordinator/captain contacts
- Union production days (CSATF-registered in LA)
Find your local
Teamsters (Motion Picture Division) membership runs through a local for your market. Look up the one that covers where you work on the union’s site.