Delivery Truck Drivers and Driver/Sales Workers

Summary

Delivery drivers and driver/sales workers transport goods around an urban area or small region.

Quick Facts: Delivery Truck Drivers and Driver/Sales Workers
2010 Median Pay	$27,050 per year $13.00 per hour
Entry-Level Education	High school diploma or equivalent
Work Experience in a Related Occupation	None
On-the-job Training	Short-term on-the-job training
Number of Jobs, 2010	1,262,600
Job Outlook, 2010-20	13% (About as fast as average)
Employment Change, 2010-20	167,500

What Delivery Truck Drivers and Driver/Sales Workers Do

Delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers pick up, transport, and drop off packages within a small region or urban area. Most of the time, they transport merchandise from a distribution center to businesses and households.

Work Environment

Delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers have a physically demanding job. When loading and unloading cargo, drivers do a lot of lifting, carrying, and walking.

How to Become a Delivery Truck Driver or Driver/Sales Worker

Delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers typically enter their occupations with a high school diploma or equivalent. They undergo 1 month or less of on-the-job training. They must have a driver’s license for the state in which they work.

Pay

The median annual wage of driver/sales workers was $22,540 in May 2010. The median annual wage of light truck or delivery services drivers was $28,630 in May 2010.

Job Outlook

Employment of light truck or delivery services drivers and driver/sales workers is projected to grow 13 percent from 2010 to 2020, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Improved routing through GPS technology can make truck drivers more productive, which may limit the need for more drivers.

Similar Occupations

Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers with similar occupations.

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Contacts for More Information

Learn more about delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers by contacting these additional resources.

What Delivery Truck Drivers and Driver/Sales Workers Do About this section

Delivery drivers drop packages off with customers.

Delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers pick up, transport, and drop off packages within a small region or urban area. They drive trucks with a capacity of 26,000 pounds gross vehicle weight (GVW) or less. Most of the time, they transport merchandise from a distribution center to businesses and households.

Duties

Delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers typically do the following:

• Load and unload their cargo
• Report any incidents they encounter on the road to a dispatcher
• Follow all applicable traffic laws
• Report serious mechanical problems to the appropriate personnel
• Keep their truck and associated equipment clean and in good working order
• May accept payments for the shipment
• Handle paperwork, such as receipts or delivery confirmation notices

Most drivers plan their routes. Some have a regular daily or weekly schedule. Others have different routes each day.

These drivers generally receive instructions to go to a delivery location at a particular time, and it is up to them to find a way there. They must have a thorough understanding of an area’s street grid and know which roads allow trucks and which do not.

Light truck drivers, often called pick-up and deliver or P&D drivers, are the most common type of delivery driver. They drive small trucks or vans from distribution centers to delivery locations. Drivers make deliveries based on a set schedule. Some drivers stop only at the distribution center once, in the morning, and make many stops throughout the day. Others make multiple trips between the distribution center and delivery locations.

Driver/sales workers are delivery drivers with added sales responsibility. They recommend new products to businesses and solicit new customers. For example, they may make regular deliveries to a hardware store and encourage the store’s manager to offer a new type of product. Driver/sales workers also deliver goods, such as take-out food to consumers, and accept payment for those goods.

Work Environment About this section

Most delivery drivers work for couriers and express delivery services.

Light truck drivers or delivery services drivers held about 856,000 jobs in 2010 and are mostly employed in the following industries: 

Driver/sales workers held about 406,600 jobs in 2010 and are mostly employed in the following industries:

Delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers have a physically demanding job. Driving a truck for long periods of time can be tiring. When loading and unloading cargo, drivers do a lot of lifting, carrying, and walking.

Injuries

Given the nature of their job, these workers are at risk of being involved in motor vehicle accidents and have a higher risk of injury than workers in most other occupations.

Work Schedules

Most drivers work full time, and many work additional hours. Those who work on regular routes sometimes must begin work very early in the morning or late at night. For example, a driver who delivers bread to a deli every day must be there before the deli opens. Drivers often work weekends and holidays.

How to Become a Delivery Truck Driver or Driver/Sales Worker About this section

Drivers need to be able to read maps and navigate city streets.

Delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers typically enter their occupations with a high school diploma or equivalent. They undergo 1 month or less of on-the-job training. They must have a driver’s license for the state in which they work.

Education

Delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers typically enter their occupations with a high school diploma or equivalent.

Training

Companies train new delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers on the job. This may include driving training with a driver-mentor who rides along with a new employee to ensure that a new driver is able to operate a truck on crowded streets.

New drivers also have classroom training to learn company policies about package drop offs, returns, taking payment, and what to do with damaged goods.

Driver/sales workers must learn detailed information about the products they offer.

Licenses

All delivery drivers need a driver’s license.

Important Qualities

Math skills. Because delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers sometimes take payment, they have to be able to count cash and to make change quickly.

Customer-service skills. When completing deliveries, drivers often interact with customers and should make a good impression to ensure repeat business.

Hand-eye coordination. When driving, delivery drivers have to observe their surroundings while operating a complex machine.

Patience. When driving through heavy traffic congestion, delivery drivers must be calm and composed.

Sales skills. Driver/sales workers are expected to convince customers to purchase new or different products from them.

Speaking ability. Drivers have to be able to speak English well enough to read road signs, prepare reports, and communicate with the pubic and law enforcement officials.

Visual ability. To have a driver’s license, delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers must be able to pass a state vision test.

Pay About this section

The median annual wage of driver/sales workers was $22,540 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $16,000 and the top 10 percent earned more than $45,340.

The median annual wage of light truck or delivery services drivers was $28,630 in May 2010. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $17,770 and the top 10 percent earned more than $54,850.

Most drivers work full time, and many work additional hours. Those who work on regular routes sometimes must begin work very early in the morning or late at night. For example, a driver who delivers bread to a deli every day must be there before the deli opens. Drivers often work weekends and holidays.

Job Outlook About this section

Employment of light truck or delivery services drivers is projected to increase 15 percent from 2010 to 2020, about as fast as the average for all occupations.

Employment of driver/sales workers is projected to grow 10 percent over the same period, about as fast as the average for all occupations.

Improved routing through GPS technology can make truck drivers more productive, which may limit the need for more drivers. With improved routing, drivers can be more efficient, navigating better in traffic and spending less time idling at each stop.

Additionally, higher diesel prices could cause companies to limit their hiring of new drivers and increase their focus on technological solutions. This will be especially true for drivers at large shipping companies.

However, as the economy grows, the need for more deliveries is expected to increase. From the distribution of goods from warehouses to the package delivery to households, nearly all goods are brought to their final destination by delivery drivers.

Job Prospects

Delivery truck driver and driver/sales worker jobs are expected to be competitive. Because these drivers do not have to spend long periods away from home, these local jobs are more desirable than long-haul trucking jobs. Those with experience, or who work for the company in another occupation, should have the best job prospects.

Contacts for More Information About this section

For more information about truck drivers, including delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers, visit

American Trucking Association

Professional Truck Driver Institute

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters