OverviewSalaryAboutEducationWhere are the jobsEmploymentGenderRace/Origin
Overview
Drive a light vehicle, such as a truck or van, with a capacity of less than 26,001 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW), primarily to pick up merchandise or packages from a distribution center and deliver. May load and unload vehicle.
Explore Pathways
Titles for this career often contain these words
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Responsibilities and activities
Delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers typically do the following:
- Load and unload their cargo
- Communicate with customers to determine pickup and delivery needs
- Report any incidents they encounter on the road to a dispatcher
- Follow applicable traffic laws
- Report mechanical problems to the appropriate personnel
- Keep their truck and associated equipment clean and in working order
- Accept payments for delivery
- Handle paperwork, such as receipts or delivery confirmation notices
Most drivers generally receive instructions to go to a delivery location at a particular time, and it is up to them to determine the best route. Other drivers have a regular daily or weekly delivery schedule. All drivers must understand an area’s street grid and know which roads allow trucks and which do not.
The following examples are types of delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers:
Driver/sales workers are delivery drivers who also have sales responsibilities. They recommend products to businesses and solicit new customers. These drivers may have a regular delivery route and may be responsible for adding clients who are located along their route. For example, they may make regular deliveries to a hardware store and encourage the store’s manager to offer a new product.
Some driver/sales workers use their own vehicles to deliver goods to customers, such as takeout food, and accept payment for those goods. Freelance or independent driver/sales workers may use smartphone apps to find specific delivery jobs.
Light truck drivers, often called pickup and delivery 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 at the distribution center once only, in the morning, and make many stops throughout the day. Others make multiple trips between the distribution center and delivery locations. Some drivers make deliveries from a retail location to customers.
Salary
Median salary: $37,050 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $27,580 and $50,850.
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for driver/sales workers and truck drivers
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
Number employed
About Light Truck Drivers
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of light truck drivers who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
- Time Pressure (81%)
- Exposed to Contaminants (71%)
- Consequence of Error (48%)
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Light Truck Drivers? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Customer-service skills
When completing deliveries, drivers often interact with customers and should make a good impression to ensure repeat business.
Hand–eye coordination
Drivers need to observe their surroundings at all times while operating a vehicle.
Math skills
Because delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers sometimes take payment, they must be able to count cash and make change quickly and accurately.
Patience
When driving through heavy traffic congestion, delivery drivers must remain calm and composed.
Sales skills
Driver/sales workers are expected to persuade customers to purchase new or different products.
Visual ability
To have a driver’s license, delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers must be able to pass a state vision test.
Injury and Illness
About 270 light truck drivers become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 96% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
Chemical burns and corrosions
All multiple traumatic injuries
Sprains, strains, tears
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by light truck drivers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), light truck drivers typically hold a high school diploma or equivalent.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as driver/sales workers and truck drivers as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for light truck drivers
Delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers typically enter the occupation with a high school diploma or equivalent.
Details: Licensing and certification recommended for light truck drivers
All delivery drivers need a driver’s license.
Education level of Driver/sales workers and truck drivers
Only 6% of driver/sales workers and truck drivers have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by driver/sales workers and truck drivers
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
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Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click the program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Number of degrees awarded in 2018
Education
Education level of awarded degrees
Assoc./Cert.
Bachelor's
Graduate
Gender
Gender of graduates
Men
Women
Race/Origin
Race/origin of graduates
White
Minority
International
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Driver/sales workers and truck drivers per 1,000 workers (ACS)
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most light truck drivers? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as light truck drivers. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where light truck drivers earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
- In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for driver/sales workers and truck drivers compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
- Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for driver/sales workers and truck drivers.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which driver/sales workers and truck drivers earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Driver/sales workers and truck drivers (ACS for all specialties)
Employment
12% of Driver/sales workers and truck drivers are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 12% part-time workers, this occupation has a lower percentage of part-time workers than 49% of careers.
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of driver/sales workers and truck drivers by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
Gender
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers and gender
With 5% women, this occupation has a lower percentage of women than 86% of careers.
Gender of Driver/sales workers and truck drivers
Men (95%)
Women (5%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
Context: Salary inequity
The median (middle) salary for all full-time male workers
in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women
by 19%, and the difference
for driver/sales workers and truck drivers tops that, with the median salary for
men 39% higher than the median
salary for women.
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Driver/sales workers and truck drivers
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Driver/sales workers and truck drivers.
Race/origin of driver/sales workers and truck drivers
White (72% )
Black (16% )
Other (6% )
Asian (2% )
Multiracial (2% )
Hispanic (1% )
American Indian (1% )
Pacific Islander (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
