Born to drive? Highlight these skills on your resume

Resume Skills Advice

To present yourself as qualified for driving positions, applicants should list more than just a viable driver's‚ (or commercial truck driver's) license on their resume, especially in a field that may find itself automated over the coming years. For now, though, there's still an increasing demand for drivers due to the growing popularity of eCommerce and the gig economy, so it's still a good time to apply for positions and it's important to separate yourself from the pack.

Born to drive a truck? Highlight These Skills on Your Resume

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, light truck and delivery drivers communicate with customers to determine pickup and delivery needs, follow traffic laws, keep their trucks and equipment in good working order, and handle paperwork such as delivery confirmations. Thus, there are some important skills that all light truck and delivery drivers need, and that should be included on any resume and application: depth perception, strong ethics, customer service, and familiarity with both Apple and Android operating systems. Of course, other supporting skills and experience on a resume will only help, but we've found that potential employers are specifically looking for drivers with these attributes despite the fact that many applicants fail to specify them on their applications.

Depth Perception

While having a Commercial Driver's License (CDL) accounts for proficient depth perception, reiterating it on your resume emphasizes that you understand how challenging delivery routes and driving conditions can be. When delivering to suburban neighborhoods, for example, good depth perception helps guide a driver through streets that weren't designed to accommodate large delivery trucks without ruining anyone's lawn! Good depth perception ensures the safety of your truck, its cargo, your surroundings, and yourself. Furthermore, if the positions you're applying to involve driving to warehouses or other locations to load and unload cargo (one of the key functions listed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, depth perception is an important skill, since you'll have to maneuver your truck precisely to access loading and unloading docks.

Ethics

Having reasonable ethical standards may not seem imperative for truck drivers (compared to other professions, like doctors), but ethical choices still manifest in a multitude of ways for delivery drivers. For example, it's important to have a good work ethic, ensuring that you stay on task (or in a driver's case, en route) during work hours. If something goes wrong on the road, you may be faced with ethical dilemmas when it comes to accidents or property damage, and your employer will need to trust you to make the ethical choice: reporting all accidents, no matter how small or whose fault they were, is an ethical way to take responsibility for mistakes.

Ethics are important for smaller considerations, too: if your position involves leaving packages at households where no one is home, deciding not to leave packages in rain, snow, or direct sunlight and taking care when handling boxes marked "fragile" are just two of the ways responsible drivers need to make ethical choices. Highlighting your good ethics on a resume or application will be sure to impress employers whose top priorities are customer service and safety.

Customer Service

Speaking of customer service, employers favor drivers who have previous customer service experience or who can demonstrate that they're friendly, considerate, and helpful; after all, delivery drivers often have to interact with the customers they deliver to. Customer service for light truck and delivery drivers involves being polite, having a good mood, answering questions, dealing with customer paperwork efficiently, and making sure that each customer is satisfied with their delivery. As eCommerce grows as an industry, delivery drivers may be the sole in-person representative of a company that customers interact with; because of this, good customer service is a skill of the utmost importance for employers.

Familiarity with Android and Apple Operating Systems

As technological enhancements move into more job sectors, many mobile apps have become available that help make driving more efficient. Many delivery companies have taken to using these apps, tools that help log deliveries, find rest stops along highways, or reroute in case of traffic, for example. Familiarity with both smartphone operating systems will help you fit into the workflow of the company to which you are applying, no matter which system they use.

The ability to drive is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the qualifications needed to be an appealing candidate to delivery companies. Including some of the specific skills listed above demonstrates that you've thought about many of the responsibilities of food delivery, light truck and delivery driver beyond actually driving, which will be sure to impress potential managers.