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Driver assistant vs route driver

The differences between driver assistants and route drivers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a route driver has an average salary of $45,492, which is higher than the $37,795 average annual salary of a driver assistant.

The top three skills for a driver assistant include delivery truck, customer service and safety procedures. The most important skills for a route driver are CDL, DOT, and pickup.

Driver assistant vs route driver overview

Driver AssistantRoute Driver
Yearly salary$37,795$45,492
Hourly rate$18.17$21.87
Growth rate11%11%
Number of jobs387,080266,899
Job satisfaction5-
Most common degreeHigh School Diploma, 46%High School Diploma, 47%
Average age4848
Years of experience--

What does a driver assistant do?

A driver assistant is responsible for helping the lead driver transport people, goods, and services from one place to various destinations as required with utmost safety and security. Driver assistants respond to the customers' delivery inquiries and concerns, update delivery receipts, inspect the quality of the merchandise before loading and unloading, report replacements to the distribution centers, and assist with the road navigation to prevent delivery delays. A driver assistant must have excellent organizational and time-management skills, ensuring smooth delivery operations professionally and efficiently.

What does a route driver do?

A Route Driver is responsible for delivering and transporting supplies or goods within an allotted time. The tasks will vary upon the organization or industry that a Route Driver works for, however, most of the time, the duties will revolve around picking up and dropping off packages at particular destinations ranging from homes to establishments, and communicating with customers. Furthermore, Route Drivers must keep their vehicles in clean and sound condition, report to supervisors should there be any issue, and adhere to the company policies and regulations at all times.

Driver assistant vs route driver salary

Driver assistants and route drivers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Driver AssistantRoute Driver
Average salary$37,795$45,492
Salary rangeBetween $21,000 And $66,000Between $30,000 And $67,000
Highest paying CityPalo Alto, CABoston, MA
Highest paying stateMassachusettsMassachusetts
Best paying companyGeneral MotorsBlank Rome
Best paying industryAutomotiveManufacturing

Differences between driver assistant and route driver education

There are a few differences between a driver assistant and a route driver in terms of educational background:

Driver AssistantRoute Driver
Most common degreeHigh School Diploma, 46%High School Diploma, 47%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common college--

Driver assistant vs route driver demographics

Here are the differences between driver assistants' and route drivers' demographics:

Driver AssistantRoute Driver
Average age4848
Gender ratioMale, 84.3% Female, 15.7%Male, 90.6% Female, 9.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 12.6% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 22.2% Asian, 3.4% White, 56.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 3.8% White, 60.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage4%4%

Differences between driver assistant and route driver duties and responsibilities

Driver assistant example responsibilities.

  • Load truck with appropriate product and deliver accordingly, return to warehouse for receiving and other warehouse duties including monthly inventory.
  • Memorize menu, delivered/prepare sandwiches, maintain inventory, take customer/catering orders in-store/over-the-phone, utilize POS computer system.

Route driver example responsibilities.

  • Manage 100 stores as a DSD vendor, entailing presales, delivery and basic account management.
  • Inspect vehicle and load for safety and HazMat regulations being meet.
  • DOT, local, state (provincial) and federal requirements.
  • Train new employees to read and follow route sheets, as well as prepare them for CDL testing.
  • Travel to and from designate areas to pickup and deliver parcels and packages to and from FedEx customers.
  • Record routes in the delivery vehicle GPS system to facilitate weekly route planning and to assist share route drivers.
  • Show more

Driver assistant vs route driver skills

Common driver assistant skills
  • Delivery Truck, 14%
  • Customer Service, 13%
  • Safety Procedures, 12%
  • CDL, 9%
  • CPR, 7%
  • Package Delivery, 6%
Common route driver skills
  • CDL, 25%
  • DOT, 18%
  • Pickup, 4%
  • Customer Locations, 4%
  • Cleanliness, 3%
  • Necessary Paperwork, 3%

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