What Does a Driver Do?

Q: Do lyft drivers make good money?

No, Lyft drivers do not make good money. The average Lyft driver makes an hourly wage of $15 to $18 per hour. That may seem pretty good for a job that allows you to dictate your own schedule, but it actually isn't because of the wear and tear a Lyft driver puts on their own vehicle to do the job. And in the instance of Lyft drivers that rent cars in order to work for Lyft, this also takes out a big chunk of their earnings.

Q: How hard is it to become a Navy diver?

It is quite difficult to become a Navy diver. There are various stages of training involved that test both your mental and physical toughness. Becoming a Navy diver begins with basic training at the Navy's Great Lakes training center. Here, all navy inductees receive their initial training.

Drivers are responsible for safely transporting people, packages, or goods from one destination to another. They should be familiar with the different routes that may be taken to reach the desired goal. They should be expert navigators and may use navigation apps to help them along the way. They should also be familiar with the basic mechanics of the vehicle they are using and the proper maintenance and cleaning needed to ensure that the car is running well. Drivers are expected to have excellent customer relation skills, a strong sense of direction, and superb organizations.

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Driver Responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real driver resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.

Haul asphalt, gravel, dirt, etc.
Maintain accurate logs and comply with all FMCSA regulations.
Deliver sand, rock, and asphalt across eastern NC.
Provide safe and timely transportation for students, utilizing CDL license and attendant endorsements.
Reduce carrier and customer risk by remaining proficiently knowledgeable of FMCSA rules and regulations.
Air brakes endorsement but willing and able to get others including tanker, HazMat, and passenger.
Gather all information including owner, personal, truck, lease, CDL, truck weights and measurements.
Inspect truck as per dot requirements and inspect load and make sure need equipment are placed in truck.
Verify that the truck is loaded with all necessary moving supplies, dollies, straps, tools and moving pads.
Deliver OTR freight utilizing refrigerate trailers.
Perform the movement/positioning/hooking of converter dollies.
Observe high safety standards including strict federal HazMat regulations.
Maintain assigned area by replenishing product slots, controlling damage goods, and maintaining cleanliness
Conduct deliveries of medical equipment throughout Florida, collect payments, and ensure proper cleanliness of medical equipment
Work in shipyard production carpenter shop building ladders stepstools cabinets and environmental enclosures for epa restrictions.

Driver Job Description

When it comes to understanding what a driver does, you may be wondering, "should I become a driver?" The data included in this section may help you decide. Compared to other jobs, drivers have a growth rate described as "slower than average" at 2% between the years 2018 - 2028, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In fact, the number of driver opportunities that are predicted to open up by 2028 is 30,100.

Drivers average about $16.72 an hour, which makes the driver annual salary $34,771. Additionally, drivers are known to earn anywhere from $22,000 to $53,000 a year. This means that the top-earning drivers make $33,000 more than the lowest earning ones.

Once you've become a driver, you may be curious about what other opportunities are out there. Careers aren't one size fits all. For that reason, we discovered some other jobs that you may find appealing. Some jobs you might find interesting include a package delivery driver, delivery truck driver, truck driver class a, and cdl class a driver.

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Driver Jobs You Might Like

12 Driver Resume Examples

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Emily Armstrong Driver Contact Information Houston, TX (620) 555-1080 earmstrong@example.com Skills CDL Vehicle Service Company Vehicle Hand Trucks Safety Rules Hazmat Outdoor Position Customer Demand Reefer Federal Regulations Employment History Driver 2020 - Present Uber Technologies Houston, TX Maintain and clean personal vehicle for safe transport of clients from current location to destination. Clean record, no accidents or complaints. provide ride to customer from there pick up location to their destination and I have a high rating for customer service. Pharmacist Delivery Driver 2019 - 2020 Grocers Supply Houston, TX Followed all HIPAA laws and patient privacy while providing excellent patient care. Unload and load furniture into the customers homes and the store as well as clean furniture and drive the company truck. Experience with hand truck /dolly type equipment preferred. Delivered product to multiple locations in Illinois for Starbucks Clean driving record Worked effectively unsupervised to deliver customer orders and keep customers happy. Driver Assistant 2011 - 2019 Domino's Pizza Houston, TX Delivered food to customers in a timely and appropriate manner while maintaining a safe and clean driving record. Established a sensible and streamlined delivery area. Maintain a valid driver's license and keep a clean driving record in order to operate FedEx vehicles and equipment. Education High School Diploma 2011 - 2011


Lawrence Rodriguez Driver Contact Info Salt Lake City, UT (850) 555-1557 lrodriguez@example.com Skills Transport MaterialsSafety RulesOn-CallCustomer OrdersCdl-ACompany PoliciesCompany VehicleCDLDaily NewspaperClean Driving Record Employment History Driver 2020 - Present C.R. England Salt Lake City, UT Train New Drivers to Drive a Class A tractor trailer combination. Completed proper amount of OTR hours and training including school training to become CDL-A certified. Complete all training classes and study to receive and maintain current Class A CDL drivers licence. Maintain all proper CDL licensing. Carrier Driver 2016 - 2020 Swift Logistics Co Miami, FL Perform and report pre-trip and post-trip inspections on tractor/trailer and completed the vehicle inspection report. Follow do UT regulations vehicle inspections safe driving safe backing city driving Qualcomm with accurate processing procedures, drive 48 States Driver/Technician 2012 - 2016 North Oaks Hammond, LA Answered phones,completed paperwork,intered doctors orders,drew blood,splinted fractures/breaks,CPR as needed etc Delivered oxygen, hospital beds, portable concentrators, nebulizers, etc. Maintained a sterile field for the RN's to work on. Education Certificate General Studies 2006 - 2007 Southeastern Louisiana University Hammond, LA


Jack Howard Driver Atlanta, GA (600) 555-0428 jhoward@example.com Experience Driver2019 - Present Uber Technologies•Atlanta, GA Clean record, no accidents or complaints. Clean driving record and background check provide ride to customer from there pick up location to their destination and I have a high rating for customer service. Drive V. I. P. to various destinations upon request Perform daily pre-and post-trip company vehicle inspections. Obey all traffic laws to ensure a clean driving record. Clean driving record with 4.85 customer experience index. Driver/Installer2017 - 2019 The Coca-Cola Company•Louisville, KY Utilize a forklift and/or pallet jack to build customer load requests. Suggested better ways for customer satisfaction and communication. Operate lift gates, pallet jacks and hand trucks. Maintain clean driving record with class A commercial drivers license. Driver/Mover2009 - 2017 Papa John's International•Louisville, KY Deliver food to the customers while strictly adhering to all company policies and procedures. Delivered pizza orders Customer orders Processed all methods of payment Prepared, boxed and delivered orders Accountable for all monies collected Delivered customer orders in a timely fashion and provided exceptional customer service. Completed cash transactions and delivered customer orders Provided outstanding customer service Skills Residential HomesCompany PoliciesDifferent LocationsClean Driving RecordCourteous ServiceCustomers ItemsNew FurnitureCDLEquipment InventorySafety Policies Education High School Diploma 2009 - 2009

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Driver Skills and Personality Traits

We calculated that 14% of Drivers are proficient in Math, Basic Math, and CDL. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Math skills, and Patience.

We break down the percentage of Drivers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

Math, 14%
Tape measures, power tools, manual labor, basic math, common sense and a strong work ethic.
Basic Math, 14%
Sound ability to perform basic mathematical calculations, balance and reconcile figures, punctuate properly, spell correctly and transcribe accurately.
CDL, 10%
Maintain Class A CDL license by using safe driving habits and routing prompt deliveries to various location across the United States.
Safety Rules, 10%
Utilized safety practices and procedures following established safety rules and regulations and maintained a safe and clean work environment.
Cleanliness, 10%
Maintained assigned area by replenishing product slots, controlling damaged goods, and maintaining cleanliness
Customer Orders, 7%
Loaded customer orders into delivery vehicle; delivered floral arrangements to various residential and commercial customers; provided exceptional customer service.

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"math," "basic math," and "cdl" aren't the only skills we found drivers list on their resumes. In fact, there's a whole list of driver responsibilities that we found, including:

Arguably the most important personality trait for a driver to have happens to be customer-service skills. An example from a resume said this about the skill, "when completing deliveries, drivers often interact with customers and should make a good impression to ensure repeat business." Additionally, other resumes have pointed out that drivers can use customer-service skills to "drive truck to jacksonville port pick up containers and deliver them to customers sometimes for hazmat loads"

Another commonly found skill for being able to perform driver duties is the following: math skills. According to a driver resume, "because delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers sometimes take payment, they must be able to count cash and make change quickly and accurately." Check out this example of how drivers use math skills: "possess necessary math and problem-solving skills to perform and maintain accurate piece or other counts of freight and record information accurately. "

Another skill that is quite popular among drivers is patience. This skill is very critical to fulfilling every day responsibilities as is shown in this example from a driver resume: "when driving through heavy traffic congestion, delivery drivers must remain calm and composed." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "pick up patience from the hospital dr office and nursing homes i am cpr first aid and defensive driving certified"

In order for certain driver responsibilities to be completed, the job requires the skill "sales skills." According to a driver resume, "driver/sales workers are expected to persuade customers to purchase new or different products." As an example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies: "directed cleanliness and organization, phone sales, marketing, showing, driving of limousines. "

Yet another important skill that a driver must demonstrate is "hand-eye coordination." Drivers need to observe their surroundings at all times while operating a vehicle. This is clearly demonstrated in this example from a driver who stated: "time management and customer location coordination key to ensuring many different deliveries occurred on time. "

While "visual ability" is listed last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to driver responsibilities. The skill is described by this resume snippet, "to have a driver’s license, delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers must be able to pass a state vision test." Here is an example of how this skill is used, "performed morning pre-trip inspections, did visual inspections prior to deliveries. "

See the full list of driver skills.

We've found that 17.5% of drivers have earned a bachelor's degree. Furthermore, 1.6% earned their master's degrees before becoming a driver. While it's true that some drivers have a college degree, it's generally possible to become one with only a high school degree. In fact, one out of every two drivers did not spend the extra money to attend college.

Those drivers who do attend college, typically earn either business degrees or general studies degrees. Less commonly earned degrees for drivers include criminal justice degrees or automotive technology degrees.

Once you've obtained the level of education you're comfortable with, you might start applying to companies to become a driver. We've found that most driver resumes include experience from *n/a*, Gopuff, and Advance Auto Parts. Of recent, *n/a* had 4,960 positions open for drivers. Meanwhile, there are 4,195 job openings at Gopuff and 3,279 at Advance Auto Parts.

But if you're interested in companies where you might earn a high salary, drivers tend to earn the biggest salaries at Air Liquide, Vishay, and The Boring Company. Take Air Liquide for example. The median driver salary is $74,458. At Vishay, drivers earn an average of $66,636, while the average at The Boring Company is $66,306. You should take into consideration how difficult it might be to secure a job with one of these companies.

View more details on driver salaries across the United States.

Some other companies you might be interested in as a driver include Uber Technologies, FedEx, and Lyft. These three companies were found to hire the most drivers from the top 100 U.S. educational institutions.

The three companies that hire the most prestigious drivers are:

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What Package Delivery Drivers Do

A package delivery driver is responsible for picking up parcels and merchandise from warehouse or distribution centers for deliveries to different destinations. Package delivery drivers should be cautious in moving items, most importantly fragile packages, following special instructions as needed. They inspect their vehicle's condition and conduct regular maintenance to prevent delays in operations and road failures. A package delivery driver ensures the receipt of packages upon delivery, responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns, and resolve and escalate complaints to the management immediately.

In this section, we compare the average driver annual salary with that of a package delivery driver. Typically, package delivery drivers earn a $2,500 higher salary than drivers earn annually.

Even though drivers and package delivery drivers have vast differences in their careers, a few of the skills required to do both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require cdl, customer service, and safety regulations in the day-to-day roles.

As far as similarities go, this is where it ends because a driver responsibility requires skills such as "math," "basic math," "safety rules," and "cleanliness." Whereas a package delivery driver is skilled in "physical exams," "delivery vehicle," "appearance guidelines," and "delivery route." So if you're looking for what truly separates the two careers, you've found it.

Package delivery drivers receive the highest salaries in the retail industry coming in with an average yearly salary of $44,667. But drivers are paid more in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $39,688.

Package delivery drivers tend to reach similar levels of education than drivers. In fact, package delivery drivers are 1.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

What Are The Duties Of a Delivery Truck Driver?

A delivery truck driver is primarily responsible for transporting and delivering products to clients, ensuring accuracy and timeliness. They are also responsible for coordinating with logistics staff, loading and unloading packages, handling and managing documentation, following designated schedules and routes, and maintaining records of deliveries, including the missed ones. There are also instances when a delivery truck driver must accept and process payments, respond to customer calls and inquiries, and prepare progress reports. Furthermore, it is essential to perform maintenance checks on vehicles and abide by all traffic laws for a safe and efficient work environment.

The next role we're going to look at is the delivery truck driver profession. Typically, this position earns a higher pay. In fact, they earn a $20,792 higher salary than drivers per year.

While the salary may be different for these job positions, there is one similarity and that's a few of the skills needed to perform certain duties. We used info from lots of resumes to find that both drivers and delivery truck drivers are known to have skills such as "math," "cdl," and "cleanliness. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, several resumes showed us that driver responsibilities requires skills like "basic math," "safety rules," "vehicle maintenance," and "otr." But a delivery truck driver might use skills, such as, "tractor trailer," "delivery truck," "cod," and "pallets."

It's been discovered that delivery truck drivers earn higher salaries compared to drivers, but we wanted to find out where delivery truck drivers earned the most pay. The answer? The manufacturing industry. The average salary in the industry is $65,283. Additionally, drivers earn the highest paychecks in the manufacturing with an average salary of $39,688.

When it comes to the differences in education between the two professions, delivery truck drivers tend to reach similar levels of education than drivers. In fact, they're 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

How a Truck Driver Class A Compares

The responsibilities of a Truck Driver Class A mainly revolves around driving heavy vehicles and ensuring that all transported goods meet the expected delivery deadlines and quality. The Driver needs to have a Class A license and be emotionally and physically healthy to qualify. Among the duties of a Truck Driver Class A will also revolve around securing and monitoring the quantity and quality of items, maintaining the vehicle in good condition, abide by the traffic rules and regulations, adhere to the company standards and policies, and have precise coordination with every workforce involved.

The truck driver class a profession generally makes a higher amount of money when compared to the average salary of drivers. The difference in salaries is truck drivers class a making $28,499 higher than drivers.

While looking through the resumes of several drivers and truck drivers class a we discovered that both professions have similar skills. These similarities include skills such as "cdl," "customer service," and "safety regulations," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

As mentioned, these two careers differ between other skills that are required for performing the work exceedingly well. For example, gathering from drivers resumes, they are more likely to have skills like "math," "basic math," "safety rules," and "cleanliness." But a truck driver class a might have skills like "pet," "dot regulations," "construction sites," and "distribution centers."

Interestingly enough, truck drivers class a earn the most pay in the transportation industry, where they command an average salary of $62,650. As mentioned previously, drivers highest annual salary comes from the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $39,688.

Truck drivers class a are known to earn similar educational levels when compared to drivers. Additionally, they're 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Description Of a CDL Class A Driver

A CDL Class A driver is a driver with a Class A commercial driver's license. A commercial driver's license is necessary to operate large, heavy, and placarded vehicles. There are several classifications of a commercial driver's license, and Class A is for a car towing a trailer with a gross vehicle weight of more than 10,000 pounds (5 t). Drivers with this type of license are entitled to operate a commercial motor vehicle such as passenger buses, tractor-trailers, semi-trucks, and dump trucks. They have the choice to add endorsements to their CDL, which allows them to operate particular types of commercial motor vehicles.

The fourth career we look at typically earns higher pay than drivers. On average, cdl class a drivers earn a difference of $17,432 higher per year.

While their salaries may vary, drivers and cdl class a drivers both use similar skills to perform their jobs. Resumes from both professions include skills like "math," "basic math," and "cleanliness. "

While some skills are shared by these professions, there are some differences to note. "cdl," "safety rules," "customer orders," and "dot" are skills that have shown up on drivers resumes. Additionally, cdl class a driver uses skills like dot regulations, pallets, materials handling, and scaffolding on their resumes.

Cdl class a drivers earn a higher salary in the transportation industry with an average of $57,733. Whereas, drivers earn the highest salary in the manufacturing industry.

Cdl class a drivers reach similar levels of education when compared to drivers. The difference is that they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree less, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

What a Driver Does FAQs

Do Lyft Drivers Make Good Money?

No, Lyft drivers do not make good money. The average Lyft driver makes an hourly wage of $15 to $18 per hour.

That may seem pretty good for a job that allows you to dictate your own schedule, but it actually isn't because of the wear and tear a Lyft driver puts on their own vehicle to do the job. And in the instance of Lyft drivers that rent cars in order to work for Lyft, this also takes out a big chunk of their earnings.

How Hard Is It To Become A Navy Diver?

It is quite difficult to become a Navy diver. There are various stages of training involved that test both your mental and physical toughness.

Becoming a Navy diver begins with basic training at the Navy's Great Lakes training center. Here, all navy inductees receive their initial training.

What Are The Qualifications For Lyft Drivers?

To qualify to be a Lyft driver, you must meet a minimum age requirement and hold a valid driver's license with valid plates and registration on the vehicle that will be driven for Lyft. Minimum requirements do vary from state to state, but most follow these same basic qualifications.

Although twenty-one is the minimum age requirement for most states, some do require their drivers to be twenty-five years old, such as Washington state. Along with those other requirements, you will also need to be able to pass a background and DMV check to make sure you have not committed any violent crime or any recent driving-related issues.

Before beginning to drive, you must complete Lyft's Community Safety Education program. This is a 20-minute program which includes training from the anti-sexual violence group RAINN. This helps to prepare Lyft drivers for a number of situations that could potentially occur. It consists of 6 short videos and will need to be completed before taking your first ride.

Once you have ensured you meet all the qualifications for a Lyft driver and have completed the necessary training, the last step is to make sure that you have a smartphone where you can download the app. This will connect you to people to start rideshares. Then, you are ready to begin driving.

Have more questions? See all answers to common transportation questions.

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Updated October 2, 2020