What does a driver/material handler do?
Primarily, driver/material handlers help maintain the production and distribution of products through inventory pullout, production materials, and supplies delivery, and finished product staging. Material handlers manage the transport of equipment or ammunition and conduct the planning and execution functions for effective grind force training. They pick and audit hazmat materials and deliver them to their customers. Also, they develop and expedite clear and effective communication with their customers.
Driver/material handler responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real driver/material handler resumes:
- Manage temporary staff doing warehouse work and train and test them in order to receive forklift certification per OSHA.
- Load and unload LTL freight from inbound and outbound trailers.
- Operate forklifts in transferring loading and unloading materials in LTL.
- Pick and audit hazmat and international orders.
- Handle emergency hazmat situations requiring quick decision making skills.
- Stack and move pallets from different lines with different products documenting quantity and quality while participating in a team environment.
- Exercise operator safety, maintenance, housekeeping practices, quality control and extremely critical importance of PPE.
Driver/material handler skills and personality traits
We calculated that 21% of Driver/Material Handlers are proficient in CDL, Customer Orders, and Inventory Control. They’re also known for soft skills such as Alertness, Communication skills, and Coordination.
We break down the percentage of Driver/Material Handlers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- CDL, 21%
Maintain Washington State CDL "A" Hazardous, Triples, certification.
- Customer Orders, 11%
Delivered customer orders within the scheduled delivery window and maintains an excellent productivity rate to meet future delivery schedules.
- Inventory Control, 9%
Participated in semi-annual inventory control; utilized inventory control equipment for counting product.
- Customer Service, 9%
Delivered office products residential and commercial properties providing exceptional customer service skills.
- Safety Rules, 7%
Obey all safety rules Operate a forklift, pallet jack and other warehouse equipment.
- Pallets, 6%
Stacked and moved pallets from different lines with different products documenting quantity and quality while participating in a team environment.
Common skills that a driver/material handler uses to do their job include "cdl," "customer orders," and "inventory control." You can find details on the most important driver/material handler responsibilities below.
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform driver/material handler duties is communication skills. Driver/material handlers responsibilities require that "material moving machine operators signal and direct workers to load and unload material." Driver/material handlers also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "required excellent communication, organization and customer service skills. "
Coordination. This is an important skill for driver/material handlers to perform their duties. For an example of how driver/material handler responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "material moving machine operators must have steady hands and feet to guide and control heavy machinery precisely." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a driver/material handler: "manage communications with the corporate office to resolve invalid purchase orders/back orders and aid in logistics coordination on inbound shipments. ".
Mechanical skills. A big part of what driver/material handlers do relies on "mechanical skills." You can see how essential it is to driver/material handler responsibilities because "material moving machine operators make minor adjustments to their machines and perform basic maintenance on them." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical driver/material handler tasks: "performed preventive maintenance and inspection of mechanical equipment. "
Visual ability. A commonly-found skill in driver/material handler job descriptions, "visual ability" is essential to what driver/material handlers do. Driver/material handler responsibilities rely on this skill because "material moving machine operators must be able to see clearly where they are driving or what they are moving." You can also see how driver/material handler duties rely on visual ability in this resume example: "performed visual inspection on auto parts prior to shipment experience with shipping and receiving products in a warehouse environment. "
The three companies that hire the most driver/material handlers are:
- TireHub90 driver/material handlers jobs
- Sodexo Management, Inc.54 driver/material handlers jobs
- Sheridan38 driver/material handlers jobs
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Compare different driver/material handlers
Driver/material handler vs. Warehouse labour
Warehouse labour workers are responsible for organizing shipment details by processing the correct quantity of orders, ensuring that the items are free from any defects and mislabeling. Warehouse labourers prepare the items for packaging efficiently, update the inventory records, and escalate production discrepancy to the management for immediate resolution. They should also strictly adhere to the production area's safety regulations, especially on loading and unloading items, and moving each package to appropriate shelves using warehouse equipment.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a driver/material handler are more likely to require skills like "cdl," "rf scanner," "hazardous materials," and "straight truck." On the other hand, a job as a warehouse labour requires skills like "basic math," "cleanliness," "math," and "safety standards." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Warehouse labours really shine in the technology industry with an average salary of $33,085. Comparatively, driver/material handlers tend to make the most money in the automotive industry with an average salary of $37,351.warehouse labours tend to reach similar levels of education than driver/material handlers. In fact, warehouse labours are 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Driver/material handler vs. Forklift operator and receiver
Cherry pickers perform a safe and efficient operation of motorized lift vehicles in pulling customer order-based products. The cherry pickers manage different warehouse operating systems and associates to support processing and internal order logistics. They perform preventive maintenance on pallet packs, machines, cherry pickers, and forklifts. It is part of their job to count, verify, and check documents for completeness and accuracy. The skills to develop for this job include warehouse environment, clamp, and pallet jack operations.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real driver/material handler resumes. While driver/material handler responsibilities can utilize skills like "cdl," "customer service," "safety rules," and "osha," forklift operators and receiver use skills like "stand-up forklift," "sit-down forklift," "quality standards," and "store merchandise."
On average, forklift operators and receiver earn a lower salary than driver/material handlers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, forklift operators and receiver earn the most pay in the automotive industry with an average salary of $37,086. Whereas driver/material handlers have higher pay in the automotive industry, with an average salary of $37,351.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Forklift operators and receiver tend to reach similar levels of education than driver/material handlers. In fact, they're 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Driver/material handler vs. Cherry picker operator
People working in the docks are collectively called dock workers. Their primary job is to load and unload ships. They are also named material movers and hand laborers who manually move stocks, freight, or other materials. While formal educational attainment is not a prerequisite to becoming a dock worker, several skills are required. Dockworkers should have the best physical strength, endurance, and agility. Having good hearing and eyesight is also essential in their job.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a driver/material handler is likely to be skilled in "cdl," "customer service," "osha," and "hazardous materials," while a typical cherry picker operator is skilled in "cherry-picker," "cherry pickers," "work ethic," and "warehouse environment."
Cherry picker operators earn the best pay in the automotive industry, where they command an average salary of $36,820. Driver/material handlers earn the highest pay from the automotive industry, with an average salary of $37,351.cherry picker operators typically earn similar educational levels compared to driver/material handlers. Specifically, they're 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Driver/material handler vs. Dock worker
Types of driver/material handler
Updated January 8, 2025
