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The differences between flatbed truck drivers and route drivers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a flatbed truck driver has an average salary of $61,065, which is higher than the $45,492 average annual salary of a route driver.
The top three skills for a flatbed truck driver include CDL, flatbed and OTR. The most important skills for a route driver are CDL, DOT, and pickup.
A flatbed truck driver is primarily responsible for the transport and delivery of goods, ensuring efficiency and timeliness. Their duties mainly revolve around coordinating with logistics staff, planning deliveries, managing paperwork, responding to calls and inquiries from clients, and maintaining their vehicles in good condition by regularly conducting maintenance checks. There are are also instances when a driver must collect and process payments, making sure to keep records of all transactions. Furthermore, it is essential to load and unload goods to the location of deliveries and abide by all the traffic laws and regulations.
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.
Flatbed truck drivers and route drivers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Flatbed Truck Driver | Route Driver | |
| Average salary | $61,065 | $45,492 |
| Salary range | Between $40,000 And $91,000 | Between $30,000 And $67,000 |
| Highest paying City | Dover, NH | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Montana | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Jordan Company | Blank Rome |
| Best paying industry | Transportation | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a flatbed truck driver and a route driver in terms of educational background:
| Flatbed Truck Driver | Route Driver | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 41% | High School Diploma, 47% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between flatbed truck drivers' and route drivers' demographics:
| Flatbed Truck Driver | Route Driver | |
| Average age | 48 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 95.2% Female, 4.8% | Male, 90.6% Female, 9.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 14.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 3.6% White, 60.2% 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 Percentage | 4% | 4% |