Merchandise distributor vs route driver

The differences between merchandise distributors 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 $42,437 average annual salary of a merchandise distributor.

The top three skills for a merchandise distributor include sales floor, merchandise product and grocery store. The most important skills for a route driver are CDL, DOT, and pickup.

Merchandise distributor vs route driver overview

	Merchandise Distributor	Route Driver
Yearly salary	$42,437	$45,492
Hourly rate	$20.40	$21.87
Growth rate	1%	11%
Number of jobs	10,462	266,899
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	High School Diploma, 47%
Average age	38	48
Years of experience	-	-

Merchandise distributor vs route driver salary

Merchandise distributors and route drivers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Merchandise Distributor	Route Driver
Average salary	$42,437	$45,492
Salary range	Between $32,000 And $56,000	Between $30,000 And $67,000
Highest paying City	-	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	-	Massachusetts
Best paying company	-	Blank Rome
Best paying industry	-	Manufacturing

Differences between merchandise distributor and route driver education

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

	Merchandise Distributor	Route Driver
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	High School Diploma, 47%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Merchandise distributor vs route driver demographics

Here are the differences between merchandise distributors' and route drivers' demographics:

	Merchandise Distributor	Route Driver
Average age	38	48
Gender ratio	Male, 68.1% Female, 31.9%	Male, 90.6% Female, 9.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 20.5% Asian, 6.7% White, 56.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	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	6%	4%

Differences between merchandise distributor and route driver duties and responsibilities

Merchandise distributor example responsibilities.

Manage vendor relationships for current season catalogs, UPC codes, and discrepancies in catalog and merchandise data.
Assist with POS advertisement placement.
Lift heavy objects, move large pallets and operate large machinery.
Display promtional materials, such as POS, & signage accordin to company and store policies.
Provide nutritional product educational presentations and recruit potential distributors
Provide nutritional product educational presentations and recruit potential distributors

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.

Merchandise distributor vs route driver skills

Common merchandise distributor skills

Sales Floor, 27%
Merchandise Product, 17%
Grocery Store, 16%
Retail Locations, 15%
Increase Sales, 8%
Retail Store, 5%

Common route driver skills

CDL, 25%
DOT, 18%
Pickup, 4%
Customer Locations, 4%
Cleanliness, 3%
Necessary Paperwork, 3%