How To Become A Parts Driver: What It Is and Career Path

What is a parts driver and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Businesses don't always carry spare parts in their inventory, and when a piece of machinery or equipment breaks down, they need to have a replacement part as quickly as possible. This is the reason why the role of a parts driver is so important; they are responsible for delivering parts to customers in the fastest way possible. Parts drivers usually deliver parts for repair shops, industrial plants, manufacturers, and other businesses that use or service various machinery and equipment. They may work for the parts manufacturers themselves, but some may also be full-time employees of the businesses that need spare parts regularly.

A high school diploma and a commercial driver's license are the two main requirements for the job of a parts driver. Apart from that, one must also have adequate physical strength to load and unload parts to and from the vehicle when needed. Basic knowledge of vehicle maintenance is also a common qualification for this role. As a parts driver, one can earn an income of around $13 an hour, which makes up to a yearly salary of $27,000 per year.

ScoreParts DriverUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,224

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

6.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.39%

Asian 1.56%

Black or African American 4.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.83%

Unknown 4.14%

White 70.08%

Gender

female 21.80%

male 78.20%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.1

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a parts driver

Explore parts driver education requirements

Most common parts driver degrees

High School Diploma

53.8 %

Associate

17.1 %

Bachelor's

11.8 %

Start to develop specific parts driver skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	33.06%
Cleanliness	11.94%
Parts Inventory	6.97%
Customer Orders	6.70%
Wholesale Accounts	5.40%

Complete relevant parts driver training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New parts drivers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a parts driver based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real parts driver resumes.

Research parts driver duties and responsibilities

Manage DIY services including battery installation, testing, wiper installs, etc.
Used various resources such as GPS and maps to plan routes efficiently.
Assemble and service a variety of off road vehicles and other Honda brand tools and prepare them for customers.
Look up aftermarket and OEM parts for Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Polaris, Honda, and BRP products.

Prepare your parts driver resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your parts driver resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a parts driver resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable parts driver resume templates

Build a professional parts driver resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your parts driver resume.