Pick up driver vs driver/material handler

The differences between pick up drivers and driver/material handlers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a pick up driver and a driver/material handler. Additionally, a pick up driver has an average salary of $49,813, which is higher than the $36,219 average annual salary of a driver/material handler.

The top three skills for a pick up driver include pallet jack, DOT and rf scanner. The most important skills for a driver/material handler are CDL, customer orders, and inventory control.

Pick up driver vs driver/material handler overview

	Pick Up Driver	Driver/Material Handler
Yearly salary	$49,813	$36,219
Hourly rate	$23.95	$17.41
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	44,609	198,718
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 52%	High School Diploma, 53%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	4	4

Pick up driver vs driver/material handler salary

Pick up drivers and driver/material handlers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Pick Up Driver	Driver/Material Handler
Average salary	$49,813	$36,219
Salary range	Between $35,000 And $68,000	Between $28,000 And $45,000
Highest paying City	Denver, CO	Santa Clara, CA
Highest paying state	North Dakota	Hawaii
Best paying company	Wayfair	Merck
Best paying industry	Transportation	Automotive

Differences between pick up driver and driver/material handler education

There are a few differences between a pick up driver and a driver/material handler in terms of educational background:

	Pick Up Driver	Driver/Material Handler
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 52%	High School Diploma, 53%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Pick up driver vs driver/material handler demographics

Here are the differences between pick up drivers' and driver/material handlers' demographics:

	Pick Up Driver	Driver/Material Handler
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 84.6% Female, 15.4%	Male, 89.4% Female, 10.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 14.6% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 19.4% Asian, 2.6% White, 58.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 15.7% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.4% Asian, 2.6% White, 59.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	4%	4%

Differences between pick up driver and driver/material handler duties and responsibilities

Pick up driver example responsibilities.

Conduct deliveries of medical equipment throughout Florida, collect payments, and ensure proper cleanliness of medical equipment
Employ wide variety of hand and power tools including hoists, drills, precision measuring instruments and electronic testing devices.

Driver/material handler example responsibilities.

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.

Pick up driver vs driver/material handler skills

Common pick up driver skills

Pallet Jack, 27%
DOT, 19%
RF Scanner, 12%
Hand Trucks, 9%
Customer Orders, 8%
Computer System, 6%

Common driver/material handler skills

CDL, 21%
Customer Orders, 11%
Inventory Control, 9%
Customer Service, 9%
Safety Rules, 7%
Pallets, 6%

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Pick Up Driver
Pick Up Driver vs Driver/Material Handler

Updated January 8, 2025

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