What does a route sales driver do?
A route sales driver is the company driver in charge of distributing goods or products to customers on a specific route or area. In some companies or organizations, they are also tasked with the role of collecting payment for delivered goods and also keeping a record of it. Their duties and responsibilities include vehicle inspection and maintenance and keeping records of deliveries and payments.
Route sales driver responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real route sales driver resumes:
- Manage 100 stores as a DSD vendor, entailing presales, delivery and basic account management.
- Obtain and keep current CDL.
- Train new drivers and teach company procedures and if CDL need give written and road test.
- Use effective communication and interpersonal skills when interacting with customers during pickup and/or delivery of packages.
- Meet with customers, sales team to develop premier marketing, advertising and POS programs.
- Distribute product to small business and large retail outlets using POS material and FIFO inventory techniques.
- Sort packages by region, deliver packages to customers, handle cash-on-delivery payments, process business pickups, utilize DIAD board technology
Route sales driver skills and personality traits
We calculated that 17% of Route Sales Drivers are proficient in CDL, Customer Service, and DOT. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Hand-eye coordination, and Math skills.
We break down the percentage of Route Sales Drivers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- CDL, 17%
Achieved class A CDL license, responsible for safe operation of truck and performing daily DOT safety inspections on vehicle.
- Customer Service, 14%
Maintained an Excellent driving record, Accurate keeping of daily delivery accounts invoicing, Maintained Outstanding Customer Service relationship.
- DOT, 13%
Implemented company safety procedures and performing daily DOT inspections on company vehicles.
- Customer Locations, 6%
Delivered product daily as requested by customers and rotated/stocked inventory at customer locations.
- Customer Complaints, 5%
Demonstrated experience and resolving customer complaints and inquiries.
- Pallet Jack, 5%
Used forklift, lift gates, pallet jacks, hand and power maintenance tools for service or repair.
"cdl," "customer service," and "dot" are among the most common skills that route sales drivers use at work. You can find even more route sales driver responsibilities below, including:
Customer-service skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a route sales driver to have is customer-service skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "when completing deliveries, drivers often interact with customers and should make a good impression to ensure repeat business." Route sales drivers often use customer-service skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "developed excellent working relationships with all customers and store management. "
Hand-eye coordination. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling route sales driver duties is hand-eye coordination. The role rewards competence in this skill because "drivers need to observe their surroundings at all times while operating a vehicle." According to a route sales driver resume, here's how route sales drivers can utilize hand-eye coordination in their job responsibilities: "store management coordination including inventory/stock control, record keeping and product delivery within established time frames. "
Math skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of route sales drivers is math skills. This skill is critical to many everyday route sales driver duties, as "because delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers sometimes take payment, they must be able to count cash and make change quickly and accurately." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "check accuracy of all deliveries and perform accurate math computations. "
Sales skills. route sales driver responsibilities often require "sales skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "driver/sales workers are expected to persuade customers to purchase new or different products." This resume example shows what route sales drivers do with sales skills on a typical day: "work with store management in accounts assigned to set up promotions, order product and promote sales of publications. "
Visual ability. A commonly-found skill in route sales driver job descriptions, "visual ability" is essential to what route sales drivers do. Route sales driver responsibilities rely on this skill because "to have a driver’s license, delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers must be able to pass a state vision test." You can also see how route sales driver duties rely on visual ability in this resume example: "worked in conjunction with sales merchandisers and store management to ensure visually pleasing displays and product presentation. "
The three companies that hire the most route sales drivers are:
- Safety-Kleen362 route sales drivers jobs
- Aramark167 route sales drivers jobs
- Clean Harbors106 route sales drivers jobs
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Compare different route sales drivers
Route sales driver vs. Merchandise distributor
A driver/merchandiser's role in society is to directly deliver products to customers on time, bearing good communication skills to interpret and relay messages and instructions. A driver/merchandiser is also tasked to check on the truck's condition, repair or replace damaged parts, and deliver it to reliable auto shops if the damage is severe. They must follow road guidelines and laws imposed by the state or city where they do the job.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a route sales driver are more likely to require skills like "cdl," "customer service," "dot," and "customer locations." On the other hand, a job as a merchandise distributor requires skills like "sales floor," "merchandise product," "retail locations," and "increase sales." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
The education levels that merchandise distributors earn slightly differ from route sales drivers. In particular, merchandise distributors are 6.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a route sales driver. Additionally, they're 0.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Route sales driver vs. Driver/merchandiser
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, route sales driver responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "customer service," "pallet jack," "routine maintenance," and "develop leads." Meanwhile, a driver/merchandiser has duties that require skills in areas such as "pre-trip," "merchandise product," "punctuality," and "cash handling." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Driver/merchandisers may earn a lower salary than route sales drivers, but driver/merchandisers earn the most pay in the education industry with an average salary of $46,233. On the other hand, route sales drivers receive higher pay in the education industry, where they earn an average salary of $53,766.driver/merchandisers earn similar levels of education than route sales drivers in general. They're 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Route sales driver vs. Pizza delivery
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from route sales driver resumes include skills like "cdl," "customer service," "dot," and "customer locations," whereas a pizza delivery is more likely to list skills in "customer service associates," "gps," "phone orders," and "general maintenance. "
When it comes to education, pizza deliveries tend to earn similar degree levels compared to route sales drivers. In fact, they're 0.0% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Route sales driver vs. Driver sales
Types of route sales driver
Updated January 8, 2025
