How To Become A Route Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a route specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A lot of thought goes into planning routes. Routes need to be as efficient as possible, yet meet all the targets that a business needs to hit, otherwise they will have lots of angry customers. That is why many businesses that work in dispatching and delivery hire route specialists to map out their routes.

A route specialist can work for any business that involves a lot of driving. They can work for a school bus company, delivery company, or even a warehouse that supplies products to stores. The route specialist makes sure that each vehicle goes where it needs to go and keeps track of them as they are on their routes. If they work in retail, sometimes the route specialist also builds relationships with customers on their route.

Often, route specialists lead by example and are drivers themselves, so they usually need a commercial driver's license, or CDL. Although most route specialists don't have a bachelor's degree, they need plenty of organizational skills, an eye for road safety, and several years of driving experience to succeed in this position.

ScoreRoute SpecialistUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $42,131

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.87%

Asian 6.84%

Black or African American 12.55%

Hispanic or Latino 19.28%

Unknown 4.55%

White 55.92%

Gender

female 39.13%

male 60.87%

Age - 44

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 - 44

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.9

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.7

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a route specialist

Explore route specialist education requirements

Most common route specialist degrees

Bachelor's

45.4 %

High School Diploma

20.9 %

Associate

20.5 %

Start to develop specific route specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
CDL	46.85%
Service Delivery	12.68%
GPS	6.55%
System Tools	5.05%
NPS	4.05%

Complete relevant route specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New route specialists 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 route specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real route specialist resumes.

Research route specialist duties and responsibilities

Manage an email account specifically for customers to fill out an RMA request form.
Develop VIP AS400 knowledge in efforts to lead department efficiency and to become less error- prone.
Provide logistics support plans for testing workshops to include procurement of essential equipment, inspection of training areas and reservations management.
Create work orders in Mudcats system and complete contract reviews per ISO guidelines.

Prepare your route specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your route specialist 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 route specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable route specialist resume templates

Build a professional route specialist 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 route specialist resume.