How to hire a router

How to hire a router, step by step

Here's a step-by-step router hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a router job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new router
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a router, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect router also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   Here's a comparison of router salaries for various roles:

   Type of Router	Description	Hourly rate
   Router	Computer support specialists provide help and advice to people and organizations using computer software or equipment. Some, called computer network support specialists, support information technology (IT) employees within their organization... Show more	$16-36
   Yardmaster/Customer Service/Crew Dispatching	A yardmaster/customer service/crew dispatching officer functions differently depending on their industry or place of employment. Most of their responsibilities revolve around dealing with providing customer support and services, responding to inquiries and correspondence, addressing issues and concerns, providing corrective measures, and producing progress reports... Show more	$12-18
   Delivery Coordinator	A delivery coordinator is responsible for managing the distribution and shipment schedules and ensuring that the items for delivery are thoroughly inspected for quality. Delivery coordinators review customer orders multiple times to prevent distribution delays and possible complaints... Show more	$12-21

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Customer Orders
   • Roadnet
   • Logistics
   • Data Entry
   • Pallets
   • Windows
   • Customer Request
   • Route Trucks
   • AS400
   • Dynamic Routing
   • Delivery Route
   • Bus Route
   • Customer Satisfaction

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Perform pre-trip & post-trip inspections.
   • Work closely with DHS and NYPD.
   • Foster improved business relationships with multiple 3rd party logistics providers, enhancing delivery and quality performance and overall customer satisfaction.
   • Input routes and dispatch from AS400, ACSG program.
   • Set up, change and operate CMS machine (CNC).
   • Assist a survey crew with GPS coordinates.

   More router duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your router job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A router salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, routers' average salary in georgia is 41% less than in maryland.
   • Seniority. Entry-level routers earn 55% less than senior-level routers.
   • Certifications. A router with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a router's salary.

   Average router salary

   $50,811yearly

   $24.43 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level router salary

   $34,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average router salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Ohio	$62,999	$30
   2	New Jersey	$62,931	$30
   3	Illinois	$57,198	$28
   4	Virginia	$54,008	$26
   5	Nevada	$53,571	$26
   6	California	$52,987	$25
   7	Montana	$49,324	$24
   8	Iowa	$49,277	$24
   9	Oregon	$47,766	$23
   10	Florida	$47,440	$23
   11	Arizona	$47,361	$23
   12	Washington	$46,809	$23
   13	Texas	$46,115	$22
   14	Wisconsin	$45,258	$22
   15	Utah	$45,178	$22
   16	Missouri	$44,564	$21
   17	South Carolina	$42,393	$20
   18	Minnesota	$41,775	$20
   19	Indiana	$40,063	$19
   20	Kentucky	$39,683	$19

   Average router salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Havertys Furniture	$77,866	$37.44
   2	Zensar Technologies	$77,277	$37.15
   3	UMass Memorial Health	$70,562	$33.92
   4	Flowserve	$63,957	$30.75
   5	Fresenius Medical Care North America Holdings Limited Partnership	$63,814	$30.68
   6	First Student	$61,022	$29.34
   7	Marten Transport	$58,550	$28.15
   8	First Transit	$58,054	$27.91
   9	Dedicated Logistics	$56,280	$27.06
   10	Waste Management	$55,742	$26.80
   11	Sysco	$55,140	$26.51	5
   12	PANAMA TRANSFER	$53,512	$25.73
   13	National Express	$52,156	$25.07	6
   14	Molson Coors	$51,223	$24.63
   15	BlueLinx	$51,162	$24.60
   16	Fresenius Medical Care Windsor, LLC	$51,084	$24.56
   17	ANDRUS	$51,084	$24.56
   18	Retail Services	$51,084	$24.56
   19	Sophus IT Solutions	$51,084	$24.56
   20	AA Transportation Co Inc	$50,992	$24.52

4. Writing a router job description

   A router job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a router job description:

   Router job description example

   Join a team of more than 32,000 team members, comprised of our home office and over 229 clubs and 7 distribution centers. We're committed to delivering value and convenience to our Members, helping them save every day on everything they need for their family and home. BJ's Wholesale Club offers a collaborative, team-oriented environment where all team members can learn, grow and excel.
   
   Monitor all loads under dispatch authority to provide safe and on-time service to our customers, vendors and distribution centers
   Job Responsibilities:
   
   Interact in a cooperative and professional manner with other team members, supervisors, customers, and vendors, even in difficult situations ● Complete tasks and documentation neatly, accurately, and timely ● Provide exceptional (WOW) Customer Service by building and maintaining effective communication with carriers, vendors, and internal and external customers ● Monitor all loads under dispatch authority for on-time service, communicating status updates to include time changes, scheduling and updates to customers and vendors as necessary ● Monitor temperature of all loads under dispatch authority ● Prepare daily dispatch schedule for drivers and equipment ● Build and update inbound and outbound orders in dispatch program ● Act as a primary contact for Drivers, responding to driver's inquiries regarding, but not limited to, breakdowns, directions, and product delivery discrepancies ● Maintains driver, load and service information in the transportation management system ● Record and report driver accident occurring while under dispatch ● Share responsibility with Transportation Supervisor to monitor driver's hours of service (HOS) to prevent DOT violations ● Maintaining accurate equipment availability lists ● Assisting with obtaining details for initial accident and workers compensation reports if a supervisor is unavailable ● Adjust delivery and backhaul assignments to accommodate breakdowns, late trucks, and other changes ● Identify and notify substitute drivers ● Interface with 3rd party providers to procure transportation services and monitor load progress while under dispatch ● Maintain required productivity level
   
   ● Continuously promote driver safety ● Review and voucher all expenses/invoices for the department, resolving any discrepancies with provider(s) ● Maintain and update all departmental financial tracking ● Maintain all files to meet payroll, financial or federal retention requirements
   
   Experience and Qualifications:
   
   ● Education - High school diploma or GED. College coursework, continuing technical education or comparable business experience preferred ● Basic knowledge and understanding of Department of Transportation (DOT) Hours of Service ● Knowledge of Transportation Management Systems preferred ● Ability to read conventional and electronic mapping ● Ability to read with corrected or uncorrected vision ● Ability to speak, read, write and understand English ● Ability to remain calm and focused while prioritizing requests from multiple sources ● Ability to assist in creation and maintaining the guidelines of a fiscal budget ● Ability to maintain and ensure confidentiality of team member and company information
   
   ● Accuracy and attention to detail ● Proficient in computer usage to include email, word processing, spreadsheets ● Knowledge of computer software and applications ● Ability to accommodate flexible schedules to meet the needs of the customer to include overtime, nights, weekends and holidays as required ● Ability to utilize equipment for the job such as computers, cell phone, phone, handheld trackers, copiers, scanners, printers, tractor mobile COMM devices
   
   ● Ability to Travel (less than 10%)
   
   Environmental Job Conditions:● Must be able to lift up to 25 lbs. occasionally
   
   ● Must be able to sit on an almost continual basis and stand, walk, bend, or squat on an occasional basis in a normal office environment

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find routers for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any routers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level routers with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your router job on Zippia to find and recruit router candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting routers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   If your interviews with router applicants aren't enough to make a decision, you should also consider including a test project. These are often the best, most straightforward, and least bias-prone ways of determining who will likely succeed in the role. If you don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new router

   Once you have selected a candidate for the router position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new router first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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