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

What is a spotter driver and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a spotter driver. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.52 an hour? That's $48,925 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 90,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSpotter DriverUS Average

Salary

3.8

Avg. Salary $48,925

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.80%

Asian 3.63%

Black or African American 13.16%

Hispanic or Latino 17.06%

Unknown 4.67%

White 60.68%

Gender

female 7.92%

male 92.08%

Age - 49

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 - 49

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.6

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

1.4

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a spotter driver

Explore spotter driver education requirements

Most common spotter driver degrees

High School Diploma

54.3 %

Diploma

17.8 %

Certificate

11.2 %

Start to develop specific spotter driver skills

Skills	Percentages
CDL	49.59%
Dock Doors	23.70%
DOT	12.05%
Yard Truck	6.60%
Spotter Truck	1.83%

Complete relevant spotter driver training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New spotter 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 spotter driver based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real spotter driver resumes.

Research spotter driver duties and responsibilities

Communicate daily with dispatch for pickup and delivery appointments.
Drive flatb with sand sacs from train depot to load site.

Prepare your spotter driver resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your spotter 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 spotter 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 spotter driver resume templates

Build a professional spotter 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 spotter driver resume.

Apply for spotter driver jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a spotter driver job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do spotter drivers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Spotter driver reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2020

Pros

The challenge of getting orders picked accurately and in a timely matter, unloading product and put away in proper place

Cons

I am rated everyday I average over 100% most workers are only pulling 40-60% . so I always have to pick up their slack

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019