INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Truck Driver positions are at a 12% growth rate, which is faster than average. With that said, there are currently 1,493,900 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 182,900 to 1,676,800 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Truck Driver jobs was $37,050 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $22,470, and the highest 10% more than $70,080.
Our conclusion? The Truck Driver job market is wide open for candidates.
Top truck driver sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
What to write in your truck driver experience section
Perfecting your truck driver resume experience section:
- Focus on results, not responsibilities;
- Use 4-6 bullet points per position;
- List only positions that are relevant to what you’re applying for;
- Include at least some form of quantitative data – it can be linked to the number of people you’ve managed or the - percentage decrease in costs that’s followed from your work - you decide;
- Choose action verbs over buzzwords.
We’ve collected some of the top resume experience sections from real Enhancv users. Check them out when drafting your own Truck Driver resume!
- Worked for company for over 20 years until it closed in 2010.
- Safely transported meat and grocery items to supermarkets and retail outlets throughout the island.
- Operated large transport trucks and cars.
- Delivered product to customers in a timely fashion
- Established credibility with my customers by being reliable
- Successfully sold in innovation to help generate revenue
- Effectively ran 100% commission based route
- Won numerous sales incentives for closing the most voids
- Safely loaded and unloaded deliveries according to size of load and content description.
- Submitted all delivery documentation in a timely manner.
- Established and maintained excellent customer relationships.
- Completed basic maintenance such as minor repairs to keep vehicle neat and running properly.
- Long driving hours up and down the south island in various types of truck and trailers.
- Responsible for interacting with a wide variety of healthcare professionals in a friendly and professional manner
- Received CDL-C Driving License with Hazmat Endorsement
- Drive and deliver compressed and liquid oxygen and fill/unload oxygen bulk tank
- Creator, organizer, and developer of efficient driving routes for deliveries across New England area
- Assist facilities with additional services and needs (equipment service, respiratory supplies and fitting)
- Delivery of mattresses, office and household furniture to Qatar, KSA, Oman as well as to all cities of UAE
- Making sure that items are loaded properly and can be delivered with no damage
- Processing border clearance for outbound shipments accurately to make sure delivery is not delayed
- Taking report at the time of offloading to make sure customer received the items and signed the delivery order
- Drove company truck with the materials used for every function.
- Completed a daily pre-trip inspection checklist before deliveries’ commencement.
- Inspected cargo for inventory accuracy.
- Use hand truck pallet jacks and forklift.
- Assisted managers with the coordination of casual employees during busy seasons.
- Experience driving a 53' flatbed Mac truck with a 10 speed manual transmission.
- Excellent driving and navigation skills in areas of high stress traffic.
- Excellent customer communication skills.
- maintaining efficiency and staying on schedule
- Forklift experience.
- Daily pre/post-trip vehicle & equipment inspections
- Operate conventional dump trucks
- Truck & trailer equipment delivery
- Water tanker operator | fill-in loader operator
- Drove truck equipped with dump body to transport and dump loose materials, such as sand, gravel, crushed rock.
- Planned travel routes in accordance with applicable traffic and bulk cargo transportation laws, regulations, standards and guidelines
- Communicated with operators and other truck drivers in the fleet to coordinate materials handling and product
- Transported several tons of waste to landfills; maneuvered trucks on uneven ground.
- Maintain safe vehicle and conditions in compliance with government and company regulations.
- Monitoring and handling radio communications to stay in touch with dispatch.
- Winch Truck/Bed Truck Operating, Winching Oversized Drilling Rig Modules, Pipe Tubs, 400BBL Upright Tanks, and various Heavy Equipment on Tail-Roll Trucks, Oilfield Floats, Lowboy Trailers and Transporting Independently or in Convoy.
- Loading/Offloading with Large Front-end Loader's with Fork or Stinger Attachments; Drill Pipe, Well Casing, Palletized Mud Products, Drums, Rig Mats, Etc.
- Chaining Down and Securing Loads of all sorts and variety.
- Hauling Baffless 140BBL Drilling Mud Tanks to Injection Facilities.
- Loading/Offloading and Transporting Down Hole Class ll fluids, Water or Oil based Mud, Crude Oil, Diesel, KCL, Etc
- 100BBL Fuel Truck Operating and Fueling Operations for Rig and Heavy Equipment.
- 100BBL Vac Truck Operating.
- 60BBL Super Sucker Operating.
- Front-End Loader Operating with Various Attachments.
- Supervised Crane Rigging During Rig-Move Operations.
- Pulling Sidedump, 10k Gal Tanker, Pup Trailer, Lowboy, etc.
- Loading/Unloading and Transporting Heavy Equipment.
- Hauling Gravel, Dirt, Trees, Calcium Chloride, Water, and various other products.
- Mixing and Applying Calcium Chloride for D.O.T. and Borough Roads.
- Operating Excavators, Dozers, Front-End Loaders, Tracked Skid Steers, Compactors, Screening Plants, etc.
- Road Building, Site Foundation Prepping, Finish Grading, Pit Mining, etc.
- Digging trenches for Water, Sewer, Power, Phone, and Gas Lines.
- HDPE Pipeline Welding upto 4".
- Pipe Laying and Fitting.
- Snow Plowing and Sanding.
- Drove truck equipped with dump body to transport and dump loose materials, such as sand, gravel, crushed rock
- Planned travel routes in accordance with applicable traffic and bulk cargo transportation laws, regulations, standards, and guidelines
- Communicated with operators and other truck drivers in the fleet to coordinate materials handling and product
- Transported several tons of waste to landfills and maneuvered trucks on uneven ground
- Ensured that the vehicles operational status is compliant with government and company regulations by performing regular mechanical checks during my shift
- Monitored and handled radio communications to stay in touch with dispatch at all times
- Provide exceptional customer service and emergency mechanical help including jump starts, tire changes, lockouts, fuel delivery, towing and other services.
- Prioritize service (e.g., safety concern, weather, traffic) and policy exceptions (e.g., customer not with vehicle, use of agent).
- Ensure quality and high performance standards are achieved
- Operate a roll-off, cherry picker (brush/trash loader), rear loader truck and other collection vehicles with hydraulic controls on truck.
- Transport materials to and from specified destination; i.e., landfills, neighborhood depository sites, transfer station and resource recovery plants.
- Perform pre and post-trip maintenance related vehicle checks and operator services; i.e., fluid levels, air pressures, washing.
- Complete and submit records on check-in time, number and tonnage of loads, amount of fuel used, and odometer readings.
PRO TIP
Show off real numbers that display your accomplishments in past roles. Instead of listing out your responsibilities as Truck Driver, talk about the measurable impact you made to their business. Did you boost their revenue? Increase customer retention? Mention your proudest points on your resume.
Action verbs for your truck driver resume
Recommended reads:
Truck driver resume skills section to impress recruiters
Checklist for a perfect truck driver resume skills section:
- Make sure to include most if not all essential skills for the job;
- Check the job description and add some keywords to pass ATS;
- List both hard and technical skills;
- When it comes to soft skills – elaborate on them in other sections of your resume (e.g. the experience section).
Top skills for your truck driver resume
Heavy Truck driving
Bus driving
Fork Lift Operator
Package Handling Experience
Hazardous material handling
Computer applications
Defensive Driving
Air breaks
Curiosity
Observation
Networking
Planning
Perspective Taking
Adaptability
Flexibility
Communication
PRO TIP
When describing your experience, don’t go too far from its terminology. Recruiters use ATS systems to filter resumes based on them having certain keywords, so make sure you use at least a few keywords mentioned in the job description.
Recommended reads:
Truck driver resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your truck driver resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have policies about identifying information like photos on your Truck Driver resume. Be sure to check all the relevant rules before submitting yours. If you’re in doubt, you can always try contacting the company’s HR department to ask for their policy.
writing an effective truck driver resume summary
Impressive truck driver resume summary checklist:
- Point out the achievements that make you a valuable applicant;
- Mention the total years of experience you have;
- Highlight the things you believe make you the best fit for the position;
- Keep it short: aim at having no more than 3-5 sentences.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
When writing a resume summary or objective, avoid first-person narrative.
Recommended reads:
Drawing the attention to your truck driver resume education section
Crafting a job-winning education section.":
- Use the reverse-chronological format when listing your degrees;
- Tailor the classes you’ve taken to the position you’re applying for if you’re an entry-level candidate;
- Mention the awards and honors you’ve received;
- Add your certifications (but only those relevant to the position).
Top certifications for your truck driver resume
Truck Driver Recruiter - How To Become A Rolling Recruiter
How To Maximize Your Income Faster While Helping Other Drivers Do The Same...
Truck Dispatcher - Working with owner operators
Work and earn
Truck Dispatcher Training (STEP BY STEP, work independently)
FULL COURSE- How to Become a Truck Dispatcher, how to book loads for semi-trucks and start your own Dispatch Company
How to Get Your Class A CDL and Become a Truck Driver
Start Your New Career and a New Adventure in Life as a Professional Tractor Trailer Driver!
Trucking Business Foundation
How to start you trucking business, How to manage truck business expenses, Secret to success in truck business etc
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
If you hold a certain major and a minor, your majors should be mentioned first.
Choosing the best format for your truck driver resume
The content of your Truck Driver resume is what will get you hired, right?
But even when your content’s amazing and you’re a true over-achiever, recruiters might not think you’re a good fit if your resume looks messy or is not formatted the right way.
In general, there are three basic resume formats we advise you to stick with:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
Deciding which one to use depends on your experience, the industry, and the company. In short — you need to know what your applicant profile is.
For instance, reverse-chronological resumes are great for people with over 10 years of experience and no employment gaps. Here, you need to list all your relevant experience in a reverse-chronological format, starting from the most recent and going back to less recent positions.
Functional skills-based resumes, on the other hand, are great for entry-level applicants, graduate students, or people who have different kinds of experience. It focuses on skills, education, and character traits, rather than experience.
If none of these work for you, and you dream of adopting a more creative approach that makes a difference, the combination (or hybrid) resume format is exactly what you’re looking for. It allows you to focus on both your experience and your skills, making it a ‘best of both worlds’ format. It’s also suitable for those who want to spice things up by adding different creative sections (e.g. ‘life philosophy’ or ‘what my day looks like’).
Here are some additional tips on perfecting your resume layout and style:
- Go for a traditional resume font sized 12p;
- Use standard 1-inch resume margins for increased readability;
- Make sure your resume fits on a one-page template. In case you’ve got 10 years of experience or more, your resume’s length can reach two pages;
- Avoid unwanted editing and plagiarism – save your resume as PDF before sending it to the recruiters.
Want to take it a step further? Learn how to make your resume stand out without relying too much on creativity.
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
If you feel that you don’t have high chances in a particular company, due to lack of relevant experience, then you can still consider using a creative layout. That might help you get noticed and invited for an interview, as most of the other applicants will have boring resume designs.
Want to include something more to your truck driver resume?
So you’ve already listed details about your education, experience, and skills. You’ve also crafted an amazing summary.
But now you feel a creative urge to showcase your personality and not just your expertise.
We’ve got you! Thanks to our modern templates, you can now include a chart of what your typical day looks like or even a word or two about your life philosophy. All this without sacrificing your Truck Driver resume’s professional feel.
Some non-traditional sections for your resume include:
Making your truck driver resume stand out
You want to make a strong first impression to all recruiters that get a hold of your resume. Sure you do! But how?
Well, the easiest way to stand out is by adding a bit of creativity to your Truck Driver resume. You could do this by going for a colorful layout or adding a creative section or two. It all depends on the industry and the position you’re applying for!
For instance, a position in design would allow for a more colorful resume, while a position in finance would probably not.
What makes a great truck driver resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
