Popular driving resumes
You’ve got the expertise to shine in the world of professional driving, but can you map out a resume that will make employers stop and pay attention?
The key is to translate your driving skills and experiences into a clear and concise resume that’s easy to read and covers all your strengths. Here’s an example that demonstrates how the pros do it, and it was created in our Resume Builder.
Here are other driving resume examples to inspire you:
How to write a resume for a driving job
Excited to shift gears and take your professional driving career up a notch? Begin by learning how to write a resume that will get hiring managers’ engines revving.
Alright, buckle up and let’s start this journey. A good first step is to draft a resume outline. This should include:
OK, ready to cruise through each of these sections? Let’s go.
STEP 1
Add your contact info
Your resume is your business card on the road to a new job. You want the hiring manager to contact you, so make it straightforward for them. That’s why your contact information should be noticeable.
Here’s the essential pit crew for your resume header:
Include a link to your personal website, portfolio or LinkedIn profile, if applicable.
As a driving professional, your resume header should be clear and uncluttered — no need for flashy fonts or overly colorful borders. Feel free to add a personal touch, but don’t let it outshine your professional milestones.
Next up — your professional summary or career objective.
STEP 2
Summarize your career in one paragraph
Your resume profile is how you make a good first impression — a crucial step in getting closer to the interview.
This brief introduction sits at the top of your resume, offering a glimpse of your skills and experiences. It’s the ideal spot to demonstrate you’re the right person to hire and get the recruiter to go further into your professional history.
Now, depending on your career mileage, there are a couple of profile styles you can adopt:
At the end of the day, your profile should have a single focus: convincing the hiring manager that you and the position are as compatible as a well-matched driver and vehicle.
And how do you drive that point home? You need to understand what the company is looking for. Review the company’s mission statement, then highlight the achievements and skills they’d find most impressive and relevant.
Writing Tip
Personalize your summary or objective for each driving role you apply for. No two driving jobs are exactly the same. By adjusting your resume for each role, you can spotlight the skills and experiences they’re specifically seeking in the job ad. This approach enhances your fit to the role and helps you navigate smoothly through the applicant tracking system (ATS).
Professional summary for driving resume example:
Reliable and adaptable professional driver with a CDL Class A license and over five years of experience. Particularly skilled in efficient route planning and safe operation of heavy vehicles. Proficient in maintaining vehicle upkeep, adherence to DOT regulations and adjusting to schedule changes. Competent with GPS systems and fleet management software. Demonstrated ability in collaboration, managing delivery timelines and responding to shifting business needs.
Sample objective for driving resume:
As a recent graduate of a reputable truck driving school, my goal is to apply my knowledge and enthusiasm in a professional driving setting, focusing particularly on efficient route planning and the safe operation of heavy vehicles. Keen to utilize my training in DOT regulations adherence and vehicle maintenance. Excited to contribute to a dynamic team, manage timely deliveries and adapt to changing schedules to drive business efficiency and performance.
STEP 3
Include your most relevant skills
From mastering complex road networks to building rapport with clients or co-workers, you use unique skills in professional driving every day. The key is to highlight these skills on your resume in the most compelling way.
You exercise hard skills during technical tasks, such as driving heavy vehicles or planning efficient routes. Soft skills come into play when you’re coordinating with dispatch or dealing with customers.
It’s not a race between hard skills vs soft skills, rather, they work together to show you can shift gears between all the responsibilities of the job, making you an ideal hire.
Writing Tip
Having an excellent safety record is paramount in the driving industry. If you have one, be sure to mention it throughout your resume, including your key skills section.
Hard and soft skills for a driving resume
STEP 4
Detail your work experience
As a seasoned driver, your professional experience is a testament to safe deliveries, efficient routes and exceptional customer service. Whether mastering your navigation skills, exploring new delivery strategies, or meticulously logging miles and fuel use, your work is what keeps the country moving.
But here’s the key — when you put work experience on your resume, you want it to leap off the page.
Here are a few ways to make your work history stand out:
Writing Tip
Don’t downshift on your skill behind the wheel. While teamwork and communication are essential in professional driving, your technical skills are just as important. You flex these skills daily, whether navigating complex road networks or adhering to DOT regulations.
Driving work experience entry example:
Professional Driver, Delivery Express Inc.
Houston, TX
October 2021 – Present
- Coordinate with team members on multidisciplinary assignments, leading to a 25% increase in on-time deliveries and achieving a 98% customer satisfaction rate.
- Pivotal in organizing delivery routes, optimizing schedules and reducing overall driving time by 30% without compromising safety or customer service.
- Developed and implemented strict data management protocols using fleet management software, significantly improving record accuracy and reducing time spent on administrative tasks.
STEP 5
Showcase your education and credentials
Your education is crucial to landing your first role, especially if you’re a recent graduate from a driving school.
Do you remember all those rigorous hours you spent mastering road rules and honing your driving skills? Well, they’re about to pay off because your degree or certificate tells your future employer that you’ve got the fundamentals of professional driving down to a T.
Always include a separate section for your certifications and licenses. In the world of professional driving, having the right certifications or licenses can make all the difference. This includes your Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) and any special endorsements you might have.
Driving education entry example:
Education
Professional Driver’s Diploma,
XYZ Driving School, Houston, TX | 2023
High School Diploma,
Springfield High School, Springfield, IL | 2020
Certifications
Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), Class A
P and T endorsements
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
Issue Date: March 2023
STEP 6
Consider additional sections to add to your resume
What if your driving career is more than your work experience, education and key skills? Maybe you’ve picked up some major professional achievements or volunteer experiences you want to highlight.
To enrich your driving resume, consider adding a few optional sections to spotlight your unique journey and abilities. Here are a few categories you might want to include:
Writing tip
If you have taken additional courses or attended seminars related to your driving career, include these under a professional development or continuing education section. This shows you’re dedicated to improving your skills and staying up to date in your field.
Also, you’ll want to choose a driving resume template that suits your style and the driving industry.
There are various templates out there, from simple resumes to more innovative and creative templates. Choose one that reflects who you are and the image you want to project.
Don’t want to waste time hunting for a driving resume template? You can find plenty of free templates for Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Remember, the key is to build a clear and organized resume that mirrors your journey.
Driving resume examples by experience level
Professional experience is the engine that powers a driving resume. As you accumulate more miles on the road, you unlock the route to more advanced roles.
Over time, this experience might influence the organization of your resume. There are three common resume formats, each designed for a different stage in your driving career:
Let’s review visual examples of each one.
Functional resume format: Entry-level driving example
What makes this a great driving resume example?
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Delivers a clear career objective
This candidate smartly opted for a resume objective over a professional summary. If you’re fresh from driving school or just starting your driving career, objectives help by showing how your unique skills can contribute to the organization.
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Uses multiple skills sections
This candidate captures the recruiter’s attention by incorporating multiple skills sections. The use of bullet points and distinct sections makes the resume visually appealing and easy to skim at a glance.
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Designed for a lack of work experience
This candidate hits the mark with their focus on the skills and knowledge gained from education and training. The limited professional experience isn’t hidden, but it’s enhanced by highlighting relevant skills across different sections — giving an extra boost to anyone early in their driving journey.
Combination resume format: Midcareer driving resume example
What makes this a great driving resume example?
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Robust professional summary
The professional summary offers an ideal platform to spotlight career highlights. This candidate mentions the number of years they’ve been on the road and lists key skills in “safety awareness” and “time management.”
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Prominent skills section
When you’re established in your driving career, it becomes crucial to emphasize specific skills that set you apart from peers with similar qualifications. This candidate does so by positioning a skills section above their work history.
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Clear career progression
After racking up years of practical experience, driving professionals often have some specialization and unique skills. You can show this upward trajectory in a work history section that lays out your last few roles in reverse-chronological order.
Chronological resume format: Experienced driving resume example
What makes this a great driving resume example?
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Highlights professional experience
As your career moves forward, your work history should take the driver’s seat. In this example, the applicant arranges their employment history in reverse-chronological order, starting with the most recent role and moving backward. This section includes bullet points for each role, highlighting their achievements and making them easily noticeable.
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ATS-friendly template in use
Today, many companies use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to filter resumes based on relevant keywords. Chronological resumes tend to be more compatible with ATS due to their emphasis on job titles and dates of employment — sections that have been vital to resumes for ages.
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Format focuses on consistency
Additionally, by highlighting career progression, the chronological resume format emphasizes the candidate’s consistent and productive career path over the years. This approach appeals to employers who might hesitate to hire a less experienced driver.
Write a driving cover letter
At the end of the day, the real boost to your job hunt could be a well-written cover letter.
Your cover letter is a way to illustrate points that don’t quite fit in the confined lanes of your resume. Perhaps there’s a pit stop in your career history because you paused to take further driving training, or you’re navigating a career change from a different industry into professional driving. Our guide on how to write a cover letter provides you with the perfect roadmap to clarify these detours.
Once you’re buckled up and ready to make a cover letter, consider our professionally endorsed cover letter examples and our handy guide on cover letter formatting. These tools can supercharge your application and ensure it stands out in the gridlock of driving job applications.
If you need a surefire way to steer clear of typos or grammatical errors, give our Cover Letter Builder a spin. It auto-generates sentences made for driving jobs, allowing you to modify them to mirror your voice and spotlight your unique driving milestones, such as your stellar safety record.
Next, you might be curious about what awaits on the open road as you start or progress in your driving career.
Don is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with more than 10 years’ experience creating digital content, including four years helping job seekers develop their careers. He holds an M.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University.
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