Transportation and Material Moving · Holland code RC

Light Truck Drivers

Drive a light vehicle, such as a truck or van, with a capacity of less than 26,001 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW), primarily to pick up merchandise or packages from a distribution center and deliver. May load and unload vehicle.

Also called: Delivery Driver, Driver, Package Car Driver, Truck Driver, Bulk Delivery Driver, Light Truck Driver, Package Delivery Driver, Route Driver.

O*NET 53-3033.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $44,860; Middle half earn $37,270 to $52,310. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 74% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Obey traffic laws and follow established traffic and transportation procedures.
Report any mechanical problems encountered with vehicles.
Verify the contents of inventory loads against shipping papers.
Inspect and maintain vehicle supplies and equipment, such as gas, oil, water, tires, lights, or brakes, to ensure that vehicles are in proper working condition.
Read maps and follow written or verbal geographic directions.
Turn in receipts and money received from deliveries.
Load and unload trucks, vans, or automobiles.
Present bills and receipts and collect payments for goods delivered or loaded.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension3.1 / 5
Active Listening3.1 / 5
Speaking3.1 / 5
Monitoring3.1 / 5
Critical Thinking3.0 / 5
Writing2.8 / 5

Knowledge areas

English Language3.8 / 5
Transportation3.4 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.4 / 5
Public Safety and Security2.9 / 5
Administrative2.6 / 5
Mechanical2.5 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic98
Investigative9
Artistic0
Social6
Enterprising18
Conventional57

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

motorcycle delivery person · DE Auslieferer mit Motorrad/Auslieferin mit Motorrad · FR coursier véhicules 2 roues/coursière véhicules 2 roues
armoured car driver · DE Fachkraft im Geld-, Wert- und Sicherheitstransport · FR convoyeur conducteur de fonds/convoyeuse conductrice de fonds
private chauffeur · DE Dienstwagenfahrer/Dienstwagenfahrerin · FR chauffeur de maître/chauffeuse de maître
taxi driver · DE Taxifahrer/Taxifahrerin · FR chauffeur de taxi/chauffeuse de taxi
cargo vehicle driver · DE Lastkraftwagenfahrer/Lastkraftwagenfahrerin · FR conducteur de poids lourd/conductrice de poids lourd
concrete pump operator · DE Betonmischerfahrer/Betonmischerfahrerin · FR conducteur livreur de béton prêt à l’emploi/conductrice livreuse de béton prêt à l’emploi

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Taxi and cab drivers and chauffeurs (8213)173,900 employed
Heavy and large goods vehicle drivers (8211)273,400 employed
Road transport drivers n.e.c. (8219)27,400 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Japan

Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “営業用貨物自動車運転者（大型車を除く）”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.

Median monthly pay: ¥277,100; Middle half earn ¥234,400 to ¥327,400 a month.
Workers in the category: 451,640; Regular employees in firms of ten or more.

Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Plant and machine operators and assemblers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Plant and machine operators and assemblers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€39,630
Netherlands	€37,567
Austria	€37,304
Sweden	€36,005
Germany	€34,433
Ireland	€32,617
France	€28,550
Italy	€28,330
Spain	€24,409
Portugal	€11,309
Poland	€10,259

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -1.12. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (53-3033).

Is it a fit for you?

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