Driver/sales workers
Drive truck or other vehicle over established routes or within an established territory and sell or deliver goods, such as food products, including restaurant take-out items, or pick up or deliver items such as commercial laundry. May also take orders, collect payment, or stock merchandise at point of delivery.
Driver/sales workers drive truck or other vehicle over established routes or within an established territory and sell or deliver goods, such as food products, including restaurant take-out items, or pick up or deliver items such as commercial laundry. The role reports a median annual salary of $37,130 in the US and is projected to grow 9% over the next decade (faster than average). Entry typically requires a High school diploma or equivalent, and shows moderate AI exposure (0.52 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Service Orientation, Reading Comprehension.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £27,854 a year for Delivery drivers and couriers (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £24,583 to £33,472 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 8214). ONS rates this estimate precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Plant and machine operators and assemblers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only Driver/sales workers, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 8. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Customer and Personal Service
- Food Production
- English Language
- Transportation
- Public Safety and Security
- Administration and Management
- Sales and Marketing
- Mathematics
A day in the life
You start early at the depot, checking your van's tyres, lights and fuel, then loading the day's stock of fresh bread, snacks and drinks along with your route sheet. Your first stops are small shops and cafés, where you deliver their regular orders, arrange products neatly on their shelves and put up a promotional display for a new product. You tell each shopkeeper about upcoming price changes and take orders for the next delivery. By mid-morning a customer complains about a short delivery last week, so you check your records, apologise and put it right. You collect payment at each stop, give change and write receipts. After lunch you restock and clean the vending machines on your route, wiping down the inside and checking that they dispense properly. Back at the depot, you record the day's sales and deliveries, hand in the cash and clean out the van. Long hours in traffic can be tiring, but friendly regular customers make the route enjoyable.
Illustrative: one typical day, written from the O*NET task statements for this occupation. Real days vary by employer and seniority.
What you'd actually do
- Drive trucks to deliver such items as food, medical supplies, or newspapers.
- Inform regular customers of new products or services and price changes.
- Record sales or delivery information on daily sales or delivery record.
- Listen to and resolve customers' complaints regarding products or services.
- Collect money from customers, make change, and record transactions on customer receipts.
- Maintain trucks and food-dispensing equipment and clean inside of machines that dispense food or beverages.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does Driver/sales workers do?
Drive truck or other vehicle over established routes or within an established territory and sell or deliver goods, such as food products, including restaurant take-out items, or pick up or deliver items such as commercial laundry. May also take orders, collect payment, or stock merchandise at point of delivery.
What does a typical day look like in Driver/sales workers?
You start early at the depot, checking your van's tyres, lights and fuel, then loading the day's stock of fresh bread, snacks and drinks along with your route sheet. Your first stops are small shops and cafés, where you deliver their regular orders, arrange products neatly on their shelves and put up a promotional display for a new product. You tell each shopkeeper about upcoming price changes and take orders for the next delivery.
How much does Driver/sales workers earn?
The median annual salary for Driver/sales workers in the US is $37,130.
What is the job outlook for Driver/sales workers?
The role is projected to grow 9% over the next decade (faster than average). Current US employment is approximately 451,500 workers.
How do I become driver/sales workers?
The typical entry education is a High school diploma or equivalent. Building a foundation in the top skills below will strengthen your application.
What skills does Driver/sales workers need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Service Orientation, Reading Comprehension, Complex Problem Solving. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace Driver/sales workers?
Our AI-durability model gives Driver/sales workers a score of 0.52 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.
How hard is it to enter this field?
Driver/sales workers has low barrier to entry — generally accessible — you can enter with basic credentials and on-the-job learning.