Truck Driver resume example
Also indexed as: CDL driver · HGV driver · delivery driver · OTR driver
Driving roles are screened on licence and record before anything else, so both belong at the very top: licence class, endorsements, years held, accident and violation history, and any DOT medical status. A recruiter cannot progress an application that leaves them guessing which vehicles you may legally drive.
Then the record. Safe miles driven, on-time delivery rate, years without a preventable accident, inspection results. This is a field where a clean record is worth real money to the employer through insurance, and where saying so plainly is unusually effective.
A complete document in the Aperture layout, rendered live, not a screenshot.
The screen
What a truck driver resume is actually judged on
Licence class and endorsements
CDL A or B, HGV Class 1 or 2, plus Hazmat, tanker, doubles, passenger. These are literal filter terms.
Safety record
Accident-free miles or years, preventable accidents, violations, clean inspections.
Equipment and freight experience
Reefer, flatbed, tanker, curtain-side, articulated. Plus load securing and any specialist handling.
Route type and compliance
OTR, regional, local, multi-drop. Hours-of-service and ELD discipline, and border crossing where relevant.
Bullets
5 bullets that would survive the screen
Copy the shape, not the words. Each one leads with the result, then names the mechanism, and carries the vocabulary of the field without listing it.
Drove 480,000 accident-free miles over six years in a Class A tractor-trailer, with no moving violations and no preventable incidents.
Held 98.6% on-time delivery across roughly 2,100 loads on regional lanes, including appointment-critical grocery deliveries.
Ran reefer freight with temperature logging to customer specification; no product was rejected for a temperature excursion in four years.
Passed 14 consecutive DOT roadside inspections with no violations, and maintained hours-of-service compliance on ELD with no logbook infractions.
Trained six new drivers on multi-drop urban routes and load securing, all of whom passed their assessment first time.
The rewrite that matters most in this role
Operated a commercial vehicle to deliver freight to customers safely and on time.
Drove 480,000 accident-free miles over six years with no preventable incidents, holding 98.6% on-time delivery across about 2,100 loads.
Why it works: The weak line describes the trade. The rewrite gives the two numbers the employer's insurer and customer service manager care about, with enough volume behind them to be credible.
Skills
Skills worth listing as a truck driver
Only what you would be comfortable being interviewed on. A long list dilutes every real match.
Technical & role-specific
Worth proving, not claiming
These belong inside a bullet that demonstrates them, not in a list. A line that says “communication” is worth nothing; a bullet showing you ran the workshop is worth a lot.
Keywords
What the tracking system is indexing
These are the terms a requisition for this title typically matches on. Use the ones that are true of you, inside the sentences where you did the work.
Paste the actual posting into the builder and you get this list generated from that requisition instead of the general case, including which terms you are already carrying and which bullet is the right home for the rest.
How keyword targeting worksMistakes
Errors specific to truck driver resumes
Not the generic advice. These are the ones that cost people interviews in this particular field.
Licence details buried
Class, endorsements and expiry belong in the header area. This is the first filter and it is absolute.
No safety numbers
Accident-free miles is the single most valuable line on a driver's resume. Include it if it is true.
Not naming equipment
Flatbed, tanker and reefer are separate skill sets with separate pay. Say which you have run.
Unexplained gaps between carriers
Transport recruiters check employment history closely. A one-line explanation prevents the worst assumption.
Questions
Truck Driver resume questions
I am newly qualified. What do I put?
The school, the licence and endorsements, supervised miles driven, and any related handling experience: warehouse, forklift, delivery. Say you are open to a trainee or mentored lane.
How do I handle an old accident on my record?
Do not put it on the resume. Be ready to describe it factually in the interview; carriers will see the record and value a straight answer.
Does OTR experience help for local work?
Yes, but stress the multi-drop and urban handling parts, since local work is judged on drops per day rather than miles.