Some people just don’t gel well when it comes to an office job, they need to feel a sense of independence and freedom that a job in a fixed location just can’t give them. If this sounds like you, then you’re not alone. There are thousands of people out there who wish that they could take to the open road for a living.
You might think that finding a job driving is going to be hard. But there are plenty of driver-first job openings out there for you. You just need to make sure that you’re looking for the right kind of job in the right place. This article is here to help you find that driver’ first job that you’ve been longing for.
Whether you want to be a truck driver, a delivery driver, or even just want to be around cars in an insurance position, this is your guide. We’re going to talk through ten of the best driver-first jobs out there. From there, you can work out whether they will be right for you.
Become a Delivery Driver
There are countless courier companies out there offering driver-first jobs. If you want to work in a fast-paced environment where no two days are the same, then you should consider getting a job as a delivery driver. You’ll be left on your own all day to carry out your tasks in the allowed time, and you’ll get a great deal of freedom while you’re working. A delivery job is a fantastic job for people who don’t like to stand still at work.
What would a day in the life of a delivery driver look like? Well, let’s say you’re delivering bedroom furniture to private customers. You’d start your day by hopping in your van and heading over to several mattress warehouses to pick up your cargo for the day. From there, you will have a predetermined delivery route to customers’ houses. You’ll have a timeframe that you need to deliver all your stock, and you’ll be working your way around the houses until all the stock has been unloaded.
In terms of skills, you will, of course, need to be a good driver. Beyond that, you’ll need to be very organized and be able to manage your time efficiently throughout a busy day. Delivery drivers never have a quiet day, so you’ll need to be prepared to work long days that are pretty non-stop.
Drive for Restaurants or Food Delivery
We are living in something that is often dubbed the ‘gig economy.’ This term refers to freelance work carried out from job to job. With the rise of companies like Uber Eats and DoorDash, one of the most common forms of these driver-first jobs is delivering food from restaurants to customers. This is a great option for people who want to drive for a living but want to work on their schedule. Driving for a massive catering company like Uber Eats is a great way to drive for a living and work as much or as little as you want.
How does the process work? When you clock in for your shift, you will start to receive notifications on your phone that there are orders ready to be picked up from local restaurants. You will then drive to the restaurant to grab the order, and from there you’ll take the food to the customer’s front door. Your pay will be per job that you do and you can also earn things like tips on top of your regular delivery earnings.
Work with RV’s
One of the most popular types of vehicle in the United States is the recreational vehicle (RV). These vehicles are homes on wheels that people take on vacation all around the country. If you’ve always loved RVs then you should consider working with them for a career. Not all the jobs in the RV industry are strictly driver first, but if you’re interested in them as vehicles, then there are lots of jobs you can take up in the wider industry.
For starters, you could work more on the RV park side of things, you could help develop campsite and RV resort software, or you could work in the actual RV sales industry itself. Some RV jobs do involve getting behind the wheel. People who are far away from their RVs can pay to have them driven to them from across the country. This allows you to be paid for a road trip. How cool is that?
Show Houses
You might be sitting there thinking, “That isn’t a driver’s first job!” But you’d be dead wrong. If it’s your job to show houses, then it’s likely that you’ll be spending a huge amount of your workday behind the wheel of your car. You’ll have several different houses to drive between every day, and you’ll have to be prepared to do a lot of your work when you’re on the move.
You’ll need some qualifications and experience to be able to show homes for a living. If you don’t think you’ve got the right experience, you can always think about attending a real estate class to learn more about the industry and how to work in it. One of the main skills that you’ll need to succeed as a real estate agent is communication. Your job will mostly involve talking to people and answering their questions about the homes that you’re showing them.
Something else you’ll need is a good working knowledge of the strict rules and regulations in your state. There are specific things that real estate agents can and can’t do when they’re showing a house to potential buyers. Brushing up on these before you start is a great way to get ahead of the requirements of the job.
Sell Trucks
Do you prefer your vehicles to the larger size? If the thrill of an 18-wheeler grabs your attention more than a normal car does, then you could consider selling it for a living. There are several logistics companies, haulers, and even private collectors who need to purchase trucks every single day. You could be the difference between them getting the right truck and them getting the wrong truck.
When you’re selling a truck, you’ll always need to think of the driver first. Try to put yourself in their shoes and think about the things that they would need and appreciate in a truck. You should also think about the pain points of the logistics company that is trying to buy the truck. Logistics companies have a lot of demanding targets and deadlines, it’ll be your job as a new and used truck dealer to convince them that your stock has the answer to their needs.
Rent Out Equipment
Some people’s jobs are very transient. By that, we mean that they are always moving around, and their job is never fixed in one place. One of the main industries that this applies to is the events industry. These industries rely on a company’s equipment rentals to be able to deliver all the gear they need to make the event run.
If you get a driver’s first job at one of the equipment rental companies, then you’ll be responsible for driving the equipment from the rental warehouse to the people who need it. You’ll be driving long distances and many hours at a time, so you’ll need to make sure that you can stay alert for a long time and meet deadlines. Overall, though, this is a great job for people who are competent drivers who can work independently.
Help Others Learn to Drive
There is no single job that puts the driver first more than being a driving instructor. If you consider yourself to be a great driver with a lot of patience, then why not try your hand at helping new drivers pass their learners permit exam? You can pass on your driving knowledge to the next generation of drivers and feel a sense of satisfaction that you’re doing a job that makes a huge amount of difference in people’s lives.
A good driving instructor needs a lot of key skills and qualities. The most important of all of these qualities is patience. Learner drivers are nervous, and they make a lot of mistakes. As a teacher, you need to be able to deal with those mistakes and try to gently point them in the right direction. It will help neither them nor you to start screaming and shouting and losing your temper. Patience is a virtue in everyday life, but it is even more so when you are teaching people to drive for a living.
Work With Land
Landscaping might seem like another industry on this list that isn’t very driver-first in its approach to work, but working for a soil supplier would see you behind the wheel for most of your day. You might be wondering what a soil supplier is. Well, when private customers or commercial landscaping businesses are completing extensive work in people’s yards, there is a chance that they need a huge amount of soil and turf to get the job done.
Working for a soil supplier would see you out making deliveries for most of the day. Much like delivering mail or food, no two jobs and no two days would be the same. If you want a demanding job that is full of twists and turns, then delivering for a soil supplier would be a great idea.
Work in Towing
The towing business is not for the faint of heart. It is a tough job that a lot of people don’t approve of. That being said, if you’re after honest work that pays well and keeps you behind the wheel all day long, then you can’t go wrong with applying for a position at a towing company. Take some time to find local companies in your area and see if they need drivers.
If you take to the job well, then there is plenty of opportunity for growth. You can either work for yourself in this industry or for someone else. The best way to get the knowledge and experience to be able to strike out on your own is by spending some time working for someone else’s company.
Work in Insurance
This is another job that is more about working with cars than working in cars. That being said, working for automobile insurance companies is a great way to get a car-centric job that helps people. Much like jobs that involve selling cars, working in insurance is all about putting the driver first. You need to be able to put yourself in the driver’s shoes.
Your days will be varied and you’ll have to spend some time dealing with customers who are less than impressed. Like being a driving instructor, having a good amount of patience is never a bad thing. This is especially true when most of your work within this industry would be dealing with people who have either damaged their car or been involved in an accident.
Driver First Jobs Are Everywhere
If you were previously confused about where to find driving jobs, we hope this article has guided you onto the right path. As you can see, there are so many jobs out there that put the driver first, and choosing the right one for you depends on your interests, skill set, and availability. Nothing is stopping you from getting behind the wheel for a living, it is just a case of finding the right job.
Looking for a new job can feel like a draining experience. The best advice that we can give is to never give up and just keep going. Something that you love will come up eventually. Until then, you just need to keep plugging away at applications and going forward with interviews. Your new driving job awaits, and with a little patience, it will soon be yours!
