Delivery driver CV: what the transport manager checks first
A delivery driver CV is read in a different order from most CVs. Before anyone looks at where you have worked, they check whether you hold the licence and cards the role needs and whether you can legally start next week. If that is not clear in the first few seconds, the rest of the document rarely gets read.
Delivery driver CV example
This is what a finished CV from our builder looks like. Open it with one click and swap in your own details — nothing to set up from scratch.
Daniel
Whitaker
Contact
Skills
Languages
Interests
Five-a-side football, restoring an old Land Rover Defender.
Personal Statement
Multi-drop delivery driver with 7 years on the road across West Yorkshire, the last 3 on a 7.5t fleet. Full clean UK licence (Cat B, C1, C) held since 2016, Driver CPC card valid until 03.2029 and a digital tachograph card. Average 110 drops a day with a 99.4% first-time delivery rate and no at-fault incidents. Right to work in the UK, available full-time including early starts and Saturdays.
Experience
Deliver 90–120 parcels a day on a fixed urban route across Leeds and Wakefield in a 7.5t box van with tail lift, 06:00 starts Hold a 99.4% first-time delivery rate over the last 12 months against a depot average of 97.1% Complete daily walk-round checks and defect reports; no roadside prohibitions or at-fault incidents in three years Scan proof of delivery on a handheld PDA and clear failed deliveries with the depot within the same shift Trained 6 new starters on route sequencing, tail lift use and safe manual handling
Two-person home delivery of white goods and furniture on a 3.5t Luton van, 18–22 drops a day across Bradford and Halifax Installed appliances, removed old units and collected packaging; kept damage claims below 0.5% of deliveries Planned routes in the company app around road closures and kept the on-time rate above 96%
Picked and loaded chilled store orders on a counterbalance forklift (RTITB certified 2018) Covered Cat B van runs between the depot and local stores during driver shortages
Education
Qualifications
Licence details go at the top, not in a footnote
Most CV templates put driving licences somewhere under education. For a driving job that is the wrong place. The person shortlisting has a pile of applications and one question: who can be insured and on the road by Monday.
Put your licence and cards directly under your contact details and personal statement, as a short list rather than a sentence. This is the one section in a driver CV where a bit of white space earns its place, because it has to be readable at a glance.
Spell out exactly what you hold
"Full driving licence" on its own tells the employer nothing. A depot recruiting for 7.5t work will not guess whether you have C1, and an HGV operator will not guess whether you hold a Driver CPC card.
- Licence categories, written out: B, C1, C, C+E. If you hold several, list them all. If your licence is clean, say so, because most fleet insurers cap points and the employer will check.
- How long you have held the licence. Many fleet policies require two or more years, and some set a minimum age, so "held since 2016" saves a question.
- Driver CPC qualification card with its expiry date if you drive C1, C or C+E for hire or reward. Without it you cannot legally drive commercially, and it is the first thing an HGV operator looks for.
- Digital tachograph driver card and its expiry, for any vehicle over 3.5t.
- Extras that widen the jobs you can apply for: ADR for hazardous goods, a counterbalance forklift licence, tail lift or HIAB training, and a basic or enhanced DBS check if you deliver to homes, pharmacies or schools.
- Right to work in the UK, stated in one line. Employers must check it, and a CV that answers it up front is easier to shortlist.
Multi-drop is not HGV: describe the work you actually did
The commonest line in a driver CV is "delivered goods to customers". It fits every driver in the country, which is why it says nothing. A transport manager wants to know what vehicle you drove, what kind of route it was and at what scale.
Name the vehicle class and body type: 3.5t van, 7.5t box van with tail lift, 18t rigid, Class 1 artic. Say whether it was multi-drop parcels, two-person home delivery of white goods, chilled food to stores, trade counter runs or pallet work. Then give the numbers: drops per day, route area, a typical shift pattern.
A line like "90–120 parcels a day on a fixed urban route across Leeds and Wakefield, 7.5t box van, 06:00 starts" tells the depot in one glance whether you would cope with their work. "Responsible for deliveries" does not.
The numbers depots actually believe
Driving jobs are measured, so your CV can be too. You do not need exact figures to the decimal point, but you do need a realistic order of magnitude, and it has to survive a reference check.
- Drops or parcels per day and how that compared to the depot average.
- First-time delivery or on-time rate, if your handheld reported it.
- Damage or claims rate, or simply "no at-fault incidents" if that is true.
- Vehicle checks: daily walk-round checks, defect reporting, no roadside prohibitions.
- Anything you did beyond driving: training new starters, planning routes, covering the depot, customer-facing installs.
What to leave out
Employers will verify your licence through a DVLA share code and run their own checks. The CV does not need to carry the underlying data, and some of it can work against you.
- Your driving licence number, National Insurance number or date of birth. None of these belong on a CV, and a recruiter who sees them worries about how you handle customer data.
- A photo. It is not expected on a UK CV and many employers prefer not to see one for fairness reasons.
- A list of every duty copied from the job advert. Describe what you did, not what the advert asked for.
- A CV saved as an image or scanned PDF. Larger operators use applicant tracking systems that need to read the text; a scan comes through as a blank.
- Employment history going back twenty years in full detail. The last five to eight years are what count; group older jobs into one line.
One page is an advantage in this job
A driver CV does not need to be long. Licence and cards with expiry dates, a three-line personal statement, the last three to five jobs with vehicle, route type and numbers, then training. That fits on one page, and a one-page CV gets read in full when a two-page one gets skimmed.
If you are moving from vans to HGV work, put the training and the newly gained category at the very top of the CV and make the personal statement say clearly that you are looking for your first Class 2 or Class 1 role. Operators do take on newly qualified drivers, but only when the CV makes that situation obvious.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I have to mention points on my licence?
- If your licence is clean, say so; it is a selling point. If you have points, you do not need to list them on the CV, but you must answer honestly on the application form or at interview, because the employer will check via a DVLA share code. Most fleet insurers accept up to six points for minor offences.
- Do I need a Driver CPC for a van job?
- No. Driver CPC applies to C1, C, D and C+E vehicles driven for hire or reward. For a 3.5t van on a Cat B licence it is not required, but a tail lift, manual handling or first aid certificate still helps.
- Should I put a photo on a delivery driver CV?
- No. Photos are not standard on UK CVs, and many employers prefer to shortlist without one. Use the space for your licence details instead.
- How do I show self-employed courier work, for example a parcel franchise or gig app?
- List it as a normal job with the platform or franchise name, the dates and the same numbers you would give for employed work: van type, area, parcels per day. Employers value it; what they want to see is consistency and volume.
- How many jobs should I list if I have changed employers often?
- Cover the last five years in detail and group anything older into one line, for example "Various multi-drop roles, 2012–2018". Agency work is normal in the sector, but a list of fifteen short assignments is hard to read.
See also
- Software engineer resume — impact beats a list of technologies
- Nurse CV — what NHS recruiters check before they read the rest
- Warehouse operative CV — licences, rates and shifts first
- Customer service CV: numbers and languages instead of "good communication skills"
- Accountant resume: what hiring managers and ATS actually scan for
- How to write a CV step by step
- ATS-friendly CV: how to get past the software and reach a human