What Does A Delivery Person Do? (Plus Skills and Salary)

Updated 17 March 2023

A delivery person is a professional who delivers product shipments to customers and recipients in different locations. They usually deliver items using a vehicle provided to them by their employer or may have to use their personal vehicles. They play an important role in today's world and knowing more about their job can help you decide if you want to become a delivery person. In this article, we will discuss "What does a delivery person do?", enlist the job skills required to succeed as one, find out their salary and look at a sample job description.

What does a delivery person do?

Consider the following information to answer the question, "What does a delivery person do?"

Loading and unloading items

A delivery person assists with the loading and unloading of items onto and from their vehicle. Their primary duty involves the gathering of day's orders and loading them for delivery. They can choose to categorise the orders in their delivery bag and arrange them in order of priority or location proximity. For example, delivery persons working with a food delivery startup get multiple delivery orders every day. They usually prioritise orders by delivering to the locations closest to their location first. This strategy can also help you maximise productivity.

Ensuring safe delivery

As a delivery person, it is your job to ensure that you safely deliver all items loaded onto your vehicle to their assigned addresses. This job requires you to maintain attention, speed and accuracy while delivering the orders. Most companies likely track the number of orders that delivery personnel complete in a day. They also have to abide by the company's loss and damage policies in case of any damages, losses or misplacement of items. In case of finding a broken or torn product before delivering, inform your immediate managers so they can provide a solution.

As a delivery person, is your job to ensure that all items loaded onto your vehicle get delivered safely. However, sometimes the recipient is not at their assigned address or may not pick up the call. In these cases, you must return the items safely to your company's delivery manager or relevant department for another attempt.

Reviewing orders

Delivery persons review the orders that are in line for delivery and the ones they have already delivered. Reviewing orders allows a delivery person to ensure that orders are complete and billed correctly. This step also verifies that the package contains the details of the addressee, such as their name, contact number and residential or business address.

As a delivery person, reviewing your orders before and after delivery helps keep track of your work and maintain consistency. It enables you to manage and organise your daily tasks efficiently. Going through your orders every day also allows you to save time and reflect upon improving as a delivery person.

Accepting payments

Once you have delivered the items to their owners, you might have to accept payments from customers. As a delivery person, you can collect payments either digitally or through cash, whatever mode is permissible in the company. For example, if a customer orders a hair care product from an e-commerce website and they select their preferred mode of payment as 'digital payment.' Here, the customer may already have made the payment and so the delivery person only needs to deliver the order safely to the customer without asking for payment.

As a delivery person, your job is to check whether the customer has already made a digital payment for a product or payment has to be collected. In addition to carrying the right devices to accept digital payment, you also have to safeguard the cash that you collect from customers.

Providing customer service

Having excellent customer service skills can help a delivery person do their job efficiently. Customer service is the support you offer to your customers before, during and after the delivery of their orders. It involves answering your customer's questions about their product delivery schedule, the items they have purchased or assisting them with any other problems. Your job as a delivery person is to ensure that you provide the best possible help and support to your customers that resolve their queries as per company policy.

Preparing reports

A delivery person may have to prepare reports that list the sales made on a particular day or the total number of delivered and pending orders. Every company uses a unique method to keep track of the deliveries that a delivery person makes. Some companies still prefer manual records over digital reports. Whatever process your company chooses, prepare your delivery report and enter the relevant data. Maintaining reports as a delivery person helps you keep track of the products you have delivered, queued orders and per-delivery incentives if any.

These reports can also help you organise your work better by allocating, recording and categorising the number and type of deliveries the company requires you to do. Report preparation requires good focus, basic math, analytical and time management skills. Thus, a delivery person can benefit from combining these skills to perform their job dutifully.

Skills required to become a delivery person

A delivery person requires the following skills to perform their job duties effectively:

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Ability to organise tasks efficiently and multitasking skills
Problem-solving skills
Analytical and critical thinking abilities
Familiarity with local addresses, streets and routes
Time management skills
Report writing and preparation skills
Attention to detail, adaptability to work under high pressure and the flexibility to work with other people
Punctuality and timeliness to ensure on-time deliveries
Reliability and trustworthiness to maintain privacy about the customer and their details

How much does a delivery person make in India?

The average base salary of a delivery person is ₹16,261 per month. Your income may depend on various factors, such as a proven track record of delivering orders efficiently, your experience, skill set, previous educational qualifications, geographical location and your organisation. As you gain more experience in delivering orders and get more testimonials or five-star reviews and ratings from customers, you can get promoted to a higher position with a higher salary and many other perks.

Since the cost of living is higher in metro cities, the average income of a delivery person in these cities is usually higher. For instance, the average salary of a delivery person in Faridabad, Haryana is ₹21,393 per month, among the highest in the country. Similarly, the approximate salary of a delivery person in Bangalore, Karnataka is ₹19,255 per month.

Sample job description of a delivery person

Here is an example of a typical job description for the role of a delivery person:

Example

We are looking for a reliable delivery person who cares about customer satisfaction and values the transporting and delivery of items in a safe and timely manner. As a delivery person, your role requires you to be prompt in picking up and dropping off items while adhering to assigned routes and time schedules. We are looking for someone who is punctual and has good interpersonal skills. The candidate will work as part of a delivery team to ensure that all delivery items safely reach customers.

We prefer candidates who understand the importance of being polite, prompt, committed and punctual in performing their daily duties.

Job responsibilities:

loading, transporting and delivering items to customers in a safe, courteous and timely manner
reviewing orders before and after delivery to ensure that all items have correct packaging and do not bear breakage or tears of any kind
reviewing and verifying invoices and purchase requests to ensure accuracy
managing the loading and unloading process with efficiency and inspecting the vehicle for safety standards
contacting customers to confirm the delivery details
respecting the customer's privacy and ensuring their credentials and other sensitive information, such as address or name
following traffic rules and other safety protocols during the delivery process
maintaining delivery logs and records to keep track of the orders successfully delivered

Job requirements:

senior secondary (10+2) school leaving certificate or equivalent
valid driver's licence issued by relevant transport authority of the state government
clean driving record with no prior records of traffic violations
strong time management and customer service skills
ability to walk, drive and carry heavy items for extended hours
attention to detail
candidates who have a bike or scooter will get a preference

Salary figures reflect data listed on Indeed Salaries at time of writing. Salaries may vary depending on the hiring organisation and a candidate's experience, academic background and location.

What Does A Delivery Person Do? (Plus Skills and Salary)