Driver Manager Job Description: Duties, Template & Pay (2026)
A driver manager job description is really a retention job description. At a trucking carrier the driver manager owns a board of drivers: keeps them moving within hours of service, gets them home when promised, and is the person they call when something goes wrong. This page has a template you can copy, which federal occupation the role sits in, and what it pays.
What a driver manager does
Carriers use several titles for this job: driver manager, fleet manager, driver leader, and at smaller fleets dispatcher/driver manager. The common thread is that one person is accountable for a defined group of drivers, usually called a board, and for everything that keeps those drivers productive and employed.
In practice the week looks like this:
- Planning: working with load planners and customer service to keep every truck on the board loaded, within each driver’s available hours
- Hours of service: watching driving and on-duty time so loads are assigned that can legally be delivered
- Home time: scheduling and protecting the home time each driver was promised
- Problems: breakdowns, late loads, detention, weather, injuries and pay disputes, often after hours
- Safety and compliance: enforcing company safety rules, following up on inspections and incidents, and coordinating with the safety department
- People: onboarding new drivers, coaching, recognition, discipline, and the conversation that happens when a driver says they are thinking of leaving
Which occupation code fits a driver manager, and why
For wage and employment data, the closest federal occupation is first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors (SOC 53-1047). We chose it over dispatchers (SOC 43-5032) for two reasons.
First, O*NET lists “driver manager” and “fleet manager” among the reported job titles for its first-line supervisors of material-moving machine and vehicle operators occupation (53-1043.00), which falls under SOC 53-1047. Second, the task list matches the people half of the job: enforcing safety rules, resolving worker problems, planning work assignments to meet transportation goals, training new workers, and recommending personnel actions such as selection, evaluation, rewards and discipline. Dispatchers schedule and route work; they do not normally own hiring, coaching and discipline.
The catch is that 53-1047 is broad. It also covers warehouse and dock supervisors, so its wage is a guide to the field, not a trucking-specific figure. For comparison, dispatchers except police, fire and ambulance had a May 2025 median of $50,340.
| Working conditions (53-1043.00) | Share reporting it |
|---|---|
| 100% every day | |
| Face-to-face discussions | 96% every day |
| Constant contact with others | 92% |
| Decisions with very important results for others or the company | 86% |
| Very high responsibility for other workers’ results | 72% |
| Work week of more than 40 hours | 72% |
The last row is the one to be straight about. 72 percent of people in the occupation work more than 40 hours a week, and conflict is routine: 20 percent report conflict situations every day and another 69 percent at least weekly. Put your after-hours and on-call expectations in the posting.
Driver manager job description template
Copy this into your ATS, replace the bracketed fields and delete what does not apply. It is written for an over-the-road or regional truckload carrier.
Job title
Driver Manager [/ Fleet Manager / Driver Leader] — [Division], [Company name], [City, ST or remote]
Summary
[Company name] is hiring a driver manager to lead a board of [number] [OTR / regional / dedicated] drivers. You keep your drivers loaded and moving within hours of service, get them home when we said we would, and are the first call when something goes wrong. Your drivers staying with us is how this job is measured.
[Schedule and on-call rotation]. [Pay range and bonus basis].
What you will do
• Own a board of [number] drivers: daily contact, load assignments and trip planning with [load planning / customer service]
• Monitor hours of service and available hours in [ELD / TMS system] and assign loads drivers can legally deliver
• Schedule and protect home time, and fix it fast when a plan changes
• Solve breakdowns, late loads, detention and pay questions, including [after-hours rotation]
• Enforce safety policy and follow up on inspections, incidents and coaching with [safety department]
• Onboard new drivers in their first [30/60/90] days and hold regular check-ins
• Track and act on your board’s [miles per truck / on-time service / retention] numbers
• Recommend recognition, discipline and terminations
What you need
• [Number] years in trucking operations: dispatch, driver management, load planning, or driving
• Working knowledge of FMCSA hours-of-service rules
• Comfortable in [TMS] and ELD platforms, email and spreadsheets
• Calm under pressure and direct with drivers, including when the news is bad
• Available for [on-call rotation]
Nice to have
• CDL or previous driving experience
• Experience in [reefer / flatbed / dedicated / hazmat] operations
• [Spanish or another language your drivers speak]
What we offer
• [Pay range], [bonus tied to retention and service]
• [Schedule, on-call frequency and remote options]
• [Benefits and eligibility date]
• [Board size cap, so the job stays doable]
• [Next job: senior driver manager, operations manager, terminal manager]
How to apply
[One step, and a real person’s name.]
Requirements: what to ask for, and what to drop
| Requirement | What to know |
|---|---|
| Experience | BLS lists less than five years of related work experience as typical. Trucking operations experience matters here, because the job depends on knowing how freight and hours interact. Former drivers and dispatchers are both good sources. |
| Education | BLS lists a high school diploma as typical entry education. O*NET’s survey is split: 30 percent say a high school diploma is required, 29 percent some college and 25 percent a bachelor’s degree. Requiring a degree removes former drivers, who are often your best candidates. |
| CDL | Nice to have, not required. A driver manager who has driven earns credibility faster, but the job is not driving. |
| Hours-of-service knowledge | Required, or trainable in the first weeks. Test it in the interview with a real trip scenario. |
| Software | Name your TMS and ELD platform. O*NET lists fleet and logistics tools such as commercial vehicle operations (CVO) software, the Roadnet transportation suite and warehouse management systems for the occupation, alongside Excel and Outlook. |
| Board size | Say it. It is the single number an experienced driver manager uses to judge whether the job is doable. |
The hours-of-service rules a driver manager plans around
For property-carrying commercial vehicles, 49 CFR 395.3 sets the limits every load plan has to fit:
- A driver may not drive without first taking 10 consecutive hours off duty
- Driving is allowed up to 11 hours within a 14-hour period after coming on duty
- Driving is not allowed after 8 hours of driving without at least a 30-minute interruption
- No driving after 60 hours on duty in 7 days, or 70 hours in 8 days if the carrier operates every day; a period can be restarted with 34 or more consecutive hours off duty
A driver manager who plans loads that cannot be delivered within those limits either creates a violation or a late load and an angry driver. That is why hours-of-service knowledge belongs in the requirements, not the nice-to-haves.
Customizing it by setting
Over-the-road carriers
Home time is the job. Say how long drivers are typically out, how home time is scheduled and how you handle it when a load plan changes.
Regional and dedicated fleets
More predictable schedules and a closer relationship with one customer. Emphasize service metrics and the customer relationship, and note whether the driver manager also handles dispatch.
Small fleets: dispatcher and driver manager combined
At smaller carriers one person often does both. Be explicit, and see our dispatcher job description for the dispatch half.
Fleet manager in a private fleet
At a company that runs its own trucks, “fleet manager” may mean the person responsible for the vehicles — purchasing, maintenance and compliance — rather than the drivers. If that is your job, say so in the first line, because trucking candidates will read the title the other way.
What driver managers earn
First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers had a median wage of $62,890 a year, about $30.23 an hour, in May 2025. There were 621,500 in the occupation in 2025, projected to grow 3.0 percent to 640,300 by 2035, with about 54,900 openings a year. Because the occupation includes warehouse and dock supervisors, treat the median as a reference point and price the job against what carriers near you pay.
If you pay a bonus tied to board performance, state the basis in the posting — retention, miles, service — because it tells candidates what you actually value.
What it costs to reach a driver manager
Driver managers fall in our Management / professional role family: a median cost per applicant of $16.87 on Meta, with the middle half of campaigns between $4.62 and $60.11, a blended figure of $5.45 and a 16 percent apply rate, across 50 campaign-months. The all-role median is $13.88. The wide middle band is the finding: the upper quartile is roughly 13 times the lower one, and across the benchmark most variation between campaigns comes from what happens after the click.
Across the benchmark, applicant conversion explains about 70 percent of the variation in cost per applicant. For a role like this, a short form that asks about trucking operations experience beats a resume upload.
Building the rest of the operation? See the CDL driver and dispatcher job descriptions, truck driver turnover and retention, and truck driver recruiting for the hiring side.
The job description is not the job ad
The template is the document. The ad has to reach an experienced operations person who is not job hunting.
- Lead with board size, schedule and pay.
- Say how on-call works. It is what experienced candidates ask first.
- Name the measure and the bonus.
- One-step application.
Driver retention itself is covered in our employee retention strategies and first 90 days turnover guides, and the full ad argument is on job ad copywriting.
Frequently asked questions
What should a driver manager job description include?
Board size and type of operation, the core duties (load assignments, hours-of-service monitoring, home time, problem solving, safety follow-up and coaching), the on-call expectation, the systems used, the experience required, how the role is measured, and pay with the bonus basis.
What does a driver manager do at a trucking company?
They own a board of drivers: keeping them loaded within their available hours, scheduling home time, solving breakdowns and late loads, following up on safety issues, onboarding and coaching drivers, and recommending recognition or discipline. Keeping those drivers is usually how the job is measured.
Is a driver manager the same as a fleet manager?
At many trucking carriers, yes; O*NET lists both as reported titles for the same supervisor occupation. In a private fleet, though, fleet manager can mean the person responsible for the vehicles rather than the drivers, so say which you mean.
What is the difference between a driver manager and a dispatcher?
A dispatcher schedules and routes loads and trucks. A driver manager is accountable for a group of drivers as people, including home time, coaching, discipline and retention. At small fleets one person often does both.
How much does a driver manager make?
The closest federal occupation, first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, had a median wage of $62,890 a year, about $30.23 an hour, in May 2025. That group includes warehouse supervisors, so trucking pay can differ.
What qualifications does a driver manager need?
Trucking operations experience in dispatch, driver management, load planning or driving; working knowledge of hours-of-service rules; comfort with TMS and ELD software; and the temperament to deliver bad news directly. BLS lists a high school diploma and less than five years of experience as typical.
Does a driver manager need a CDL?
No. It helps with credibility, and former drivers often make good driver managers, but the job is planning and people management rather than driving.
What hours-of-service rules does a driver manager need to know?
For property-carrying vehicles under 49 CFR 395.3: 10 consecutive hours off before driving, up to 11 hours of driving within a 14-hour period, a 30-minute interruption after 8 hours of driving, and the 60-hour/7-day or 70-hour/8-day on-duty limits, with a 34-hour restart.
How much does it cost to recruit a driver manager?
Management and professional roles ran a median of $16.87 per applicant on Meta across our managed campaigns, with the middle half between $4.62 and $60.11 and a 16 percent apply rate.
Other job description templates
Hiring driver managers and drivers?
The description is the document. Getting it in front of people who are not on a job board is the part we do.
Wage, employment, projection, education and experience data for first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors (SOC 53-1047) and dispatchers, except police, fire and ambulance (SOC 43-5032): U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025–35 and May 2025 OEWS. Tasks, job titles, software, work context and education survey: O*NET OnLine 53-1043.00. Hours-of-service limits: 49 CFR 395.3 (eCFR). Read at source 28 September 2026. Cost-per-applicant and apply-rate figures: Boostpoint 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark, 891 managed campaigns and 1,334 campaign-months.