Best interview questions for your hiring process
Delivery Driver Interview questions
Delivery Drivers are the link between you and your customer or client. They will ensure that your goods leave the warehouse in a timely manner and reach their destination in a high-quality condition. They will be the number one responder if transport issues should arise, meaning that picking the correct person for the job is essential.
The best skills to look for in a Delivery Driver are as follows:
• Familiar with local driving rules and regulations.
• Ability to work independently for long periods.
• Comfortable with lifting and carrying heavy objects.
• Great ability to work to deadlines.
• Excellent communication skills.
Interviewing a Delivery Driver
Having great Delivery Drivers will be a huge boost to your business, as they will ensure that your products reach their destination on time and in great condition. If your Delivery Driver is customer-facing, then this is even more important, as their interaction with the customers will directly reflect on your business. Therefore, you need to properly assess their skills in the interview stage.
To help guide you in how to do this, we’ve put together this guide. Our Delivery Driver questions should be used early on in the interview process and will help you make a swift decision on whether to move forward with the candidate or not.
How to open the job interview
Whatever the role you’re interviewing for, there’s a good chance your candidate will be nervous during the interview. Therefore, to properly assess their skills and cultural fit with the company, you should aim to put them at ease.
A great way to do this is by starting with some ‘warm up’ questions that will help your candidate relax. This way, you’ll get a proper idea of their personality.
Best interview questions for your hiring process
See our Delivery Driver Job Description hereFor the interview
A positive opener to start
What do you enjoy most about being a Delivery Driver?
What is your proudest career accomplishment?
Behavioral Questions
When you have previously had to make multiple priority deliveries in one trip, how did you stay organized?
When working alone for long periods of time on deliveries, how do you ensure you remain motivated?
This is an essential skill for Delivery Drivers to have, as when performing deliveries they will be alone for long periods. Knowing they have the skills to handle this and keep productivity high is great peace of mind.
If taking a route that you’re not familiar or confident with, how do you approach this situation and ensure you complete the delivery safely and efficiently?
This is a situation that will likely arise at some point in the driver’s time with your business. Knowing they can follow their instructions, safely manoeuvre unfamiliar territory, stay calm and problem solve if they run into issues will ensure they’re the right hire.
What is the flexibility of your schedule, would working evenings be a problem?
This is a great opportunity to check how well your candidate’s schedule matches your needs.
Soft Skills
When making an exceptionally large amount of deliveries in one trip, how do you ensure you stay organised and keep mistakes to a minimum?
Organisational skills are essential in a delivery driver, and your candidate’s strength in this area will be highlighted in their answer to this question. You’ll also be able to gauge their efficiency and even gain insight into their previous experience here.
If a customer happened to be extremely chatty when you were delivering an item, but you were on a strict schedule for the day, how would you deal with this in a professional manner?
This answer will give you a great insight into a potential Delivery Driver’s people skills, while ensuring they have the prioritisation ability to stick to their schedule.
If you attempted a delivery and were informed by a resident that you had the wrong address, how would you deal with this situation?
Your candidate’s answer will give you an idea of whether they have the problem-solving skills and professional demeanour that you’re looking for in your driver.
When driving, if you find yourself unable to locate an address, how would you handle this situation?
This may happen from time to time, and knowing a driver can use their problem-solving and communication skills to rectify the situation in a timely manner is essential.
Explain to me how you have handled angry or rude customers in the past.
While this is mainly the role of a Customer Service Manager, from time to time a Delivery Driver may receive complaints from a customer. Knowing that they can point the customer in the right direction and represent your company in a good light is a huge bonus.
Hard Skills
Which driving conditions have you worked in previously, and how do you ensure you stay safe and efficient in each of these?
As a Delivery Driver, your candidate will have to work in driving conditions that causal drivers may choose to avoid. Knowing they are experienced with driving conditions that will crop up in your local area will ensure that you are hiring a candidate who is safe and confident in these circumstances.
When driving exceptionally long distances, how do you stay safe, focused and motivated?
Long-distance driving won’t apply to every Delivery Driver role, but if your driver will be working in these conditions then it is essential that they are able to remain safe, confident and alert. This question will give them a chance to demonstrate a few methods of doing this.
If a technical problem arises during your journey, what steps do you take to rectify this?
In some situations, a driver will have the knowledge and confidence to fix small technical problems. However, with big issues, it is essential that they report the problem to a colleague immediately so that steps can be taken to minimise damage and disruption to deliveries.
When delivering heavy or fragile objects, how do you ensure that the item is passed onto the customer in a safe manner?
Depending on the products that your business delivers, this may be a situation that your driver finds themselves in. Knowing that they can handle specialised objects like this is a huge peace of mind. You should be looking for some simple lifting/carrying techniques that will ensure no breakages or injuries occur.
Operational / Situational Questions
If you required a signature from a customer in order to deliver a package, but the customer wasn’t home to give it, how would you deal with this situation?
This is a very common situation for delivery drivers to be in. Knowing that the driver can efficiently deal with this without disrupting their schedule is a great skill to have.
Imagine you’re about to deliver a package to a customer and you notice that it is moderately damaged in some way, what would your next move be?
Having a damaged item delivered to a customer could have a bad impact on your business reputation. Knowing that your driver can adequately deal with and report this situation, to avoid future problems, is a huge bonus for a candidate.
Have you ever been in a situation where you were in a road accident or your vehicle was damaged in some way when delivering? If so, walk me through how you handled the situation.
Occasionally, accidents may happen when on the road. Knowing that the driver can handle this in a calm, professional manner and take steps to safely handle the situation is essential.
Imagine you are on a tight delivery schedule and end up stuck in standstill traffic, what would you do in this situation?
A Delivery Driver should be prepared to find themselves in traffic from time to time. Ideally, exiting the traffic where possible and finding an alternative route is something that should be done. Reporting the delay to the logistics team may also need to be done.
Do you have experience driving deliveries overnight? If so, walk me through how your driving process looks during the night shift.
Driving at night requires extra safety steps that may not be required in every role. However, if your role will require these, this answer will ensure that your candidate can handle this responsibility.
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This will be a great way to assess the candidate’s ability to work under pressure and assess how they will deal with busy periods in your company.