Top 12 Garbage Truck Driver Skills to Put on Your Resume
Landing a job as a garbage truck driver means showing a tight bundle of practical skills on your resume—proof you can run the route, handle the truck, and keep people and streets safe. Make the strengths obvious. Heavy machinery. Safety rules that aren’t optional. Calm problem-solving when something jams or a street is blocked. All of it matters.
Garbage Truck Driver Skills
- CDL-B
- Route Navigation
- Hydraulic Controls
- Safety Compliance
- Waste Management
- Vehicle Maintenance
- GPS Software
- Time Management
- Customer Service
- Physical Stamina
- Defensive Driving
- Automated Side Loader (ASL)
1. CDL-B
CDL-B, or Commercial Driver’s License Class B, is the standard license for operating heavy straight trucks such as refuse collection vehicles. Some employers may prefer or require a Class A for added flexibility, but Class B is the common baseline for municipal and private waste routes.
Why It's Important
CDL-B certifies that a driver is legally qualified to operate heavy vehicles and understands core safety, inspection, and operating procedures. It’s the foundation for safe, compliant, efficient collection work.
How to Improve CDL-B Skills
Sharpen your CDL-B capabilities with steady, targeted habits:
Safety Refreshers: Take periodic safety and defensive driving courses specific to refuse operations.
Route Planning Know-how: Practice pre-trip route reviews and contingency plans for closures and construction.
Vehicle Systems Knowledge: Learn the essentials of brakes, hydraulics, and electrical systems to spot issues early.
Health and Fitness: Maintain strength, flexibility, and endurance to reduce fatigue and injuries.
Regulatory Awareness: Keep up with state and federal commercial driving rules and hours-of-service requirements.
How to Display CDL-A Skills on Your Resume
2. Route Navigation
Route navigation means following a planned path to collect waste across neighborhoods and commercial zones, using maps, GPS, and local knowledge to keep the day tight and clean.
Why It's Important
Good navigation saves fuel, reduces delays, avoids tight streets at bad times, and keeps service on schedule. Faster pickups. Fewer headaches.
How to Improve Route Navigation Skills
Make the routes smoother and smarter:
Use Routing Tools: Rely on software that considers truck restrictions, traffic, and pickup density.
Leverage Real-Time Data: Adjust on the fly for incidents, weather, and closures.
Audit Regularly: Review route performance and tweak sequences to cut idle time and backtracking.
Capture Driver Input: Encourage field notes on obstacles, tight turns, or better staging spots.
Practice and Simulate: Train on new routes before rollouts so surprises don’t derail the morning.
How to Display Route Navigation Skills on Your Resume
3. Hydraulic Controls
Hydraulic controls power the lifters, packers, and dump mechanisms that make a refuse truck more than just a big box on wheels. Precise control keeps operations efficient and safe.
Why It's Important
Hydraulics let you lift, compact, and unload smoothly. Good control prevents damage, speeds stops, and protects crew and equipment.
How to Improve Hydraulic Controls Skills
Dial in performance and reliability:
Routine Maintenance: Monitor fluids, filters, hoses, seals, and fittings. Fix leaks fast.
Quality Components: Use manufacturer-approved parts and keep spares for quick swaps.
Focused Training: Practice feathering controls, staging cans properly, and clearing jams safely.
Ergonomic Setup: Adjust seats, control positions, and mirrors to reduce strain and improve precision.
Sensors and Safeties: Use interlocks, indicators, and wear sensors where available to catch issues early.
How to Display Hydraulic Controls Skills on Your Resume
4. Safety Compliance
Safety compliance means following traffic laws, PPE requirements, lockout/tagout steps, lifting and backing protocols, and all company and regulatory rules that keep crews and the public safe.
Why It's Important
It prevents injuries and costly incidents, protects your license, and keeps operations running. Safety isn’t paperwork. It’s how you get home each day.
How to Improve Safety Compliance Skills
Make safety a reflex:
Frequent Training: Refresh on vehicle operation, hazard spotting, backing with a spotter, and winter driving.
Proactive Maintenance: Pull trucks that show red flags. Small defects grow teeth.
Right PPE: High-visibility gear, gloves, safety footwear, eye and hearing protection when needed.
Know the Rules: Stay current on DOT, OSHA, and local waste handling standards.
Candid Reporting: Encourage near-miss and hazard reports without blame. Fix the system, not the person.
How to Display Safety Compliance Skills on Your Resume
5. Waste Management
Waste management covers collection, transport, sorting, recycling, composting, and disposal. Drivers make the system work—clean pickups, correct streams, and safe delivery to the right facilities.
Why It's Important
Done well, it keeps neighborhoods healthy and reduces environmental harm. Done poorly, it causes spills, contamination, and complaints.
How to Improve Waste Management Skills
Lift the overall operation:
Smarter Routing: Align routes to container volumes and service windows to minimize spillovers and delays.
Recycling Clarity: Flag contamination and share guidance through service notes so residents learn what belongs where.
Upkeep and Cleanliness: Maintain trucks to cut leaks and emissions. Keep hoppers and packers clear of lodged debris.
Adopt Cleaner Tech: Where feasible, transition to low- or zero-emission trucks to cut noise and tailpipe pollution.
How to Display Waste Management Skills on Your Resume
6. Vehicle Maintenance
Vehicle maintenance means regular inspections and service to keep engines, hydraulics, brakes, lights, tires, and compaction systems in safe, working order.
Why It's Important
It reduces breakdowns, extends truck life, and keeps service on schedule. Cheaper than roadside failures and tow bills.
How to Improve Vehicle Maintenance Skills
Build reliable habits:
Daily Walkarounds: Check tires, brakes, lights, leaks, lines, pins, and guards before moving.
Stick to Intervals: Oil, filters, lubrication, and system checks on time—no shortcuts.
Keep It Clean: Wash out hoppers and packers, clear grates, and remove caked material that strains hydraulics.
Tire Maintenance: Monitor pressure and tread, rotate when due, and replace before failures.
Operator Care: Smooth control use and proper loading reduce wear and tear. Report issues the day they appear.
How to Display Vehicle Maintenance Skills on Your Resume
7. GPS Software
GPS software guides turn-by-turn navigation, optimizes route order, tracks progress, and helps dispatch respond to real-world hiccups without chaos.
Why It's Important
Accurate GPS means on-time pickups, fewer wrong turns, safer roads, and less fuel burned idling in traffic.
How to Improve GPS Software Skills
Make the tech work for you:
Route Optimization: Use sequencing that accounts for traffic patterns, school zones, and restricted streets.
Live Feeds: Integrate current traffic and weather to trigger smart reroutes.
Driver-Friendly Screens: Keep displays simple: next stop, safest path, alerts that matter.
Voice Guidance: Clear audio directions help keep eyes outside the cab.
Custom Alerts: Set reminders for turns, seasonal rules, weight limits, and service notes.
Feedback Loops: Let drivers flag bad map data, blocked alleys, or new construction so maps actually learn.
How to Display GPS Software Skills on Your Resume
8. Time Management
Time management is the art of finishing every stop on schedule—even when the day throws curveballs—by planning, prioritizing, and staying focused.
Why It's Important
It keeps routes tight, customers satisfied, and crews safer. Rushing less. Finishing more.
How to Improve Time Management Skills
Trim friction from the day:
Prioritize Stops: Hit time-sensitive pickups and narrow-window locations first.
Plan Smart: Review the route before rollout and note known pinch points.
Limit Distractions: Secure loose items, keep comms concise, and focus on the next task at hand.
Track and Learn: Measure how long typical stops take. Adjust estimates and staffing accordingly.
Prevent Breakdowns: Quick pre-trip checks save hours later.
How to Display Time Management Skills on Your Resume
9. Customer Service
Customer service for drivers looks like predictable pickups, courteous interactions, clear notices when something can’t be collected, and calm problem-solving when bins are blocked or overloaded.
Why It's Important
Strong service builds trust with residents and businesses, reduces complaints, and strengthens the company’s reputation.
How to Improve Customer Service Skills
Small habits, big payoff:
Communicate Clearly: Leave concise service notes and explain issues without friction.
Professional Presence: Clean truck, neat appearance, respectful tone—even on tough days.
Stay Reliable: Consistency wins. If the schedule changes, notify promptly.
Seek Feedback: Capture resident and route feedback; close the loop with improvements.
Keep Learning: Refresh on service standards and local recycling rules so answers come easily.
How to Display Customer Service Skills on Your Resume
10. Physical Stamina
Physical stamina is the ability to keep moving—lifting, walking, climbing in and out of the cab—through long hours and all-weather days without fading.
Why It's Important
Routes demand steady effort. Endurance reduces injuries, keeps form tight, and maintains safe pace from first stop to last.
How to Improve Physical Stamina Skills
Build a body that holds up:
Train Both Systems: Mix cardio for endurance with strength work for lifting and stability.
Eat for Energy: Balanced meals, steady hydration, smart snacks to avoid crashes.
Sleep Enough: Aim for quality rest so recovery keeps up with workload.
Manage Stress: Simple breathing resets or short stretches can clear tension fast.
Warm Up: A few minutes of mobility before the first lift helps prevent strains.
How to Display Physical Stamina Skills on Your Resume
11. Defensive Driving
Defensive driving means anticipating hazards, controlling space, and making smooth, deliberate moves in a large vehicle with big blind spots and frequent stops.
Why It's Important
It cuts crash risk, protects pedestrians and cyclists, and keeps crews and equipment intact—especially on dense, stop-and-go routes.
How to Improve Defensive Driving Skills
Turn caution into habit:
Stay Present: Scan mirrors often, watch for backing hazards, and expect sudden door opens and pedestrian movement.
Manage Following Distance: Use at least a four-second gap at city speeds; add more for wet roads, night, or higher speeds.
Pre-Trip Checks: Brakes, lights, mirrors, cameras, alarms—verify before rolling.
Control Speed: Adjust for load, weather, and tight streets. Smooth is safer and faster overall.
Signal Early: Make your intentions unmistakable, especially when making frequent stops or turns.
Cut Distractions: Stow devices, set GPS before moving, keep chatter minimal while maneuvering.
Refresh Training: Regular courses reinforce hazard recognition and safe backing protocols.
How to Display Defensive Driving Skills on Your Resume
12. Automated Side Loader (ASL)
An Automated Side Loader uses a mechanical arm to grab, lift, and empty carts from the curb, allowing single-operator collection from inside the cab. Faster. Safer. Less strain.
Why It's Important
ASL systems boost productivity and reduce injuries by limiting manual lifting and exposure to traffic. Consistency improves, even when volumes spike.
How to Improve Automated Side Loader (ASL) Skills
Make the arm an extension of your hands:
Model-Specific Training: Learn control sensitivity, arm reach limits, and safe recovery steps for tipped or misaligned carts.
Focused Pre-Trip: Inspect cylinders, hoses, pins, sensors, and guards. Look for play, leaks, and unusual noise.
Stick to Maintenance: Lubricate pivots, replace worn wear pads, calibrate sensors, and service per the manual.
Route for ASL: Sequence stops to the pickup side and avoid streets where parked cars block cart access.
Feedback and Reporting: Log recurring cart placement issues and arm faults so supervisors can adjust outreach or repair schedules.
How to Display ARM (Automated Side Loader) Skills on Your Resume
