What's Involved In A Delivery Driver Job At Sainsbury's?

Supermarket delivery jobs are different every day. They come with a wide variety of orders to fulfil and customers to serve, a friendly team to work alongside and a good amount of responsibility to keep everything interesting.

We are always seeking suitable candidates for delivery driver jobs at Sainsbury’s. Here, we’ll explain exactly what is required of the people who work in these positions, including a breakdown of the day-to-day tasks involved. We’ll also let you know what you can do to apply.

A typical day in the life of the delivery drivers at Sainsbury’s goes as follows:

1. Putting Orders Together

Before each delivery, you’ll need to confirm the details of each order with one of the online assistants. This includes ensuring that the vehicle you will be using matches the delivery information provided.

You’ll then need to pick up the correct orders from the warehouse in the Sainsbury’s branch to which you are assigned.

2. Delivering The Goods

A delivery driver should always plan the route they intend to take to make sure they arrive at each property on time to drop off items. If possible, you should take into account roadworks, traffic conditions, one-way systems, the time it will take to unload each delivery and any other factors that will affect how quickly you’ll be able to get from place to place.

Of course, you’ll need to double-check every address to make sure you’re delivering to the right place every time.

You’ll also need to confirm that each delivery has been made, so collecting signatures from each recipient is vital. This is usually done using a handheld touch-screen computer.

Those receiving deliveries from you should also be given an invoice for their records – listing all of the items that have been delivered, their prices and details of any substitutions that have been made.

3. Keeping Track

All supermarket delivery jobs require that their drivers record and divulge certain information to their customers and managers. For example, should any of a customer’s required items have been substituted, the driver should make sure they are aware of this before leaving.

A driver should also keep a clear account of the mileage they have undertaken throughout a shift and the amount of fuel they have purchased in order to cover that mileage. It’s also their duty to refuel their van before they clock off for the day.

If any customers are not at home when a delivery is attempted, this needs to be recorded and the relevant items brought back to the store.

Once all deliveries are complete, it’s the driver’s job to update the records for the day. Again, this is usually done using a handheld computer.

The key tasks underlined above are all part of a typical day in any one of the delivery driver jobs at Sainsbury’s. So that we can be confident that all of our drivers will undertake their duties in a manner that represents the brand well, we aim to recruit people who are:

• Friendly and good-humoured
• Practical and logical
• Patient
• Gifted at tasks that involve planning and concentration
• Trustworthy and good at taking the initiative

There are only a few things you need to apply. You’ll need to have held a UK/EU/EEA licence for at least a year and this must have less than six points on it. It’s important that the recruiters at Sainsbury’s know that there isn’t a risk of you losing your licence and that you are a careful and considerate driver.

The delivery driver jobs at Sainsbury’s are perfect for people seeking out a varied, interesting job with great day-to-day challenges to tackle alongside a friendly team. 

Staff at our stores, in our warehouses, in our Store Support Centres and out and about delivering our products say that Sainsbury’s is a terrific place to work. Our employees call their roles ‘exciting’, ‘rewarding’ and ‘enjoyable’ – so we’re keen to share this experience with new team members!

It’s really easy to apply for a delivery driver position with us. Simply visit our dedicated recruitment site and search for the term “driver”. You can also include your postcode to narrow down your search to local stores.

We also regularly look for people to take up in-store roles, warehouse assistant jobs and plenty of other local positions, so have a browse and see which jobs are available near you!

As a Sainsbury’s delivery driver, you’ll be tasked with putting together orders, delivering items and keeping track of the day’s undertakings while being friendly and personable, logical, sensible, patient and efficient.