Driving Jobs For Retirees
Are you a retiree who enjoys driving? Do you want to make money on the side to supplement your retirement income?
Then this list of driving jobs for retirees will interest you.
Whether you want to drive people around or deliver packages, you’ll find something suitable in this article. Plus, the jobs are very flexible so you can plan them around your schedule.
Before we get to it, let’s consider the requirements.
Requirements for Driving Jobs
Having a part-time driving job is a great way to stay active in retirement. But before you apply for any driving job, you need to meet the following vital requirements:
- Well-maintained vehicle
- Valid driving license
- Business car insurance for commercial usage
- Smartphone (for driving-related work apps)
In addition to these, you need to be in good health. Also, physical strength is necessary for certain types of driving jobs where you may be required to lift heavy items.
Many companies will likely check applicant’s driving history or driving license records and run a criminal history check before hiring drivers.
Individuals with records of sexual offenses, violent crimes, and other criminal records, including pending charges for similar crimes will not qualify for driving jobs.
Best *9 Driving Jobs for Retirees
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s look at *nine driving jobs that are suitable for seniors.
School Bus Driver
School bus driving allows you to turn your love for being around kids into an avenue to earn a decent side income in retirement.
One of the advantages of being a school bus driver is that you don’t have to work all year round. It is a term-only role, giving you plenty of time to be with your family during the school holidays.
In addition to getting a commercial driver’s license that permits you to drive a large vehicle, you need a minimum of a high school diploma to be a school bus driver.
Average Pay: The average base salary for school bus drivers is $38,734 per year, which translates to about $17.13 per hour.
Parcel Delivery Driver
If delivering parcels sounds more appealing to you (than driving people around), consider getting a job as a parcel delivery driver.
Fortunately, there seems to be no end to logistic companies looking for qualified drivers to deliver various items to their customers. A few of the top names include:
- UPS Inc.
- FedEx Corp
- OnTrac Inc.
- Purolator
- TFI International
Many logistic companies will require you to drive their delivery van. In addition to obtaining the recipient’s signature and documenting delivery, you may be required to collect payment in some cases.
If you prefer to work from home, you can choose a remote position where you use your car for delivery. All you need to do is sign up with an agency or dispatcher that sends you regular job details through your smartphone.
Here’s something that may interest people who retire very early in their 50s. You can juggle a parcel delivery driver’s job with part-time school bus driving.
With a little bit of extra effort and some organizational skills, you could sandwich parcel delivery for a courier company between driving kids to school in the morning and bringing them back home at the close of the day.
Average Pay: Parcel delivery drivers earn a national average salary of $47,655 per year ($23 per hour).
Public Bus Driver
Driving a public transit bus is one of the most suitable driving jobs for retirees who prefer a more active schedule.
You can choose to work as a local transit bus driver, plying regular routes on a daily schedule while transporting passengers along city streets. This type of driving often involves frequent stops after every few blocks, and you must have the ability to deal with different types of passengers.
Seniors who want a less stressful public bus driving experience should consider taking up intercity bus driving. With this option, you only pick up passengers and drop them off at specific bus stations. It often involves transporting people between towns and cities and even crossing state lines in some cases.
Regardless of your preferences, public bus drivers need excellent people skills and customer understanding.
Average Pay: With a national average salary of $30,438 per year, driving a public bus can provide a decent income in retirement.
Chauffeur
Not everyone enjoys working with too many people or driving a bus filled with kids, and that’s perfectly fine! If you prefer a driving job with little social interaction, a chauffeur might be just what will suit you best.
Chauffeurs are not just your average driver. They are hired to serve (as opposed to merely drive) individual clients. This means they can run errands, such as picking up dry cleaning, booking reservations, and taking a detour at the request of their clients.
The upside of being a chauffeur (besides a higher earning potential) is that you get to drive upscale vehicles, such as limousines, luxury sedans, and other plush vehicles.
While you can set up your own private business, many chauffeurs contract for companies. Typically, these companies run extensive background checks before hiring a chauffeur to transport and serve VIP passengers.
Average Pay: Chauffeurs earn an average base salary of $55,284 per year (19.20 per hour), with high earning taking home around $62,019 annually.
Grocery Delivery Driver
Grocery delivery service is another viable industry that retirees looking for driving jobs can explore.
In more recent years, the demand for home grocery delivery has skyrocketed due mostly to the global pandemic. This creates a huge opening for seniors who want flexible driving jobs.
Some of the big names in the industry where you can find this type of driving job include:
- Amazon Fresh
- Walmart Grocery
- Dumpling
- Instacart
- Google Shopping
- FreshDirect
- Shipt
- Peapod
Grocery drivers typically deliver pantry staples, fresh produce, dairy, and meat from stores to consumers at home or offices. While many major supermarkets in the industry tend to employ full-time drivers, you can find contract or part-time roles in retail companies looking to hire on-call grocery delivery drivers.
Although a high school diploma or equivalent can increase your chances of getting hired, no formal education is required to fill this position. You need reliable vehicle and car insurance to qualify for this driving job.
Average Pay: Full-time top earners can make up to $65,000 annually, but the average salary for a grocery delivery driver in the United States is $32,512 per year.
Part-Time Truck Driver
Truck driving is ideal for seniors who are okay with driving long distances to deliver cargo. In many cases, the job involves transporting finished goods or raw materials between manufacturing, distribution, and retail centers.
Truck drivers may also perform sales and customer services, depending on their specific job description. Drivers are expected to have basic repair knowledge, which can come in handy if the vehicle has issues in the middle of nowhere.
Also, you will be expected to inspect the truck for possible faults, record issues, and perform preventative maintenance.
Retirees considering this role need to pass a driving test and knowledge test to obtain a commercial driver’s license. They are also required to have a high school diploma or equivalent to be considered.
Average Pay: Truck drivers earn an average salary of $67,378 per year, making it one of the high-paying driving jobs for retirees.
Taxi Driver
Taxi driving might be something you’ll want to consider if you are familiar with most nooks and crannies of your town. It is one of the convenient driving jobs for retirees because you can choose to work when you want.
The job doesn’t require any formal education but most taxi companies will likely offer on-the-job training to help you gain better knowledge of the local geography among other things. Other than that, getting started is a breeze, as long as you have a valid driving license and clean driving history.
You can choose to limit your services to short trips or long trips, depending on what suits you best. Earning potentials are higher for taxi drivers who live in a busy tourist town, close to a train station, or near an airport.
If you’ll like to take advantage of customer pre-booking services, you can opt to work as a cab driver for a local cab company. Cab drivers often offer private services to clients instead of being hired by anyone on the streets.
Average Pay: The national average salary for a taxi driver is $31,403 per year, with the hourly rate at approximately $15 per hour.
Rideshare Driver
Ridesharing may seem like a new development in the transportation industry, but it has been in existence since 1942, during the Second World War.
In more recent times, ridesharing companies offer a more disruptive innovation that has repositioned the transportation industry. Now, rideshare platforms connect drivers with passengers who need to get from place to place at an agreed fee.
The entire transaction is completed through apps on smartphones. That means seniors who are considering this driving job need to know how to use smartphones. Thankfully, most of the apps are user-friendly, and setting up shouldn’t be difficult at all.
Specific requirements may vary between companies, but as with other driving jobs, you need a valid driver’s license, have at least one year of licensed driving experience and must meet the minimum driving age in your city. Thankfully, retirees are old enough to drive!
You can get started with rideshare driving by looking for job openings in some of the top rideshare companies including:
- Uber
- Lyft
- Via
- Wingz
- Juno
- Gett
Average Pay: Rideshare drivers’ salaries vary widely depending on the specific rideshare service they subscribe to and how they manage their time (full-time or part-time). However, ZipRecruiter puts the average salary for a part-time Lyft driver at $48,602 per year, while that of a full-time Lyft driver is $52,595 per year.
Food Delivery Driver
The takeout delivery service is a thriving market that offers food delivery solutions to many people. Customers no longer need to go to restaurants or deal with rude hosts before ordering food, thanks to on-demand food delivery service apps.
But apps don’t deliver takeouts! And that’s good news for qualified drivers who want part-time driving jobs.
The main duty of this type of driver is to deliver takeout to customers. This means you are responsible for ensuring that the right customer gets the food they ordered. Delivery has to be on time, meaning a good knowledge of alternative routes and short-cuts around the town or city is a huge plus.
If this is a driving job that appeals to you, consider applying to any of the following companies that connect food outlets with customers:
- Uber Eats
- Grub Hub
- DoorDash
- Postmates
- Bolt Food
- Swiggy
- Delivery Hero
Average Pay: Food delivery drivers earn a national average salary of $29,845 per year or $14 per hour. This is not bad at all considering it is a driving job with plenty of flexibility.
Conclusion
Retirement gives you enough time to do all the things you truly love. If driving is one of those things, now you know where to start looking for driving jobs for retirees.
Many of these jobs are flexible, so it’s easy to fit them into the lifestyle of a retiree. Plus, you can juggle two driving jobs if you want to increase your earnings. But you need to be physically fit enough to put up with the associated stress.
Driving is a great part-time job for retirees, whether you want to earn a decent side income to cover your daily expenses or simply want to stay active in retirement.
