Driver: What is the cost of hiring?

Why hire a personal driver?

Adding a personal driver to your payroll can impact your bottom line as liability is brought in-house. However, hiring a great personal driver can help:

• Relieve the stress of your daily commute
• Decrease the risk of accidents or time lost in traffic
• Provide transportation for family or essential employees
• Let you focus on meeting preparations while in transit

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance personal driver

While narrowing down your list of personal driver applicants, consider whether a full-time or freelance driver is a better fit for the job.

A full-time personal driver usually works for a single client and offers the security of consistency. Whether running an errand or picking up and dropping off the client at a designated location, a full-time personal driver has set operating hours. They typically cater to busy professionals.

A freelance personal driver is more flexible. They may be used to fill schedule gaps when a full-time driver is unavailable, especially when the client goes on distant business trips. A freelance personal driver often has multiple clients, providing transportation for scheduled times (e.g., all day or just weekends).

What are the roles of personal drivers?

When you want to hire a personal driver, it’s important to understand the difference between roles in personal driver jobs. While all personal drivers require a license, some are best suited to business professionals or celebrities. Here are some differences between these roles:

• Personal driver: This can refer to anyone who operates a motor vehicle. Personal drivers typically use regular vehicles, sometimes with minor modifications for passenger comfort. Some drivers take on multiple clients.
• Executive driver: Someone who drives executives and other high-tier business professionals to designated locations. An executive driver may be authorized to enter areas off-limits to drivers who are nonemployees.
• Chauffeur/Chauffeuse (Limo driver): A professional driver who operates a motor vehicle and attends to passengers’ needs, often driving a limousine or luxury sedan. It’s common for VIP clients who value grandeur to employ a chauffeur or chauffeuse, which allows these drivers to charge higher rates.

Where to find personal drivers

To find the right personal driver for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Network: Ask other business professionals where they found their personal drivers or if they can recommend someone.
• Check the transportation industry: Examine the strategies delivery companies, limo services and trucking industries use to attract drivers.
• Put up flyers: Let the public know you’re looking for a personal driver by placing local flyers around places with high foot traffic (e.g., mall, park).
• Hire from within: Does your staff already include professional drivers? Someone might be interested in a new role. Tapping into existing talent rewards loyal employees and can boost company morale.
• Post your job online: Try posting your personal driver job on Indeed to find and attract quality personal driver candidates.

Skills to look for in a great Personal Driver

A great personal driver candidate will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

Hard skills:
• Valid driver’s license
• All appropriate insurances are covered
• Defensive driving skills (where necessary)

Soft skills:
• Great attitude
• Navigational skills
• Able to provide minor maintenance and upkeep on the vehicle

Writing a chef job description

A thoughtful description is important in finding qualified personal driver candidates that will suit your specific needs. Since you and your clients will be spending a considerable amount of time in close quarters with the driver, make sure that person is friendly and pleasant. A personal driver job description includes a compelling summary of the role, routes you frequently take, how often regular rides are needed and a detailed list of duties and responsibilities.

When writing your personal driver job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting . These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on personal driver jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Driver
• Delivery driver
• Truck driver
• Non-CDL driver
• Hiring immediately
• Driver non-CDL
• Driver delivery
• CDL driver
• Transportation
• Driving

Interviewing personal driver candidates

Strong candidates for personal driver positions will be confident answering questions regarding:
• Their familiarity with the areas you are typically traveling within
• Their personal driving record and experiences

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of personal driver interview questions for examples (with sample answers).