Transport and Logistics cover letter example

Transport and logistics is an industry where organisation and planning rule the journey. When you work in a career with so many moving parts, your drive for perfection will ensure success. 

When you are applying for a new role, it is therefore essential to focus on how you go about your job as well as what you have achieved. This is where the transport and logistics cover letter will prove essential.

While a CV is a factual account of your accomplishments, skills and responsibilities, a cover letter allows you to explore more of your personality and motivation. Problem-solving is a key skill for any logistics professional, especially with the supply chain issues that the world has experienced over the past few years. 

Telling some stories in your cover letter about how you have gone above and beyond the call of duty will ensure that your application stays at the top of the pile. Transport and logistics is an easy job when everything is going smoothly – but that is rarely the case. Temperature excursion on a lorry load of pharmaceutical goods worth £700K? No problem – here is how I dealt with that one.

At Resume.io, we have a variety of cover letter examples, alongside advice to help you make that next step in your career. In this transport and logistics cover letter guide, we consider:

• How to choose the best cover letter format
• How to maximise the effect of each cover letter paragraph
• What approach to take when writing your cover letter
• Mistakes to avoid when writing your transport and logistics cover letter.

The guide below will analyse the details and suggest ways to make the most of this one-page addition to your application. 

Let’s start out with how to structure your transport and logistics application letter.

Best format for a transport and logistics cover letter

Every transport and logistics professional appreciates the importance of the process. The format for a cover letter is no different. Hiring managers need to read your career story in a certain way – there are expectations that you should not ignore. Include the following:

• The cover letter header
• The greeting / salutation
• The cover letter intro
• The middle paragraphs (body of the letter)
• The ending paragraph of your cover letter (conclusion and call-to-action)

Our comprehensive cover letter guide explores the minutiae of the cover letter writing process in much more detail. What size font should you use? How big should the margins be? Is there a place in a cover letter for bullet points? Have a good think about all these issues before you get down to writing about your logistics story. The visual look of the letter matters nearly as much as the content.

Have a look at the transport and logistics cover letter example below:

Cover letter header

The cover letter header is the first element that any hiring manager will notice. It should contain a professional design that is pleasing to the eye, but don’t make it too bright or intricate. 

Include your full name, email, and mobile number. Hiring managers may wish to contact you after they have read your letter, so these details should be repeated from your resume. Double check that you have noted them down correctly.

You do not have to include your full home address – town and country will be fine. There are data protection and even potentially discrimination issues here. You can share your full address at the offer stage.

Cover letter greeting

The greeting of a transport and logistics cover letter is not so tricky to get right. Firstly, have a look at the job description to see to whom the letter should be addressed. If the information is not here, it may be worth a quick call to the company to find out.

The cover letter salutation should start with a formal “Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms Surname.” Make sure that you spell it correctly and get the gender correct. If you do not know the recipient, a warm “Dear Company team” will suffice.

Cover letter introduction

The introduction of a logistics cover letter should get straight into your suitability for the role. Transport and logistics professionals are logical thinkers, so they will want to see that there is a good fit before you start to explore the softer sides of your personality and motivations.

Pick an aspect of the job description that you feel other candidates may struggle to meet. Tell a career story that demonstrates how you have what it takes. Actively seek to elevate your candidature above the rest of the applicants – that will guarantee you an interview.

Share stories where something didn’t quite go to plan and show that you have the problem-solving abilities to sort it out. No one wants to hear about all the things that went right. In an industry like logistics, that is business as usual. Your cover letter should seek to reassure your future employer that their transport department is in good hands with you.

Be persuasive in the introduction. You want them to read on.

Transport and logistics cover letter middle part (body)

The middle paragraphs of cover letters should contain some quantifiable accomplishments about your career. They don’t want to hear about responsibilities – they know what the job entails. Wow them with some impressive numbers that outline your successes. Using bullet points here can be a space-saving method to impress.

Scan the skills section of your resume and decide on anecdotes that illustrate the attributes you bring to the job. How can you show that you have an excellent safety record if you are a driver, pilot, ship worker or cargo handler? If you work in logistics, how have you improved efficiency or worked under pressure to get the goods delivered? The answers to these questions form the bulk of your body paragraphs.

How to close a cover letter (conclusion and sign-off)

The close of this cover letter should end with one last transport story. Three hundred words is not a lot, so choose what you share carefully. You will have plenty of opportunity to expand on this during an interview, but you need to get there first. Make the hiring manager as curious as possible – what else have you got to contribute?

In the final words of the cover letter, let the employer know that you are keen to find out more during an interview. This call to action is a great way to focus their minds on the fact that you will likely have other opportunities. If they like your application, they won’t wait long to send that interview invite over to you.

Mistakes to avoid in a transport and logistics cover letter

• Write the way you speak. A letter that sounds natural gives the hiring manager a clue to your personality.
• Spell check and grammar check. Logistics is a precision industry – don’t give them the opportunity to question your attention to detail.
• Keep it short. A cover letter should never be more than one page.

Key takeaways

1. Tailor the cover letter and only share the most relevant examples.
2. Quantify your successes with numbers and percentages – be target driven.
3. Use a confident and professional tone.
4. Show off your personality with anecdotes about problem solving.