Table of Contents
About the Transportation and Warehousing sector
The transportation and warehousing sector is part of the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector.
The Transportation and Warehousing sector includes industries providing transportation of passengers and cargo, warehousing and storage for goods, scenic and sightseeing transportation, and support activities related to modes of transportation. Establishments in these industries use transportation equipment or transportation related facilities as a productive asset. The type of equipment depends on the mode of transportation. The modes of transportation are air, rail, water, road, and pipeline.
North American Industry Classification System
The transportation and warehousing sector consists of these subsectors:
Workforce Statistics
This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in transportation and warehousing.
While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households.
The following tables present an overview of the industry including
the number of jobs,
the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry,
union membership and representation,
gross job gains and losses,
data for occupations common to the industry,
and projections of occupational employment change.
Employment and Unemployment
| Data series | Back data |
Dec. 2019 |
Jan. 2020 |
Feb. 2020 |
Mar. 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Employment (in thousands) |
|||||
|
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted) |
|
5,655.9 | 5,678.5 | 5,677.3 | 5,672.4 |
|
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted) |
|
4,957.1 | 4,963.5 | 4,959.3 | 4,948.6 |
|
Unemployment |
|||||
|
Unemployment rate |
|
2.8% | 3.3% | 3.8% | 5.4% |
(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey
Union Membership and Representation
| Data series | Back data |
2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Union membership and representation |
|||||
|
Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers) |
|
18.4% | 17.3% | 16.7% | 16.1% |
|
Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers) |
|
20.0% | 18.8% | 17.9% | 17.6% |
(Source: Current Population Survey)
Dynamic Changes in Employment
| Data series | Back data |
3rd quarter 2018 |
4th quarter 2018 |
1st quarter 2019 |
2nd quarter 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Dynamic changes in employment (in thousands) |
|||||
|
Gross job gains |
|
313 | 421 | 281 | 308 |
|
Gross job losses |
|
256 | 239 | 346 | 267 |
(Source: Business Employment Dynamics)
Employment by Occupation
| Data series | Employment, 2019 |
|---|---|
|
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers |
79,740 |
|
Bus drivers, school |
|
|
Railroad conductors and yardmasters |
41,550 |
|
Sailors and marine oilers |
22,490 |
|
Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer |
1,076,950 |
(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)
Projections
For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for transportation and warehousing.
(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)
Earnings and Hours
This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours.
The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours, as well as weekly earnings by union membership status, are shown.
In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in transportation and warehousing.
This section also contains information on the average cost of benefits paid by employers, as well as recent rates of change in wages and total compensation.
Earnings and Hours of All Employees
(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees
(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
Union Membership and Representation
(Source: Current Population Survey)
Earnings by Occupation
| Data series | Wages, 2019 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly | Annual | |||
| Median | Mean | Median | Mean | |
|
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers |
-$ | -$ | $158,020 | $178,350 |
|
Bus drivers, school |
||||
|
Railroad conductors and yardmasters |
$32.03 | $33.13 | $66,620 | $68,920 |
|
Sailors and marine oilers |
$19.65 | $25.85 | $40,870 | $53,770 |
|
Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer |
$22.35 | $22.93 | $46,480 | $47,700 |
(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)
Employer Compensation Costs
| Data series | Back data |
1st quarter 2019 |
2nd quarter 2019 |
3rd quarter 2019 |
4th quarter 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
12-month percent change |
|||||
|
Total compensation |
|
3.4% | 3.4% | 3.2% | 3.9% |
|
Wages and salaries |
|
4.1% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 4.7% |
(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)
(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)
Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses
This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in transportation and warehousing. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.
| Data series | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Fatalities |
||||
|
Number of fatalities |
799 | 856 | 916 | 909 |
|
|
||||
(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)
Prices
This section provides industry-specific pricing information. The producer price index measures the percentage change in prices that domestic producers receive for goods and services. The prices included in the producer price index are from the first commercial transaction.
| Data series | Back data |
Dec. 2019 |
Jan. 2020 |
Feb. 2020 |
Mar. 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Producer price index |
|
140.2 | 139.2 | 138.2 | 135.1 |
|
Percent change from previous month |
1.7% | -0.7% | -0.7% | -2.2% |
(Source: Producer Price Indexes)
Workplace Trends
This section presents data on the number of establishments and the number of establishments experiencing job gains or job losses in transportation and warehousing.
Establishments
| Data series | Back data |
4th quarter 2018 |
1st quarter 2019 |
2nd quarter 2019 |
3rd quarter 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Number of establishments |
|||||
|
Private industry |
|
256,168 | 257,926 | 261,667 | 264,460 |
|
Local government |
|
2,847 | 2,861 | 2,866 | 2,872 |
|
State government |
|
480 | 480 | 480 | 480 |
|
Federal government |
|
29,083 | 29,316 | 29,344 | 29,376 |
|
Establishments with changes in employment (in thousands) |
|||||
|
With job gains (seasonally adjusted) |
|
63 | 62 | 59 | |
|
With job losses (seasonally adjusted) |
|
57 | 57 | 60 | |
(Source: Business Employment Dynamics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)
Data extracted on:
April 14, 2020
