Surface supervisor vs route manager

The differences between surface supervisors and route managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a surface supervisor and a route manager. Additionally, a route manager has an average salary of $50,375, which is higher than the $39,293 average annual salary of a surface supervisor.

The top three skills for a surface supervisor include surface mount, SMT and . The most important skills for a route manager are DOT, CDL, and OSHA.

Surface supervisor vs route manager overview

	Surface Supervisor	Route Manager
Yearly salary	$39,293	$50,375
Hourly rate	$18.89	$24.22
Growth rate	4%	5%
Number of jobs	7,136	7,162
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 33%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

Surface supervisor vs route manager salary

Surface supervisors and route managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Surface Supervisor	Route Manager
Average salary	$39,293	$50,375
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $70,000	Between $38,000 And $66,000
Highest paying City	-	San Leandro, CA
Highest paying state	-	Rhode Island
Best paying company	-	Harsco
Best paying industry	-	Manufacturing

Differences between surface supervisor and route manager education

There are a few differences between a surface supervisor and a route manager in terms of educational background:

	Surface Supervisor	Route Manager
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 33%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Surface supervisor vs route manager demographics

Here are the differences between surface supervisors' and route managers' demographics:

	Surface Supervisor	Route Manager
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 84.0% Female, 16.0%	Male, 87.0% Female, 13.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 6.2% White, 58.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 6.7% White, 59.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between surface supervisor and route manager duties and responsibilities

Surface supervisor example responsibilities.

Manage and organize LTL shipments and warehouse responsibilities.
Handle oversight of packaging and logistics for merchandising, sorting and delivering merchandise to selling departments and maintaining team performance.
Prepare, maintain, and submit required reports to upper management and military personnel.

Route manager example responsibilities.

Manage invoice collection and customer issues.
Conduct billing using mobile POS systems.
Advance to CDL liquid driver (liquid oxygen).
Obtain CDL license resulting in a promotion and pay raise.
Review driver DVIR and log book to fuel hours and mileage.
Develop interactive huddles topics, ensure compliance with safety guidelines, DVIR.

Surface supervisor vs route manager skills

Common surface supervisor skills

Surface Mount, 52%
SMT, 48%

Common route manager skills

DOT, 15%
CDL, 12%
OSHA, 10%
Safety Issues, 9%
Safety Targets, 9%
Equipment Issues, 8%

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Transportation Industry
Surface Supervisor
Surface Supervisor vs Route Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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