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Traffic manager vs transportation director

The differences between traffic managers and transportation directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a traffic manager and a transportation director. Additionally, a traffic manager has an average salary of $61,734, which is higher than the $51,314 average annual salary of a transportation director.

The top three skills for a traffic manager include project management, traffic management and account executives. The most important skills for a transportation director are DOT, logistics, and CDL.

Traffic manager vs transportation director overview

Traffic ManagerTransportation Director
Yearly salary$61,734$51,314
Hourly rate$29.68$24.67
Growth rate-3%-
Number of jobs14,99723,622
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age4545
Years of experience44

What does a traffic manager do?

The main job of a traffic manager is to make sure that account service marketing collateral works and flows efficiently to production and creative departments. Traffic managers take responsibility for keeping everyone in the team on task and the projects on deadline. They manage the logistics tasks and keep the parties up-to-date on the recent progress. It is their job to coordinate work among the account managers, staff members, and advertisers. Also, they develop and maintain procedure transportation and distribution for delivery efficiency maximization.

What does a transportation director do?

Transportation Directors are responsible for managing an organization's transportation operations. They are involved in supervising transportation projects, monitoring performance, research workflow processes, conduct strategic meetings with stakeholders, administer the budgeting process, and ensures programs comply with state and federal regulations. Besides that, transportation directors also work with the human resources department in employee recruitment as well as implementing training and orientations. Other duties include performing financial reports analysis and software tools testing.

Traffic manager vs transportation director salary

Traffic managers and transportation directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

Traffic ManagerTransportation Director
Average salary$61,734$51,314
Salary rangeBetween $37,000 And $102,000Between $30,000 And $86,000
Highest paying CitySan Carlos, CANew York, NY
Highest paying stateVirginiaNew York
Best paying companyAbbVieZulily
Best paying industry-Health Care

Differences between traffic manager and transportation director education

There are a few differences between a traffic manager and a transportation director in terms of educational background:

Traffic ManagerTransportation Director
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Traffic manager vs transportation director demographics

Here are the differences between traffic managers' and transportation directors' demographics:

Traffic ManagerTransportation Director
Average age4545
Gender ratioMale, 47.9% Female, 52.1%Male, 76.0% Female, 24.0%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.6% Asian, 6.1% White, 59.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.8% Asian, 6.1% White, 59.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage5%5%

Differences between traffic manager and transportation director duties and responsibilities

Traffic manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage and schedule all FM commercials for national affiliates.
  • Manage and schedule all FM commercials per customers' contract drive times.
  • Manage all inbound material which include part shortages, EC changes, QC inspection parts and sequence material.
  • Train and supervise coordinators and junior AE s. create job number tracking system for print/broadcast events.
  • Provide oversight to all computer functions relative to the importation of vessels and the release and shipment of vehicles.
  • Perform continuous analysis of TMS, operation and business process for continuous improvement.
  • Show more

Transportation director example responsibilities.

  • Manage RFP process to outsource truck maintenance resulting in headcount reduction of 32, and total savings of $880K annually.
  • Manage inventory of inbound ocean containers, coordinate and schedule TL operations, supervise yard hostlers and manage outbound trailer traffic.
  • Perform OSHA forklift and domestic HAZMAT shipping training per regulatory guidelines.
  • Convert fleet on-board computer system from Cadec to GPS base Xata.
  • Install time-management Synovia GPS tracking and cameras on all school buses provide constant security to passengers.
  • Develop routing procedures for LTL, truck load, air freight, partial package, and inter modal shipments.
  • Show more

Traffic manager vs transportation director skills

Common traffic manager skills
  • Project Management, 10%
  • Traffic Management, 6%
  • Account Executives, 5%
  • FAA, 4%
  • PowerPoint, 4%
  • Traffic Logs, 4%
Common transportation director skills
  • DOT, 18%
  • Logistics, 11%
  • CDL, 7%
  • Customer Satisfaction, 6%
  • Transportation Services, 5%
  • Transportation Operations, 4%

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