How to hire a transportation consultant

How to hire a transportation consultant, step by step

Here's a step-by-step transportation consultant hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a transportation consultant job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new transportation consultant
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your transportation consultant job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a transportation consultant for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect transportation consultant also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list presents transportation consultant salaries for various positions.

   Type of Transportation Consultant	Description	Hourly rate
   Transportation Consultant		$28-57
   Fleet Manager	A fleet manager is responsible for monitoring the delivery processes, including the maintenance and registration of delivery vehicles, recruiting delivery drivers, and regularly inspecting the vehicle's engine to boost optimal performance for efficient deliveries. Fleet managers purchase the vehicles, negotiating contracts with trusted manufacturers, and try to keep minimal costs without compromising quality... Show more	$14-37
   Terminal Manager	Terminal managers are professionals who are responsible for managing workers and direct dispatching activities of logistics vehicles. These managers are required to develop relationships with corporate and operational departments so that they can ensure the company logistics standards are met... Show more	$26-47

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Logistics
   • LTL
   • Customer Service
   • GIS
   • DOT
   • Client Satisfaction
   • RFP
   • Transportation Management System
   • Distribution Centers
   • Transportation Planning
   • Business Development
   • Autocad
   • Data Collection
   • TL

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Provide SharePoint development and administration, budget and financial reporting; manage invoicing; and develop training manuals and user guides.
   • Negotiate pricing and service on customer's behalf in moving LTL, TL via air, ocean, rail and truck.
   • Support new business development and facilitate strategic transportation and logistics planning.
   • Update GIS on MRE reports for daily updates and creates MRE tracking reports.
   • Utilize AutoCAD to quickly update drawings and create parking lot layout designs for commercial and residential developments.
   • Analyze current truckload data to determine lane density by origin/destination.

   More transportation consultant duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your transportation consultant job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A transportation consultant can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, transportation consultants' average salary in north dakota is 34% less than in new york.
   • Seniority. Entry-level transportation consultants 50% less than senior-level transportation consultants.
   • Certifications. A transportation consultant with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a transportation consultant's salary.

   Average transportation consultant salary

   $85,172yearly

   $40.95 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level transportation consultant salary

   $60,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 11, 2026

   Average transportation consultant salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$105,014	$50
   2	Texas	$100,515	$48
   3	California	$100,387	$48
   4	Washington	$100,076	$48
   5	Illinois	$93,376	$45
   6	Kansas	$90,655	$44
   7	Arizona	$90,361	$43
   8	Massachusetts	$90,197	$43
   9	District of Columbia	$88,336	$42
   10	Wisconsin	$87,574	$42
   11	Pennsylvania	$86,879	$42
   12	Virginia	$82,434	$40
   13	Indiana	$81,421	$39
   14	Ohio	$81,031	$39
   15	Missouri	$77,523	$37
   16	Minnesota	$77,360	$37
   17	Colorado	$77,229	$37
   18	Michigan	$76,338	$37
   19	Georgia	$75,761	$36
   20	Tennessee	$72,119	$35

   Average transportation consultant salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	ICF	$98,448	$47.33
   2	Kimberly-Clark	$97,260	$46.76
   3	Accenture	$92,635	$44.54	396
   4	3Gtms	$90,184	$43.36
   5	IHS Holding Inc	$90,040	$43.29
   6	Chainalytics	$88,846	$42.71
   7	Syska Hennessy Group	$84,976	$40.85	2
   8	ManpowerGroup	$82,986	$39.90	6
   9	AECOM	$81,087	$38.98	65
   10	State of Colorado	$55,501	$26.68

4. Writing a transportation consultant job description

   A job description for a transportation consultant role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a transportation consultant job description:

   Transportation consultant job description example

   Steer is a consultancy that combines commercial, economic, technical and planning expertise to find powerful answers to our clients complex questions. We are a global firm spanning over 400 staff across 21 offices across four continents working together to make a real difference across cities, infrastructure and transportation. Founded in 1978, we are a truly international business with global reach, insight and capabilities.

   Infrastructure, cities and transportation are constantly evolving in response to new demands, new ideas, and new technologies. We help our clients maximize opportunity and realize value within this rapidly-changing landscape by mixing rigor and technical expertise with an open-minded, imaginative approach.

   At Steer, we actively invest in developing new ideas and ways of working. We encourage our staff to think creatively about their work and how we can help clients maximize opportunities and commercial benefits.

   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   At Steer we are motivated by solving the complex problems that our US and international rail clients have. This helps to not only improve the journeys that people make but also the places where we all live. From working on an airport or rail business plan to a P3 toll road transaction, as well as research into using data to develop innovative behavioral change strategies, Steer is at the forefront of developing powerful answers to complex problems.

   We have exciting opportunities in our team to work on a diverse range of challenging and high-profile projects. We are interested in consultants with any of the following skills:

   • demand and revenue forecasting;
   • rail operating cost modelling;
   • business and financial modelling; and
   • the economic appraisal of railway, toll road, and aviation projects.

   Ideal candidates will have 5+ years of experience. Candidates that fit this position will have interests across both project delivery and work winning and be able to evidence the following experience and capabilities.

   Accountabilities:

   Candidates will be required to:

   • Work collaboratively with colleagues across the business to provide high-quality consulting and differentiated services to our clients
   • Manage and deliver successful projects (time, cost, quality) or major workstreams in project leadership roles
   • Manage and develop their own career path and network
   • Supervise and mentor more junior members of project teams
   • Contribute to effective team performance on both financial and behavioral measures
   • Broaden and develop their own expertise and skill set to align with the needs of our clients
   • Support business development and work winning through maintenance and development of client networks and contributions to high-quality proposals

   Requirements

   Candidates will meet at least some of the following requirements:

   • Position in the transportation sector, through consultancy, infrastructure advisory, and/or public sector.
   • At least some of this experience should involve working with major rail, transit or toll road systems
   • Experience in successfully managing projects or major workstreams involving teams comprising multiple capabilities
   • Considerable experience with technical tools commonly used in the transportation industry, such as network modeling (TransCAD, Cube, Emme), spreadsheet modeling (Excel including VBA), and statistical analysis (Python, R, Stata)
   • This candidate will be looking to progress from operating/refining demand models to guiding model development and supervising junior teams
   • Relevant technical experience beyond demand modeling (e.g. operations, capital planning, service planning, financial analysis etc.) involving major rail or transit systems will also be considered
   • Excellent oral and written communication skills
   • Ability to work both independently and as part of a geographically dispersed team across multiple Steer offices
   • An existing right to work in the United States and/or Canada; and
   • Proficiency in languages of countries where Steer conducts business (especially Spanish or French), would be advantageous but is not required.

   Benefits

   Our social and cultural responsibilities form an important part of our culture and values. We believe that actions speak louder than words, and therefore have annual measurable targets across all social impact areas, particularly DEI and sustainability. We have also committed to successfully operate as a Net Zero Carbon company by 2025.

   We offer a competitive package of benefits including private medical, dental, and vision insurance, commuter benefits, group Share Incentive Plan, 20 vacation days, and a discretionary bonus scheme.

   Steer is an equal opportunities employer and encourages applications regardless of age, race, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity or gender. Part-time and flexible working applications will be considered.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

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

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with transportation consultants they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit transportation consultants who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your transportation consultant job on Zippia to find and recruit transportation consultant candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting transportation consultants requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new transportation consultant

   Once you've decided on a perfect transportation consultant candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new transportation consultant. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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