What does a transportation manager do?
A transportation manager is an individual who is responsible for directing and managing tasks that involves all the transportation activities within the organization. Transportation managers must ensure that goods and passengers have reached their destination safely by inspecting and providing maintenance to the organization's vehicles. During the hiring process, transportation managers must make sure that drivers and operators have the correct and up to date qualifications. They must also avoid passenger overload and should keep accurate records of passengers and goods that are being transported.
Transportation manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real transportation manager resumes:
- Manage OTR driver core to ensure internal and external customer demands achieve.
- Manage eSECURE program acting as TSA on military installation.
- Manage RFQ project for the selection of a third party warehouse.
- Manage employees to complete daily inventory of products so proper FIFO procedures are apply.
- Manage employee's attendance and timekeeping by use of kronos systems on a daily basis.
- Manage all aspects of a staff of over 100 CDL drivers , 5 supervisors and 2 administrative assistant.
- Maintain and report to direct supervision all records regarding transportation vehicles and mechanical restraints.
- Assist in maintaining the EDI SQL compliance reports for the accounts.
- Command and control transportation operations and combine armed forces during land combat.
- Establish export compliance management system to ensure APM consistently adhere to country and company regulations.
- Certify in CPR and first aid, o c peppers spray.
- DOT do a compliance review and rating are not drop.
- Testify when necessary in employee arbitration hearings, responsible for approx.
- Certify in: inmate transport, OC spray, and Taser.
- Analyze freight spend, transportation KPIs, and various ad-hoc reports.
Transportation manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 15% of Transportation Managers are proficient in Customer Service, DOT, and Supply Chain. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer service skills, Organizational skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Transportation Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 15%
Managed a 3000+ unit private fleet consisting of residential product delivery, retail store replenishment transportation and in-home customer service units.
- DOT, 12%
Review daily orders for additional private fleet opportunities based on above requirements including driver dispatching and adhering to DOT Regulations.
- Supply Chain, 9%
Facilitated various corporate/divisional supply chain initiatives.
- OSHA, 4%
Established procedures to ensure proper recording and accountability of vehicular and personal injury accident in accordance with OSHA and DOT regulations.
- Customer Satisfaction, 4%
Participate in the development and implementation of service & productivity improvement initiatives to increase customer satisfaction & reduce operating expense.
- On-Time Delivery, 4%
Developed/sustained strategic carrier relationships, implemented carrier performance and quality management strategy, and achieved/sustained 99% on-time delivery ratio.
Most transportation managers use their skills in "customer service," "dot," and "supply chain" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential transportation manager responsibilities here:
Customer service skills. The most essential soft skill for a transportation manager to carry out their responsibilities is customer service skills. This skill is important for the role because "logisticians must know the needs of their customers in order to coordinate the movement of materials between suppliers and customers." Additionally, a transportation manager resume shows how their duties depend on customer service skills: "monitored all transportation operations, including quality control, ensuring services meet customer obligations. "
Organizational skills. Another essential skill to perform transportation manager duties is organizational skills. Transportation managers responsibilities require that "logisticians must be able to keep detailed records and simultaneously manage several projects in a fast-paced environment." Transportation managers also use organizational skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "gather and analyze requirements to design logistics and transportation efforts while leveraging external support to achieve organizational missions and customer satisfaction. "
Communication skills. transportation managers are also known for communication skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to transportation manager responsibilities, because "logisticians need strong communication skills to collaborate with colleagues and do business with suppliers and customers." A transportation manager resume example shows how communication skills is used in the workplace: "maintained constant communication with field operations, sales and service in order to effectively execute all functions related to transportation operations. "
Problem-solving skills. transportation manager responsibilities often require "problem-solving skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "logisticians must handle unforeseen issues, such as delivery problems, and adjust plans as needed to resolve the issues." This resume example shows what transportation managers do with problem-solving skills on a typical day: "collaborate with other department heads to insure production and operations safety, along with resolution of hr problems. "
The three companies that hire the most transportation managers are:
- J.B. Hunt Transport Services71 transportation managers jobs
- HNI30 transportation managers jobs
- Sysco14 transportation managers jobs
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Compare different transportation managers
Transportation manager vs. Logistics director
A logistics director spearheads and oversees a company's logistics operations. They are primarily responsible for setting goals and guidelines, managing the budgets and timelines, researching new opportunities, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of operations, and implementing solutions against problem areas. They must also maintain positive relationships with key clients and external parties, such as distributors and suppliers. Furthermore, as a director, it is essential to lead employees while implementing the company's policies and regulations, recommending new ones as needed.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a transportation manager are more likely to require skills like "dot," "osha," "customer satisfaction," and "cdl." On the other hand, a job as a logistics director requires skills like "logistics operations," "project management," "oversight," and "kpis." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
On average, logistics directors reach higher levels of education than transportation managers. Logistics directors are 7.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.5% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Transportation manager vs. Logistics supervisor
A logistics supervisor is an individual tasked to oversee goods shipment and delivery in organizations. Supervisors manage the planning, organization, and implementation of the company's systems. They take responsibility for managing the inventory of warehouse stocks based on the foreseeable requirements. It is part of their job to schedule deliveries and pickups with the internal staff or transportation companies. Their skills should include adaptability, project management proficiency, and communication skills.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that transportation manager responsibilities requires skills like "dot," "supply chain," "cdl," and "transportation operations." But a logistics supervisor might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "shipping receiving," "excellent time management," "cycle counts," and "inventory management."
Logistics supervisors earn a lower average salary than transportation managers. But logistics supervisors earn the highest pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $82,503. Additionally, transportation managers earn the highest salaries in the manufacturing with average pay of $70,077 annually.logistics supervisors earn similar levels of education than transportation managers in general. They're 1.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Transportation manager vs. Traffic director
A distribution supervisor is in charge of overseeing all distribution processes in a warehouse or similar setting, ensuring accuracy and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities typically revolve around coordinating deliveries and shipment, managing schedules, delegating tasks, assessing the performance of the workforce, and maintaining records of all transactions. Should there be any issues or concerns, it is essential to resolve them promptly and efficiently. Furthermore, as a supervisor, it is vital to lead and encourage the employees to reach goals and deadlines, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a transportation manager is likely to be skilled in "customer service," "dot," "supply chain," and "osha," while a typical traffic director is skilled in "control traffic," "patrol," "general maintenance," and "direct traffic."
Traffic directors earn the best pay in the media industry, where they command an average salary of $59,120. Transportation managers earn the highest pay from the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $70,077.When it comes to education, traffic directors tend to earn similar degree levels compared to transportation managers. In fact, they're 4.0% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Transportation manager vs. Distribution supervisor
Types of transportation manager
Updated January 8, 2025
