What Does a Transportation Supervisor Do?

The primary job of a transportation supervisor is to oversee the personnel, workload, and daily activities of organizations that rely on vehicle use as part of their normal operations. The typical duties and responsibilities of a transportation supervisor include monitoring the transportation budget, implementing business objectives, and supervising employee performance. Other tasks include ensuring adherence to safety standards, delegating work assignments to drivers, and managing databases. You will also assist with the hiring and dismissal of employees and training other team members on department policies and procedures.

Transportation Supervisor Responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real transportation supervisor resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.

Manage relationships with outside FTL and LTL carriers to secure the best transportation rates for warehouse customer's.
Direct employees in identifying and correcting any unsafe conditions, eliminate avoidable accidents and improve department performance manage KPI's.
Create and lead a team of internal and external partners to move land invoices from paper transmission to electronic EDI transmission.
Charge with managing contracts for non-emergency and emergency transportation of Medicaid and Medicare members.
Manage inventory of inbound ocean containers, coordinate and schedule TL operations, supervise yard hostlers and manage outbound trailer traffic.
Coordinate with medical clinicians to identify veterans in need of transportation services.
Complete CPR and medical training to assist passengers.
Improve driver productivity for workgroup through on- job supervision.
Operate numerous transportation devices such as stretchers and wheelchairs.
Dispatch and route drivers using RoadNet to maximize route efficiency.
Used PowerPoint to create slides to use in meeting and briefings.
Provide assistance to the doctors with procedures at the rehabilitation center.
Use GPS tracking system to assure on-time transportation and re-route if necessary.
Monitor GPS system to drivers on where they are at all times.
Provide data to the performance evaluator of delinquent PMCS and expire dispatches.

Transportation Supervisor Skills and Personality Traits

We calculated that 20% of Transportation Supervisors are proficient in DOT, Customer Service, and CDL.

We break down the percentage of Transportation Supervisors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

DOT, 20%
Insured mandated DOT drug and alcohol random screening and managed any consequences and appropriate disciplinary actions.
Customer Service, 13%
Directed the logistics operations for a global automotive manufacturer responsible for training and leading a customer service and logistics team.
CDL, 9%
Supervised a fleet of 100+ CDL Drivers in one of the largest food service chain distributors within the United States.
OSHA, 7%
Maintained working relationship with OSHA and EPA representative completing injury reports in addition to environmental spill reports.
Safety Regulations, 5%
Inspected buildings for compliance with safety regulations and facilitated accident investigations and prepared Standard Operational Procedures as needed.
Federal Regulations, 4%
Conducted training in preparing hazardous and sensitive cargo for air shipments in accordance to federal regulations.

"dot," "customer service," and "cdl" aren't the only skills we found transportation supervisors list on their resumes. In fact, there's a whole list of transportation supervisor responsibilities that we found, including:

See the full list of transportation supervisor skills.

The three companies that hire the most prestigious transportation supervisors are:

Sysco338 Transportation Supervisors Jobs
US Foods36 Transportation Supervisors Jobs
McLane29 Transportation Supervisors Jobs

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What Warehouse Leads Do

Warehouse leads are responsible for supply chain management in distribution centers. Their duties and responsibilities include supervising employees and evaluating their performance, meeting safety regulations, and monitoring deliveries and shipments. They are the ones who interact with customers and clients to resolve any delivery issues that may arise. They also help with some administrative tasks such as order and invoice processing and maintenance. This role applies to those with excellent communication skills, leadership capabilities, and strong attention to detail.

We looked at the average transportation supervisor annual salary and compared it with the average of a warehouse lead. Generally speaking, warehouse leads receive $11,488 lower pay than transportation supervisors per year.

While the salaries between these two careers can be different, they do share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both transportation supervisors and warehouse leads positions are skilled in customer service, osha, and safety regulations.

There are some key differences in responsibilities as well. For example, a transportation supervisor responsibilities require skills like "dot," "cdl," "excellent computer," and "federal regulations." Meanwhile a typical warehouse lead has skills in areas such as "ladders," "pallets," "rf," and "sales floor." This difference in skills reveals how truly different these two careers really are.

Warehouse leads receive the highest salaries in the manufacturing industry coming in with an average yearly salary of $41,833. But transportation supervisors are paid more in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $56,815.

Warehouse leads tend to reach similar levels of education than transportation supervisors. In fact, warehouse leads are 3.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

What Are The Duties Of a Dispatch Manager?

A route manager determines strategic routes transport vehicles may take to every destination. A route manager's primary responsibility is to mark the shortest and fastest way to the customer's destination. The route manager also collects information from various road network sources and gets live updates of the current traffic situation in a given area. Through the route manager, transport vehicles become useful, productive, and efficient. The route manager also surveys existing routes and updates them whenever needed.

The next role we're going to look at is the dispatch manager profession. Typically, this position earns a lower pay. In fact, they earn a $2,270 lower salary than transportation supervisors per year.

Not everything about these jobs is different. Take their skills, for example. Transportation supervisors and dispatch managers both include similar skills like "dot," "cdl," and "safety regulations" on their resumes.

But both careers also use different skills, according to real transportation supervisor resumes. While transportation supervisor responsibilities can utilize skills like "customer service," "excellent computer," "osha," and "federal regulations," some dispatch managers use skills like "service calls," "dispatch operations," "emergency situations," and "otr."

Dispatch managers may earn a lower salary than transportation supervisors, but dispatch managers earn the most pay in the professional industry with an average salary of $59,844. On the other side of things, transportation supervisors receive higher paychecks in the manufacturing industry where they earn an average of $56,815.

In general, dispatch managers study at similar levels of education than transportation supervisors. They're 2.3% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

How a Delivery Driver/Manager Compares

Let's now take a look at the delivery driver/manager profession. On average, these workers make lower salaries than transportation supervisors with a $12,808 difference per year.

By looking over several transportation supervisors and delivery driver/managers resumes, we found that both roles utilize similar skills, such as "customer service," "cdl," and "safety standards." But beyond that the careers look very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers are a few of the skills necessary to fulfill responsibilities. Some examples from transportation supervisor resumes include skills like "dot," "excellent computer," "osha," and "safety regulations," whereas a delivery driver/manager might be skilled in "customer orders," "pos," "food orders," and "bank deposits. "

Delivery driver/managers are known to earn similar educational levels when compared to transportation supervisors. Additionally, they're 4.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Description Of a Route Manager

The fourth career we look at typically earns lower pay than transportation supervisors. On average, route managers earn a difference of $2,394 lower per year.

While both transportation supervisors and route managers complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like dot, customer service, and cdl, the two careers also vary in other skills.

Each job requires different skills like "excellent computer," "safety regulations," "federal regulations," and "payroll," which might show up on a transportation supervisor resume. Whereas route manager might include skills like "safety targets," "equipment issues," "regulatory agencies," and "customer sites."

Now, let's take a closer look at the financials in each career. The manufacturing industry tends to pay more for route managers with an average of $50,158. While the highest transportation supervisor annual salary comes from the manufacturing industry.

In general, route managers reach similar levels of education when compared to transportation supervisors resumes. Route managers are 2.8% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.