U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Industries at a Glance

Transportation and Warehousing: NAICS 48-49

About the Transportation and Warehousing sector

The transportation and warehousing sector is part of the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector.

The Transportation and Warehousing sector includes industries providing transportation of passengers and cargo, warehousing and storage for goods, scenic and sightseeing transportation, and support activities related to modes of transportation. Establishments in these industries use transportation equipment or transportation related facilities as a productive asset. The type of equipment depends on the mode of transportation. The modes of transportation are air, rail, water, road, and pipeline.

North American Industry Classification System

The transportation and warehousing sector consists of these subsectors:

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in transportation and warehousing. While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry, union membership and representation, gross job gains and losses, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment, Unemployment, and Layoffs


Data series	Jan. 2013	Feb. 2013	Mar. 2013	Apr. 2013
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	4,471.6	4,466.3	(P) 4,459.6	(P) 4,463.8
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted)	3,869.6	3,861.6	(P) 3,859.3	(P) 3,855.1
Unemployment
Unemployment rate	8.6%	8.2%	8.3%	6.2%
Layoffs
Mass layoff events	87	34	90	116
Initial claimants for unemployment benefits	6,419	3,833	12,753	12,688
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, Mass Layoff Statistics)

Union Membership and Representation


Data series	2009	2010	2011	2012
Union membership and representation
Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers)	21.3%	20.5%	20.4%	19.9%
Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)	22.6%	21.6%	21.4%	21.0%

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Dynamic Changes in Employment


Data series	4th quarter 2011	1st quarter 2012	2nd quarter 2012	3rd quarter 2012
Dynamic changes in employment (in thousands)
Gross job gains	244	213	218	221
Gross job losses	203	219	202	204

(Source: Business Employment Dynamics)

Extended Mass Layoffs


Data series	2nd quarter 2012	3rd quarter 2012	4th quarter 2012	1st quarter 2013
Extended mass layoff events	191	78	(P) 61	(P) 39
Separations	36,865	13,239	(P) 18,621	(P) 9,823
Initial claimants	39,416	12,698	(P) 11,864	(P) 4,700
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation


Data series	Employment, 2012
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers	61,800
Bus drivers, school	187,190
Railroad conductors and yardmasters	39,450
Sailors and marine oilers	23,720
Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer	909,670

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for transportation and warehousing.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings and Hours

This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours, as well as weekly earnings by union membership status, are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in transportation and warehousing. This section also contains information on the average cost of benefits paid by employers, as well as recent rates of change in wages and total compensation.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees


Data series	Jan. 2013	Feb. 2013	Mar. 2013	Apr. 2013
Average hourly earnings	$22.08	$22.02	(P) $22.05	(P) $22.15
Average weekly hours	38.5	38.6	(P) 38.8	(P) 38.7
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees


Data series	Jan. 2013	Feb. 2013	Mar. 2013	Apr. 2013
Average hourly earnings	$19.53	$19.56	(P) $19.49	(P) $19.56
Average weekly hours	38.2	38.4	(P) 38.8	(P) 38.7
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Union Membership and Representation


Data series	Back data	Median weekly earnings
Data series	Back data	2009	2010	2011	2012
Union membership and representation
Full-time workers		$749	$765	$763	$778
Members of unions		$923	$934	$941	$948
Represented by unions		$911	$928	$939	$934
Nonunion		$707	$725	$726	$746

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Earnings by Occupation


Data series	Wages, 2012
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers	(1) $-	(1) $-	$116,320	$130,870
Bus drivers, school	$14.14	$14.65	$29,410	$30,480
Railroad conductors and yardmasters	$26.27	$27.36	$54,630	$56,900
Sailors and marine oilers	$17.78	$19.00	$36,990	$39,520
Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer	$19.09	$19.92	$39,710	$41,430
Footnotes (1) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported either as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Employer Compensation Costs


Data series	2nd quarter 2012	3rd quarter 2012	4th quarter 2012	1st quarter 2013
12-month percent change
Total compensation	2.9%	3.5%	4.0%	3.2%
Wages and salaries	2.3%	3.2%	3.7%	3.3%

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)


Data series	Back data	4th quarter 2012
Data series	Back data	Compensation component ($ per hour worked)	Percent of total compensation
Compensation costs
Total compensation		35.06	100.0
Wages and salaries		22.64	64.6
Total benefits		12.41	35.4
Insurance		4.04	11.5
Retirement		1.73	4.9

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in transportation and warehousing. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.


Data series	2008	2009	2010	2011
Fatalities
Number of fatalities	832	666	689	778
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	5.7	5.2	5.2	5.0
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	3.9	3.5	3.6	3.4
Cases involving days away from work	2.5	2.3	2.3	2.3
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	1.4	1.3	1.3	1.1
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Prices

This section provides industry-specific pricing information. The producer price index measures the percentage change in prices that domestic producers receive for goods and services. The prices included in the producer price index are from the first commercial transaction.


Data series	Jan. 2013	Feb. 2013	Mar. 2013	Apr. 2013
Producer price index	(P) 125.3	(P) 125.3	(P) 126.2	(P) 125.8
Percent change from previous month	(P) 1.0%	(P) 0.0%	(P) 0.7%	(P) -0.3%
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments and the number of establishments experiencing job gains or job losses in transportation and warehousing.

Establishments


Data series	4th quarter 2011	1st quarter 2012	2nd quarter 2012	3rd quarter 2012
Number of establishments
Private industry	220,475	(P) 221,300	(P) 222,305	(P) 223,756
Local government	2,733	(P) 2,752	(P) 2,745	(P) 2,744
State government	501	(P) 499	(P) 497	(P) 497
Federal government	30,200	(P) 30,162	(P) 30,008	(P) 29,888
Establishments with changes in employment (in thousands)
With job gains (seasonally adjusted)	53	53	52	51
With job losses (seasonally adjusted)	50	51	51	52
Footnotes (P) Preliminary