Transportation and material moving
Transportation supervisor
Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of helpers, laborers, or material movers, hand.
Median pay
$62,890
Growth to 2035
+3%
about as fast as average
Openings a year
54,900
Time to qualify*
2 years
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Transportation supervisor
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- None
- Prior experience
- Less than 5 years
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Outdoors in all weather
Hazardous conditions
Exposure to disease
Transportation supervisor: 71% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- Maintain a safe working environment by monitoring safety procedures and equipment.
- Collaborate with workers and managers to solve work-related problems.
- Review work throughout the work process and at completion to ensure that it has been performed properly.
- Inform designated employees or departments of items loaded or problems encountered.
- Inspect equipment for wear and for conformance to specifications.
- Prepare and maintain work records and reports of information such as employee time and wages, daily receipts, or inspection results.
- Transmit and explain work orders to laborers.
- Plan work schedules and assign duties to maintain adequate staff for effective performance of activities and response to fluctuating workloads.
Also called: Floor Supervisor · Packaging Supervisor · Receiving Manager · Receiving Supervisor · Shipping Manager · Shipping Supervisor · Terminal Operations Manager · Warehouse Foreman
Outlook and AI
Transportation supervisors held 621,500 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 640,300 by 2035 (+3%, about as fast as average; all jobs: +3.5%).
Compare with
- Transportation supervisor vs. First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers
- Transportation supervisor vs. First-line supervisors of production and operating workers
- Transportation supervisor vs. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers
- Transportation supervisor vs. First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers
- Transportation supervisor vs. First-line supervisors of farming, fishing, and forestry workers
- Transportation supervisor vs. First-line supervisors of housekeeping and janitorial workers
- Transportation supervisor vs. First-line supervisor of non-retail sales workers
- Transportation supervisor vs. First-line supervisor of security workers
- Transportation supervisor vs. First-line supervisors of entertainment and recreation workers, except gambling services
- Transportation supervisor vs. First-line supervisor of personal service workers