First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators - 53-1031.00

Directly supervise and coordinate activities of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators and helpers.

Sample of reported job titles: Dock Supervisor, Driver Manager, Fleet Manager, On Car Supervisor, Operations Supervisor, Street Supervisor, Supervisor, Trainmaster, Transportation Supervisor, Warehouse Supervisor

Tasks

• Enforce safety rules and regulations.
• Plan work assignments and equipment allocations to meet transportation, operations or production goals.
• Direct workers in transportation or related services, such as pumping, moving, storing, or loading or unloading of materials or people.
• Review orders, production schedules, blueprints, or shipping or receiving notices to determine work sequences and material shipping dates, types, volumes, or destinations.
• Inspect or test materials, stock, vehicles, equipment, or facilities to ensure that they are safe, free of defects, and consistent with specifications.
• Confer with customers, supervisors, contractors, or other personnel to exchange information or to resolve problems.
• Monitor field work to ensure proper performance and use of materials.
• Dispatch personnel and vehicles in response to telephone or radio reports of emergencies.
• Drive vehicles or operate machines or equipment to complete work assignments or to assist workers.
• Plan and establish transportation routes.
• Maintain or verify records of time, materials, expenditures, or crew activities.
• Interpret transportation or tariff regulations, shipping orders, safety regulations, or company policies and procedures for workers.
• Prepare, compile, and submit reports on work activities, operations, production, or work-related accidents.
• Resolve worker problems or collaborate with employees to assist in problem resolution.
• Recommend or implement personnel actions, such as employee selection, evaluation, rewards, or disciplinary actions.
• Perform or schedule repairs or preventive maintenance of vehicles or other equipment.
• Explain and demonstrate work tasks to new workers or assign training tasks to experienced workers.
• Requisition needed personnel, supplies, equipment, parts, or repair services.
• Recommend and implement measures to improve worker motivation, equipment performance, work methods, or customer services.
• Examine, measure, or weigh cargo or materials to determine specific handling requirements.
• Assist workers in tasks such as coupling railroad cars or loading vehicles.
• Compute or estimate cash, payroll, transportation, personnel, or storage requirements.

Technology Skills

• Accounting software - General ledger software
• Bar coding software - Barcode software
• Calendar and scheduling software - Scheduling software
• Data base user interface and query software - Microsoft Access
• Electronic mail software - Microsoft Outlook
• Enterprise resource planning ERP software - SAP
• Internet browser software - Web browser software
• Map creation software - Mapping software
• Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software - Bill of lading software; JDA Manugistics; UPS Logistics Technologies Roadnet Transportation Suite; XATA XATANET (see all 19 examples)
• Mobile location based services software - Accellos Real Dispatch; Commercial vehicle operations CVO software
• Office suite software - Microsoft Office
• Presentation software - Microsoft PowerPoint
• Spreadsheet software - Microsoft Excel
• Word processing software - Microsoft Word

Tools Used

• Adjustable widemouth pliers
• Conveyor roller - Roller beds
• Desktop computers
• Flatbed trailers - Lowboys
• Forklifts
• Grease guns
• Hand trucks or accessories - Hand trucks
• Impact wrenches
• Jacks - Hydraulic jacks
• Micrometers
• Pallet trucks - Pallet jacks
• Personal computers
• Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers - Personal digital assistants PDA
• Ratchets - Ratchet wrenches
• Screwdrivers - Phillips head screwdrivers; Straight screwdrivers
• Spot welding machine - Portable welding equipment
• Temperature controlled container trailers - Refrigerated trailers
• Torque wrenches
• Two way radios
• Wheel nut or lug wrench - Lug wrenches

Knowledge

• Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

Skills

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
• Management of Personnel Resources - Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
• Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
• Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
• Systems Evaluation - Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
• Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.

Abilities

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
• Time Sharing - The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
• Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
• Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.

Interests

• Interest code: ECR
  • Enterprising - Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
  • Conventional - Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
  • Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Work Context

• Contact With Others - 91% responded “Constant contact with others.”
• Face-to-Face Discussions - 89% responded “Every day.”
• Telephone - 83% responded “Every day.”
• Frequency of Decision Making - 85% responded “Every day.”
• Responsibility for Outcomes and Results - 71% responded “Very high responsibility.”
• Duration of Typical Work Week - 80% responded “More than 40 hours.”
• Time Pressure - 74% responded “Every day.”
• Responsible for Others' Health and Safety - 59% responded “Very high responsibility.”
• Indoors, Environmentally Controlled - 68% responded “Every day.”
• Work With Work Group or Team - 64% responded “Extremely important.”
• Electronic Mail - 72% responded “Every day.”
• Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results - 52% responded “Very important results.”
• Coordinate or Lead Others - 51% responded “Extremely important.”
• Importance of Being Exact or Accurate - 58% responded “Extremely important.”
• Freedom to Make Decisions - 50% responded “A lot of freedom.”
• Structured versus Unstructured Work - 47% responded “A lot of freedom.”
• Frequency of Conflict Situations - 56% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
• Importance of Repeating Same Tasks - 52% responded “Extremely important.”
• Deal With External Customers - 42% responded “Extremely important.”
• Sounds, Noise Levels Are Distracting or Uncomfortable - 44% responded “Every day.”
• Deal With Unpleasant or Angry People - 65% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
• Physical Proximity - 51% responded “Moderately close (at arm's length).”
• Letters and Memos - 36% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
• Spend Time Sitting - 36% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
• Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions - 34% responded “Less than half the time.”
• Level of Competition - 30% responded “Moderately competitive.”
• Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets - 42% responded “Every day.”
• Exposed to Contaminants - 29% responded “Every day.”
• Consequence of Error - 25% responded “Serious.”
• Indoors, Not Environmentally Controlled - 30% responded “Never.”

Education

Percentage of Respondents	Education Level Required
70%	High school diploma or equivalent
13%	Some college, no degree
12%	Post-secondary certificate

Work Styles

• Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
• Leadership - Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
• Stress Tolerance - Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
• Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
• Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
• Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical.
• Adaptability/Flexibility - Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
• Self Control - Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
• Concern for Others - Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
• Initiative - Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
• Persistence - Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
• Achievement/Effort - Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
• Social Orientation - Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
• Analytical Thinking - Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
• Independence - Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
• Innovation - Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.

Work Values

• Support - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
• Independence - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
• Relationships - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.

Wages & Trends

• Median wages (2017)
  • $25.82 hourly, $53,700 annual
• Employment (2016)
  • 204,000 employees
• Projected growth (2016-2026)
  • Average (5% to 9%)
• Projected job openings (2016-2026)
  • 22,600