Pipeline Transportation: NAICS 486

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About the Pipeline Transportation subsector

The pipeline transportation subsector is part of the transportation and warehousing sector.

Industries in the Pipeline Transportation subsector use transmission pipelines to transport products, such as crude oil, natural gas, refined petroleum products, and slurry. Industries are identified based on the products transported (i.e., pipeline transportation of crude oil, natural gas, refined petroleum products, and other products).

The Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas industry includes the storage of natural gas because the storage is usually done by the pipeline establishment and because a pipeline is inherently a network in which all the nodes are interdependent.

North American Industry Classification System

The pipeline transportation subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Pipeline Transportation of Crude Oil: NAICS 4861
  • Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas: NAICS 4862
  • Other Pipeline Transportation: NAICS 4869

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in pipeline transportation. These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Layoffs

Data series Back
data		 Oct.
2011		 Nov.
2011		 Dec.
2011		 Jan.
2012

Employment (in thousands)

  

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)
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 43.0 43.2 (P) 43.4 (P) 43.5

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees
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 33.1 33.5 (P) 33.7  

Layoffs

  

Mass layoff events

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 - - -  

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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 - - -  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics)

Extended Mass Layoffs

Data series Back
data		 1st quarter
2011		 2nd quarter
2011		 3rd quarter
2011		 4th quarter
2011

Extended mass layoff events
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 - - (P) - (P) -

Separations
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 - - (P) - (P) -

Initial claimants
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 - - (P) - (P) -

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2010

Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door

 970

Gas compressor and gas pumping station operators

 1,460

Gas plant operators

 3,560

Industrial machinery mechanics

 2,330

Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers

 6,680

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

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

(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 are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in pipeline transportation.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

Data series Back
data		 Sep.
2011		 Oct.
2011		 Nov.
2011		 Dec.
2011

Average hourly earnings
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 $36.71 $37.13 $37.20 (P) $36.58

Average weekly hours
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 43.8 44.2 43.3 (P) 42.9

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data		 Sep.
2011		 Oct.
2011		 Nov.
2011		 Dec.
2011

Average hourly earnings
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 $32.18 $32.96 $32.33 (P) $32.20

Average weekly hours
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 44.9 45.2 44.1 (P) 43.7

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2010
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door

 $24.39 $24.75 $50,740 $51,490

Gas compressor and gas pumping station operators

 $25.31 $24.80 $52,640 $51,580

Gas plant operators

 $27.88 $27.72 $58,000 $57,660

Industrial machinery mechanics

 $24.46 $24.72 $50,870 $51,420

Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers

 $28.13 $27.58 $58,510 $57,360

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

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 pipeline transportation. 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 2007 2008 2009 2010

Fatalities

  

Number of fatalities

 6 8    

Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers

  

Total recordable cases

 2.0 1.6 1.9 2.5

Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer

 0.9 0.9 0.7 1.1

Cases involving days away from work

 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.9

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.2

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in pipeline transportation.

Establishments

Data series Back
data		 3rd quarter
2010		 4th quarter
2010		 1st quarter
2011		 2nd quarter
2011

Number of establishments

  

Private industry
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 2,554 2,548 (P) 2,548 (P) 2,551

Local government
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 20 20 (P) 20 (P) 20

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Other BLS Resources

Career Guide to Industries

To learn about careers from an industry perspective, see the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: February 10, 2012