Pipeline Transportation: NAICS 486

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	Jan. 2013	Feb. 2013	Mar. 2013	Apr. 2013
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	44.1	44.4	(P) 44.6	(P) 44.6
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees	36.4	36.9	(P) 37.2
Layoffs
Mass layoff events	-	-	-
Initial claimants for unemployment benefits	-	-	-
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics)

Extended Mass Layoffs


Data series	2nd quarter 2012	3rd quarter 2012	4th quarter 2012	1st quarter 2013
Extended mass layoff events	-	-	(P) -	(P) -
Separations	-	-	(P) -	(P) -
Initial claimants	-	-	(P) -	(P) -
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation


Data series	Employment, 2012
Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door	1,100
Gas compressor and gas pumping station operators	1,530
Gas plant operators	3,670
Industrial machinery mechanics	3,320
Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers	6,850

(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	Dec. 2012	Jan. 2013	Feb. 2013	Mar. 2013
Average hourly earnings	$37.59	$38.10	$38.83	(P) $39.48
Average weekly hours	43.1	41.4	42.0	(P) 42.5
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees


Data series	Dec. 2012	Jan. 2013	Feb. 2013	Mar. 2013
Average hourly earnings	$34.62	$34.68	$35.42	(P) $35.48
Average weekly hours	45.8	43.1	44.0	(P) 44.4
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation


Data series	Wages, 2012
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door	$26.20	$26.70	$54,500	$55,550
Gas compressor and gas pumping station operators	$26.94	$27.06	$56,040	$56,290
Gas plant operators	$29.58	$29.03	$61,530	$60,380
Industrial machinery mechanics	$24.37	$25.12	$50,690	$52,240
Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers	$30.05	$29.27	$62,500	$60,880

(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	2008	2009	2010	2011
Fatalities
Number of fatalities	8			4
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	1.6	1.9	2.5	1.5
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	0.9	0.7	1.1	1.2
Cases involving days away from work	0.5	0.5	0.9
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Workplace Trends

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

Establishments


Data series	4th quarter 2011	1st quarter 2012	2nd quarter 2012	3rd quarter 2012
Number of establishments
Private industry	2,573	(P) 2,604	(P) 2,603	(P) 2,591
Local government	20	(P) 21	(P) 21	(P) 21
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: May 17, 2013

Industries at a Glance