Couriers and Messengers: NAICS 492

About the Couriers and Messengers subsector

The couriers and messengers subsector is part of the transportation and warehousing sector.

Industries in the Couriers and Messengers subsector provide intercity and/or local delivery of parcels and documents (including express delivery services) without operating under a universal service obligation. These articles can be described as those that may be handled by one person without using special equipment. This allows the collection, pick-up, and delivery operations to be done with limited labor costs and minimal equipment. Sorting and transportation activities, where necessary, are generally mechanized. The restriction to small parcels partly distinguishes these establishments from those in the transportation industries. The complete network of courier services establishments also distinguishes these transportation services from local messenger and delivery establishments in this subsector. This includes the establishments that perform intercity transportation as well as establishments that, under contract to them, perform local pick-up and delivery. Messengers, which usually deliver within a metropolitan or single urban area, may use bicycle, foot, small truck, or van.

North American Industry Classification System

The couriers and messengers subsector consists of these industry groups:

Couriers: NAICS 4921
Local Messengers and Local Delivery: NAICS 4922

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in couriers and messengers. 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	Oct. 2011	Nov. 2011	Dec. 2011	Jan. 2012
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	523.3	528.3	(P) 521.1	(P) 519.6
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees	436.8	462.8	(P) 518.8
Layoffs
Mass layoff events	3	(1) -	(1) -
Initial claimants for unemployment benefits	247	(1) -	(1) -
Footnotes (1) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards. (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics)

Extended Mass Layoffs


Data series	4th quarter 2010	1st quarter 2011	2nd quarter 2011	3rd quarter 2011
Extended mass layoff events	3	9	(P) 4	(P) 3
Separations	617	3,818	(P) 1,124	(P) 383
Initial claimants	1,361	2,334	(P) 1,124	(P) 348
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation


Data series	Employment, 2010
Couriers and messengers	22,110
Customer service representatives	8,040
Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance	6,070
First-line supervisors/managers of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators	9,550
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	127,900
Truck drivers, light or delivery services	146,290

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

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

(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 couriers and messengers.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees


Data series	Sep. 2011	Oct. 2011	Nov. 2011	Dec. 2011
Average hourly earnings	$18.48	$18.46	$18.42	(P) $18.94
Average weekly hours	33.7	34.9	34.1	(P) 34.3
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees


Data series	Sep. 2011	Oct. 2011	Nov. 2011	Dec. 2011
Average hourly earnings	$16.30	$16.00	$15.77	(P) $16.31
Average weekly hours	31.1	32.6	32.1	(P) 32.6
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation


Data series	Wages, 2010
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Couriers and messengers	$10.79	$12.27	$22,440	$25,520
Customer service representatives	$18.26	$17.99	$37,980	$37,410
Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance	$18.26	$19.09	$37,980	$39,700
First-line supervisors/managers of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators	$29.92	$29.37	$62,240	$61,080
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	$11.48	$12.36	$23,870	$25,700
Truck drivers, light or delivery services	$23.73	$22.87	$49,350	$47,570

(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 couriers and messengers. 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	30	23	29	(P) 26
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	9.8	8.7	7.2	7.2
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	6.8	5.9	4.7	4.6
Cases involving days away from work	3.3	3.2	2.6	2.6
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	3.5	2.6	2.0	2.0
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(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	Sep. 2011	Oct. 2011	Nov. 2011	Dec. 2011
Producer price index	(P) 170.4	(P) 169.8	(P) 169.6	(P) 169.6
Percent change from previous month	(P) -0.1%	(P) -0.4%	(P) -0.1%	(P) 0.0%
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in couriers and messengers. Also included in this section is information on productivity, presented as the rate of change in output per hour of workers in the industry.

Establishments


Data series	3rd quarter 2010	4th quarter 2010	1st quarter 2011	2nd quarter 2011
Number of establishments
Private industry	16,488	16,965	(P) 17,635	(P) 17,977
Local government	3	3	(P) 3	(P) 2
State government
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity


Data series	2006	2007	2008	2009
Labor productivity index, output per hour	99.408	96.480	100.786	95.800
Percent change from previous year	5.0	-2.9	4.5	-4.9
Labor index, total labor hours	99.326	101.391	90.711	84.975
Percent change from previous year	-2.4	2.1	-10.5	-6.3
Output index	98.738	97.822	91.424	81.406
Percent change from previous year	2.5	-0.9	-6.5	-11.0
Unit labor costs index	104.448	106.091	104.329	104.343
Percent change from previous year	-2.3	1.6	-1.7	0.0

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

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 07, 2012

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