Keeping America Moving: Employment in Transportation and Warehousing Industries

Mary Dorinda Allard and Kennedy Keller

In June 2024, the transportation and warehousing industry had an employment level of 6.6 million, accounting for 5 percent of all private-sector jobs.

Transportation and warehousing encompasses a wide variety of industries, such as warehousing and storage, truck and air transportation, and school and city buses. This Spotlight examines these industries' differing employment trends, worker characteristics, earnings, fatal and nonfatal occupational injuries, and projected 2032 employment.

In June 2024, the three largest components of transportation and warehousing were warehousing and storage (accounting for 27 percent of all jobs in the industry), truck transportation (24 percent), and couriers and messengers (16 percent). Support activities for transportation—such as airport operations, port and harbor operations, and motor vehicle towing—accounted for 13 percent of employment in the industry, and air transportation for 9 percent. Employment in transit and ground passenger transportation—which includes school and city buses—made up 7 percent.

From February to April 2020—when the COVID-19 pandemic began—the steepest employment decline in transportation and warehousing was in transit and ground passenger transportation (-37.5 percent). The only industry with a job gain was couriers and messengers, reflecting growth in online sales.

Although employment in warehousing and storage is down since a recent peak in May 2022, it was 34.0 percent higher in June 2024 than in February 2020. Employment in couriers and messengers was also considerably higher in June 2024 (+27.0 percent) than prior to the pandemic. By contrast, transit and ground passenger transportation had not yet recovered the jobs lost at the onset of the pandemic.

In 2023, three-quarters of transportation and warehousing workers were men, compared with just over half of workers overall. Among the largest transportation and warehousing industries, truck transportation had the highest share of men, at 88 percent. While truck transportation workers were employed in many different occupations—such as dispatchers and mechanics—the most common occupation was truck driver, an occupation in which about 9 of 10 workers were men. Among workers in other transportation and warehousing industries, the share of men ranged from 77 percent in support activities for transportation to 66 percent in warehousing and storage.

In 2023, workers in couriers and messengers and in warehousing and storage were most likely to be ages 16 to 24, at 17 percent each. By contrast, those in transit and ground passenger transportation were least likely to be younger (2 percent).

Thirty-four percent of workers in transit and ground passenger transportation were age 55 or over, compared with 15 percent and 17 percent, respectively, for those in couriers and messengers and in warehousing and storage.

In 2023, 46 percent of air transportation workers age 25 and over had a bachelor’s degree or higher, likely partially reflecting the fact that a bachelor’s degree is typically required to become an airline pilot. 

By contrast, 15 percent of workers had a bachelor's degree or higher in truck transportation and in warehousing and storage. These two industries employ large numbers of workers in occupations that have low educational barriers to entry, such as laborers and freight, stock, and material moving workers.

In 2023, employment in air transportation was 5.5 times more concentrated in Alaska than in the United States overall. Many towns and villages in Alaska are inaccessible by road and rely on air transportation for freight and passenger transport.  

In couriers and messengers, employment was most concentrated in Kentucky and Tennessee, at 2.9 times and 2.4 times the national rate, respectively. Two states had employment concentrations in truck transportation that were more than twice the national rate (Arkansas and Nebraska). The only states with more than twice the national rate in warehousing and storage were Delaware and Nevada.

In five states, employment concentrations in transit and ground passenger transportation were over twice the national rate. In three states—Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York—this largely reflected high employment concentration in school and employee bus transportation. In Hawaii and Nevada, the high concentrations were mostly due to employment in taxi and limousine services.

Employment in support activities for transportation, at twice the national rate, was most concentrated in Louisiana. This state’s high concentration largely reflects its employment in support activities for water transportation, such as port and harbor operations and navigational services to shipping.

In May 2024, average weekly hours were highest for those in warehousing and storage and in truck transportation (40.3 hours each).

Average weekly hours in air transportation were 37.0 in May 2024, up by 4.6 hours since February 2020.

Hours in transit and ground passenger transportation have also trended up, increasing from a recent low of 31.8 hours in May 2021 to 34.7 hours in May 2024. This increase coincided with reports of school bus driver shortages in many states. 

Average weekly hours for couriers and messengers were 31.8 hours in May 2024, down from a recent high of 38.1 hours in March 2021.

In May 2024, real average weekly earnings—that is, inflation-adjusted earnings—in transportation and warehousing overall were about the same as in February 2020, indicating workers had about the same real buying power as prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Real average weekly earnings in air transportation have risen 18.6 percent since February 2020, mostly reflecting an increase in average weekly hours. Earnings in transit and ground passenger transportation have risen 14.5 percent over the same period, largely due to an increase in real average hourly earnings.

Since February 2020, real average weekly earnings have decreased most in couriers and messengers (-11.6 percent), reflecting a decline in average weekly hours.

In 2022, there were 4.8 nonfatal work-related injury and illness cases per 100 full-time equivalent workers in transportation and warehousing. This was higher than the rate of 3.0 cases for the nation overall.

Among the largest transportation and warehousing industries, the incidence rate of nonfatal work-related injuries or illnesses was highest in couriers and messengers, at 9.4 cases per 100 workers in 2022. The industry with the second-highest rate was air transportation, at 6.3 cases. The rate was lowest for support activities for transportation, at 2.4 cases. 

There were 1,053 fatal occupational injuries in transportation and warehousing in 2022. The majority of these were due to roadway incidents.

In 2022, two-thirds (704 deaths) of all work-related fatalities in transportation and warehousing were in truck transportation. Support activities for transportation accounted for another 118 deaths, half of which occurred in support activities for road transportation.

Employment in transportation and warehousing is projected to grow 8.6 percent over the 2022-2032 period, above the projected growth of 2.8 percent for the nation overall. Employment in couriers and messengers is projected to grow the most, with a projected gain of 17.9 percent over the decade. Warehousing and storage employment is projected to increase 13.1 percent. Projected growth in these two industries largely reflects an expected expansion of e-commerce. Employment growth is projected to be relatively flat in other transportation and warehousing industries.