Transportation & Materials Moving

Types of Degrees Transportation & Materials Moving Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many transportation and materials moving graduations there were in 2017-2018 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	19,536
Bachelor’s Degree	5,030
Associate’s Degree	1,610
Undergraduate Certificate	1,063
Master’s Degree	815
Doctor’s Degree	16
Graduate Certificate	4

What Transportation & Materials Moving Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to transportation and materials moving and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Transportation & Materials Moving Majors

Transportation and Materials Moving majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• 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.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

Skills for Transportation & Materials Moving Majors

transportation and materials moving majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Operation Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
• Operation and Control - Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• 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.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Transportation & Materials Moving Majors

Transportation and Materials Moving majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• 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.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Control Precision - The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.

What Can You Do With a Transportation & Materials Moving Major?

People with a transportation and materials moving degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Air Traffic Controllers	3.6%	$124,540
Airfield Operations Specialists	9.0%	$52,200
Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers	3.5%	$140,340
Bus Drivers, School or Special Client	5.4%	$32,420
Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity	9.0%	$42,080
Commercial Divers	9.8%	$49,140
Commercial Pilots	3.7%	$82,240
Crane and Tower Operators	8.5%	$54,140
Dredge Operators	5.6%	$45,260
Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas	19.9%	$44,430
Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators	8.1%	$44,270
Extraction Workers	14.3%	$54,840
First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators	6.6%	NA
Flight Attendants	10.2%	$56,000
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	5.8%	$43,680
Highway Maintenance Workers	6.9%	$39,690
Light Truck or Delivery Services Drivers	6.5%	$32,810
Logistics Managers	6.8%	$94,730
Mates- Ship, Boat, and Barge	8.8%	$69,180
Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators	12.3%	$47,810
Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators	12.1%	$39,780
Pile-Driver Operators	13.5%	$58,680
Pilots, Ship	8.8%	$69,180
Rail Transportation Workers	4.3%	$55,410
Rail Yard Engineers, Dinkey Operators, and Hostlers	4.5%	$52,630
Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators	8.6%	$56,930
Ship and Boat Captains	8.8%	$69,180
Ship Engineers	6.9%	$71,130
Storage and Distribution Managers	6.8%	$94,730
Subway and Streetcar Operators	4.7%	$68,170
Transportation Managers	6.8%	$94,730
Vocational Education Professors	1.4%	$53,120

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Transportation & Materials Moving?

This major tends to be male dominated. About 87% of recent graduates are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of transportation and materials moving majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	223
Black or African American	282
Hispanic or Latino	445
White	3,221
International Students	405
Other Races/Ethnicities	454

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Transportation & Materials Moving. About 8.1% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Transportation & Materials Moving Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

The median early-career salary of transportation and materials moving students with a bachelor’s degree is $40,300 a year according to 2017-2018 data from the U.S. Department of Education. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $37,600 (25th percentile) and $47,900 (75th percentile).

It’s important to note that just because the people reporting these salaries have a degree in transportation and materials moving, it does not mean that they are working in a job related to their degree.

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $47,570 to $64,360 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to transportation and materials moving. This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Transportation & Materials Moving

Some careers associated with transportation and materials moving require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to transportation and materials moving have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	8.8%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	50.2%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	16.1%
Some College Courses	6.3%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	6.1%
Bachelor’s Degree	9.6%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.6%
Master’s Degree	1.6%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.1%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.1%
Doctoral Degree	0.2%

Online Transportation & Materials Moving Programs

In the 2017-2018 academic year, 503 schools offered some type of transportation and materials moving program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	366	4
Certificate (1-2 years)	105	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	5	0
Associate’s Degree	208	13
Bachelor’s Degree	5	1
Post-Baccalaureate	366	4
Master’s Degree	22	13
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	5	2
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Transportation & Materials Moving Worth It?

The median salary for a transportation and materials moving grad is $56,630 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 42% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $334,600 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Transportation & Materials Moving

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to transportation and materials moving.

Major	Number of Grads
Personal & Culinary Services	132,932
Mechanic & Repair Technologies	109,362
Precision Production	55,086
Construction Trades	34,134

References

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Alessandro Aceri under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.