Transportation, Logistics and Distribution
Description OES Code:00012
The rapid development of air transportation has increased the mobility of the population and created thousands of job opportunities. The air transportation industry involves many activities. Most familiar are the major airlines, which provide transportation for passengers and cargo; and airports, which provide the many ground support services required by aircraft, passengers, and cargo. Air taxi companies and commuter airlines also provide commercial transportation, such as passenger and cargo service, often to and from small airports not serviced by the major airlines. Other companies provide air courier services, which furnish air delivery for individually addressed letters, parcels, and packages, and helicopter and sightseeing airplane services for tourists. This industry also includes services related to air transportation, such as aircraft repair, cleaning, and storage.

Categories Within This Industry
Firms in the trucking and warehousing industry provide a link between manufacturers and consumers. Businesses, and occasionally individuals, contract with trucking and warehousing companies to pick up, transport, store, and deliver a variety of goods. This industry includes two segments, local and long-distance trucking and terminals and public warehousing and storage. However, the trend towards full-service logistical companies is blurring the distinction between trucking and warehousing.

Local and long-distance trucking and terminals provide over-the-road transportation of cargo using motor vehicles, such as trucks and tractor trailers. This industry segment is further subdivided based on distance traveled and type of goods delivered. Local trucking establishments primarily carry goods within a single metropolitan area and its adjacent nonurban areas. Long-distance trucking establishments carry goods between distant areas. Courier service establishments handle individual letters and light packages.

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Categories Within This Industry (Cont'd)
Local trucking comprised almost 65,000 trucking establishments in 2000. The work of local trucking firms varies depending on the products transported. Produce truckers usually pick up loaded trucks early in the morning and spend the rest of the day delivering produce to many different grocery stores. Lumber truckdrivers, on the other hand, make several trips from the lumber yard to one or more construction sites. Some local truck transportation firms also take on sales and customer relations responsibilities, in addition to delivering the firm’s products. Some local trucking firms specialize in local furniture moving, garbage collection and trash removal, or hauling dirt and debris.

In the air transportantion sector, aircraft are part of a fleet that must be managed to maximize every mile and every minute. For example, a pilot is an expert with the necessary training, experience, and government certified skills, but he or she certainly doesn’t work alone. Getting a jet safely from one place to another involves mechanics, air traffic controllers, and sometimes flight engineers—a whole team of people on the ground and in the air.