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Support Activities for Transportation: NAICS 488

About the Support Activities for Transportation subsector

The support activities for transportation subsector is part of the transportation and warehousing sector.

Industries in the Support Activities for Transportation subsector provide services which support transportation. These services may be provided to transportation carrier establishments or to the general public. This subsector includes a wide array of establishments, including air traffic control services, marine cargo handling, and motor vehicle towing.

North American Industry Classification System

The support activities for transportation subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Support Activities for Air Transportation: NAICS 4881
  • Support Activities for Rail Transportation: NAICS 4882
  • Support Activities for Water Transportation: NAICS 4883
  • Support Activities for Road Transportation: NAICS 4884
  • Freight Transportation Arrangement: NAICS 4885
  • Other Support Activities for Transportation: NAICS 4889

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in support activities for transportation. These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment

Data series Back
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

826.9 831.9 (p)833.7 (p)836.3

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees

700.7 711.3 (p)704.1  

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2022

Aircraft mechanics and service technicians

39,740

Cargo and freight agents

61,950

Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance

20,090

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

59,300

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

74,080

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)

Projections

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

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

Data series Back
data
Oct.
2023
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$32.96 $32.94 $33.03 (p)$32.95

Average weekly hours

37.8 37.4 37.6 (p)37.1

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data
Oct.
2023
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$29.12 $29.14 $29.14 (p)$28.87

Average weekly hours

38.0 37.8 38.0 (p)37.4

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2022
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Aircraft mechanics and service technicians

29.36 30.05 61,080 62,510

Cargo and freight agents

22.60 23.97 47,000 49,860

Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance

19.27 21.47 40,090 44,660

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

18.38 20.35 38,240 42,320

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

21.93 23.20 45,620 48,260

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage 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 support activities for 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 2019 2020 2021 2022

Fatalities

Number of fatalities

103 110 112 123

Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

Data series 2022

Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers

Total recordable cases

2.4

Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer

1.7

Cases involving days away from work

1.2

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.5

Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

(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 Back
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Producer price index

(p)138.506 (p)142.694 (p)143.156 (p)145.414

Percent change from previous month

  (p)-0.6% (p)3.0% (p)0.3% (p)1.6%

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in support activities for transportation.

Establishments

Data series Back
data
4th quarter
2022
1st quarter
2023
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023

Number of establishments

Private industry

55,457 (p)55,916 (p)56,619 (p)57,268

Local government

867 (p)869 (p)870 (p)870

State government

386 (p)381 (p)381 (p)380

Federal government

126 (p)129 (p)129 (p)129

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

 

Data extracted on: March 22, 2024