Career summary

Details for Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers


Description

Plan, direct, or coordinate transportation, storage, or distribution activities in accordance with governmental policies and regulations.

Tasks

  • Supervise the activities of workers engaged in receiving, storing, testing, and shipping products or materials.
  • Plan, develop, or implement warehouse safety and security programs and activities.
  • Inspect physical conditions of warehouses, vehicle fleets, or equipment and order testing, maintenance, repairs, or replacements.
  • Plan, organize, or manage the work of subordinate staff to ensure that the work is accomplished in a manner consistent with organizational requirements.
  • Collaborate with other departments to integrate logistics with business systems or processes, such as customer sales, order management, accounting, or shipping.
  • Analyze all aspects of corporate logistics to determine the most cost-effective or efficient means of transporting products or supplies.
  • Resolve problems concerning transportation, logistics systems, imports or exports, or customer issues.
  • Develop and document standard and emergency operating procedures for receiving, handling, storing, shipping, or salvaging products or materials.
  • Monitor operations to ensure that staff members comply with administrative policies and procedures, safety rules, union contracts, environmental policies, or government regulations.
  • Analyze the financial impact of proposed logistics changes, such as routing, shipping modes, product volumes or mixes, or carriers.
  • Monitor inventory levels of products or materials in warehouses.
  • Establish or monitor specific supply chain-based performance measurement systems.
  • Prepare and manage departmental budgets.
  • Monitor product import or export processes to ensure compliance with regulatory or legal requirements.
  • Prepare management recommendations, such as proposed fee and tariff increases or schedule changes.
  • Interview, select, and train warehouse and supervisory personnel.
  • Advise sales and billing departments of transportation charges for customers' accounts.
  • Analyze expenditures and other financial information to develop plans, policies, or budgets for increasing profits or improving services.
  • Confer with department heads to coordinate warehouse activities, such as production, sales, records control, or purchasing.
  • Implement specific customer requirements, such as internal reporting or customized transportation metrics.
  • Maintain metrics, reports, process documentation, customer service logs, or training or safety records.
  • Examine invoices and shipping manifests for conformity to tariff and customs regulations.
  • Plan or implement energy saving changes to transportation services, such as reducing routes, optimizing capacities, employing alternate modes of transportation, or minimizing idling.
  • Evaluate contractors or business partners for operational efficiency or safety or environmental performance records.
  • Negotiate with carriers, warehouse operators, or insurance company representatives for services and preferential rates.
  • Develop or implement plans for facility modification or expansion, such as equipment purchase or changes in space allocation or structural design.
  • Direct inbound or outbound operations, such as transportation or warehouse activities, safety performance, and logistics quality management.
  • Plan or implement improvements to internal or external systems or processes.
  • Recommend or authorize capital expenditures for acquisition of new equipment or property to increase efficiency and services.
  • Review invoices, work orders, consumption reports, or demand forecasts to estimate peak performance periods and to issue work assignments.

Interests

  • Enterprising - Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
  • Conventional - Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Education, training, experience

  • Education - Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
  • Training - Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
  • Experience - A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Knowledge

  • Geography -Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
  • Psychology -Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
  • Law and Government -Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
  • Sales and Marketing -Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
  • Economics and Accounting -Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
  • Computers and Electronics -Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
  • 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.
  • Education and Training -Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  • Production and Processing -Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
  • Clerical -Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
  • Mathematics -Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
  • Personnel and Human Resources -Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
  • Transportation -Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
  • Administration and Management -Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  • 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.

Skills

None found.

Related careers

None found.