Transportation and Material Moving Occupations

Airline and Commercial Pilots

Airline and commercial pilots fly and navigate airplanes or helicopters. Airline pilots fly for airlines that transport people and cargo on a fixed schedule. Commercial pilots fly aircraft for other reasons, such as charter flights, rescue operations, firefighting, aerial photography, and crop dusting.

Air Traffic Controllers

Air traffic controllers coordinate the movement of air traffic to ensure that planes stay safe distances apart.

Bus Drivers

Bus drivers transport people between a variety of places including work, school, shopping, and across state borders. Some drive regular routes, and others transport passengers on chartered trips or sightseeing tours.

Delivery Truck Drivers and Driver/Sales Workers

Delivery truck drivers and driver/sales workers pick up, transport, and drop off packages within a small region or urban area. Most of the time, they transport merchandise from a distribution center to businesses and households.

Flight Attendants

Flight attendants provide personal services to ensure the safety and comfort of airline passengers.

Hand Laborers and Material Movers

Hand laborers and material movers transport objects without using machines. Some workers move freight, stock, or other materials around storage facilities; others clean vehicles; some pick up unwanted household goods; and still others pack materials for moving.

Heavy and Tractor-trailer Truck Drivers

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers transport goods from one location to another. Most tractor-trailer drivers are long-haul drivers and operate trucks with a capacity of at least 26,001 pounds per gross vehicle weight (GVW). They deliver goods over intercity routes, sometimes spanning several states.

Material Moving Machine Operators

Material moving machine operators use machinery to transport various objects. Some operators move construction materials around building sites or earth around a mine. Others move goods around a warehouse or onto and off of container ships. 

Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters

Conductors and yardmasters coordinate the daily activities of both freight and passenger train crews. Conductors work on the train. Yardmasters work in the rail yard.

Subway and Streetcar Operators

Subway and streetcar operators transport passengers in urban and suburban areas. The vehicles they drive travel underground, on above-ground and elevated tracks, on streets, or on separate tracks.

Taxi Drivers and Chauffeurs

Taxi drivers and chauffeurs drive people to and from the places they need to go, such as homes, workplaces, airports, and shopping centers. They must know their way around a city to take both residents and visitors to their destinations.

Train Engineers and Operators

Train engineers and train operators ensure that freight trains and passenger trains stay on time and travel safely. Train engineers drive trains. Train operators work the brakes, signals, or switches.  

Water Transportation Occupations

Workers in water transportation occupations operate and maintain ships that take cargo and people over water. These ships travel to and from foreign ports across the ocean, to domestic ports along the coasts, across the Great Lakes, and along the country’s many inland waterways.