Example Career: First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material-Moving Machine & Vehicle Operators
Career Description
Directly supervise and coordinate activities of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators and helpers.
What Job Titles First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material-Moving Machine & Vehicle Operators Might Have
- Driver Manager
- Operations Supervisor
- Transportation Supervisor
- Warehouse Supervisor
What First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material-Moving Machine & Vehicle Operators Do
- Enforce safety rules and regulations.
- Plan work assignments and equipment allocations to meet transportation, operations or production goals.
- Direct workers in transportation or related services, such as pumping, moving, storing, or loading or unloading of materials or people.
- Review orders, production schedules, blueprints, or shipping or receiving notices to determine work sequences and material shipping dates, types, volumes, or destinations.
- Inspect or test materials, stock, vehicles, equipment, or facilities to ensure that they are safe, free of defects, and consistent with specifications.
- Confer with customers, supervisors, contractors, or other personnel to exchange information or to resolve problems.
- Monitor field work to ensure proper performance and use of materials.
- Dispatch personnel and vehicles in response to telephone or radio reports of emergencies.
- Drive vehicles or operate machines or equipment to complete work assignments or to assist workers.
- Plan and establish transportation routes.
- Maintain or verify records of time, materials, expenditures, or crew activities.
- Interpret transportation or tariff regulations, shipping orders, safety regulations, or company policies and procedures for workers.
- Prepare, compile, and submit reports on work activities, operations, production, or work-related accidents.
- Resolve worker problems or collaborate with employees to assist in problem resolution.
- Recommend or implement personnel actions, such as employee selection, evaluation, rewards, or disciplinary actions.
- Perform or schedule repairs or preventive maintenance of vehicles or other equipment.
- Explain and demonstrate work tasks to new workers or assign training tasks to experienced workers.
- Requisition needed personnel, supplies, equipment, parts, or repair services.
- Recommend and implement measures to improve worker motivation, equipment performance, work methods, or customer services.
- Examine, measure, or weigh cargo or materials to determine specific handling requirements.
- Assist workers in tasks such as coupling railroad cars or loading vehicles.
- Compute or estimate cash, payroll, transportation, personnel, or storage requirements.
What First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material-Moving Machine & Vehicle Operators Should Be Good At
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- 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.
- Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
What First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material-Moving Machine & Vehicle Operators Should Be Interested In
- 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.
- Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
What First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material-Moving Machine & Vehicle Operators Need to Learn
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- 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.
- 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.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- 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.
- 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.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- 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.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
This page includes information from by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the license.