In 2002, the truck transportation and warehousing industry gave 1.9 million salary jobs. More than 40 percent of the salaried jobs in the industry were for truck drivers. In addition, the industry gives jobs to an important number of people who work in others occupations. Some of these include office and administrative jobs, management, business and financial jobs, mechanics, installers and repairer's jobs, and many others.
An important fact is that small specialized companies have been affected by the consolidation of the industry. The number of these small companies has been reduced in the last few years. Also, there are 10 percent of truck drivers and sales workers that run their own businesses. The competition in this field has been so strong that many owner-operators have failed. However, more owner-operators are constantly entering in the industry each year.
In the truck transportation and warehousing industry, the office and administrative workers are very helpful. Their mission is to carry out the daily recordkeeping operations. On the other hand, dispatchers organize the movement of freight and trucks and they also provide the central communication connection informing truck drivers of their assignments, schedules and routes. Often, this duty is done with the most modern technology from the headquarters of the companies. Another important job is the one the installation, maintenance and repair jobs. Generally, these jobs require experience or special training to begin working in a company as well as some knowledge in computers and purchasing procedures.
In the same way, more and more companies are looking to train and help its employees with educational programs in order to increase the efficiency and be more competitive in the industry. Many jobs in the industry require only high school, even though a there are more workers with some college education. With the access of the new information technologies and communications, nearly all operations in the industry involve computers and information management systems. Therefore, it is very important for the companies, specially the new ones, to give orientation to their staffs in this area.
In the case of truck driver's employees, they also have to fulfill important regulations. For example, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations wants drivers to be at least 21 years old, have 20/40 vision and good hearing, and be able to read and speak English. A good driving record is crucial, as well as passing a written examination and a skill test in order to obtain a state commercial driver's license. For this reason, many truck drivers go to several trucking schools that are across the country and provide a quality education to obtain all of these requirements.