This industry is known as the ‘logistics’ industry – it manages the flow of goods and other resources, including mail and people, from one place to another.
If you like organising and planning, and want to work in a job that is necessary to the daily needs of customers and keeping business moving, then transport and distribution may be the right career for you.
The transport and storage industry is vital to the UK economy, running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days in the year.
You can work in one of five areas.
To see the routes to getting into each of these sectors, take a look at our Career Pathway.
There are a wide variety of companies to choose from including:
The transportation and storage industry employs 1,718,000 people, of which 114,000 are in Scotland, accounting for 4.2% of the Scottish workforce. These numbers have slightly fallen from last year, at a difference of 0.3%.
In Scotland, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, data shows from 2020 that over the last five years there had been an increase in air (19.9%), rail (4.0%) and ferry (7.7%) passenger numbers, indicating that these areas of the passenger transport industry were healthy. (For reference, Scotland’s population increased by 2% over the same period.) Meanwhile, the number of bus passengers decreased over this same period.
In 2020, there were an estimated 22,970 UK seafarers, compared to 22,440 from the previous year. UK nationals accounted for 19% of the 86,140 seafarers active at sea working for companies within the membership of the UK Chamber of Shipping. There was a slight increase in the numbers of certified officers, while the numbers of cadet officers and uncertified officers all fell.
The People1st-run website, Careers that Move, provides information and case studies on working in the transport and travel industries.
Talent in Logistics
