Transportation Inspectors
What Transportation Inspectors Do
Inspect equipment or goods in connection with the safe transport of cargo or people. Includes rail transportation inspectors, such as freight inspectors, rail inspectors, and other inspectors of transportation vehicles not elsewhere classified.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
- Self-employed
- 6.3%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 4 of 5Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Experience
- A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
- Education
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
- Job training
- Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Transportationimportance 3.9/5
- English Languageimportance 3.8/5
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.5/5
- Mathematicsimportance 3.2/5
- Public Safety and Securityimportance 3.2/5
- Administration and Managementimportance 3.0/5
- Mechanicalimportance 3.0/5
- Law and Governmentimportance 3.0/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- Telephone Conversations4.9/5
- Importance of Being Exact or Accurate4.6/5
- E-Mail4.6/5
- Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals4.5/5
- Contact With Others4.5/5
- Freedom to Make Decisions4.4/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Fire Inspectors and Investigators97% skill match
- Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks97% skill match
- Medical Dosimetrists96% skill match
- Stockers and Order Fillers96% skill match
- Radiologists95% skill match
- Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors95% skill match
- Animal Trainers95% skill match
- Surveying and Mapping Technicians94% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Time Managementimportance 3.4/5
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.3/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.1/5
- Coordinationimportance 3.1/5
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.1/5
- Systems Evaluationimportance 3.0/5
- Systems Analysisimportance 2.9/5
- Instructingimportance 2.8/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
Other Software Used
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Dependability
- Attention to Detail
- Cautiousness
- Integrity
- Perseverance
- Stress Tolerance
- Self-Control
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- ConventionalHigh
- RealisticHigh
- InvestigativeLow
- EnterprisingLow
- SocialLow
- ArtisticLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where transportation inspectors make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Springfield, IL5.04× national avg
- 2Mobile, AL5.00× national avg
- 3Anchorage, AK4.03× national avg
- 4New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ2.67× national avg
- 5Vallejo, CA2.14× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Transportation, Storage, and Distribution ManagersCareer Change
- Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and InspectorsCareer Change
- Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory ClerksCareer Change
- Medical DosimetristsCareer Change