What is considered a blue collar job?
Accounting for 13.9% of workers, blue-collar professions are classified as manual labor with an hourly wage compensation. Blue-collar jobs include mining, manufacturing, maintenance, and construction work. Most of these jobs require a minimum high school diploma or GED.
How many blue collar workers are there in the United States?
Blue-collar employment (which we define as including construction, production, and transportation and material moving occupations, but excluding truck drivers and installation, maintenance, and repair workers) was estimated at 28.3 million in 2003, 25.2 million in 2013, and 26.9 million in 2016.
Are truck drivers’ mobility patterns out of step with other blue-collar jobs?
Again, we find that individuals in other occupations are more likely than truckers to leave for a different occupation. This result provides additional evidence that the mobility patterns of truck drivers are not out of step with those of other blue-collar jobs.
What is the highest paying blue-collar job?
The highest paying blue-collar jobs are usually unionized jobs in high-paying industries such as construction and mining. Many blue-collar workers also find high-paying jobs in the public sector where they get good working conditions such as salaries and paid leave. Is teaching a Blue-collar job?
What counts as a blue-collar job?
The term blue-collar worker refers to individuals who engage in hard manual labor, typically in the agriculture, manufacturing, construction, mining, or maintenance sectors. Most of these people historically wore blue collared shirts when they worked.
Is truck driving skilled labor?
Truck drivers fall somewhere in the middle, which is semi-skilled labor. They don't have the advanced training which is a prerequisite for a skilled worker, but they do have some degree of training that puts them way above the unskilled labor category.
What is the hardest blue-collar job?
firefighterThat said, firefighter is the most-demanding blue-collar job, and along with police officer, includes the stress of being responsible for the lives of others. Roustabouts, who maintain oil rigs, also experience anxiety due to the risk of personal injury, and sailors must be concerned about falling victim to piracy.
Are UPS drivers blue-collar?
The familiar brown-uniformed UPS driver is part of a shrinking class of unionized “blue-collar” jobs that still provide a good income and benefits such as health care, a pension, stock options and long vacations.
Where do truck drivers sleep?
It tends to be a small room located behind the driver's seat. Truckers usually park their vehicles in company facilities, rest areas, and truck stops along their route.
What is a truck drivers salary?
40,260 USD (2015)Truck driver / Median pay (annual)
What blue-collar jobs make 100k a year?
5 blue-collar jobs that pay more than $100,000 a yearOil Rig Workers. Working on an oil rig can be a lonely and even dangerous job, but there is money to be made. ... Police Officer. ... Contractors and Construction Managers. ... Farmers and Ranchers. ... Bartender.
What is the highest paid blue-collar trade?
15 Highest Paying Blue-Collar Jobs in 2022Electrical Power-Line Installer.Construction and Building Inspector.Electrician.Plumber.Boilermaker.Police Officer.Firefighter.Power Plant Operator.More items...•
What is the highest paid union?
Hawaii has the highest rate of union membership in the country, with 23.63%. Firefighters in the state earn $68,590 on average each year, which is 117.87% of the average salary for all workers.
What color collar is a truck driver?
Blue collar workers work most often in a non-office setting (construction site, production line, driving etc.). They use their hands and physical abilities to perform their duties. Examples of blue collar employees include construction worker, machine operator, millwright, assembler and truck driver.
Can you contract with UPS?
If you want to be an independent contractor for UPS, you need to sign up for job alerts. Once you've submitted a resume and application, you won't have to search the site for new listings. Even if they don't hire you right away, they'll send a “Now Hiring” notification to your phone or email when new listings appear.
What is considered a skilled labor?
Skilled labor refers to highly trained, educated, or experienced segments of the workforce that can complete more complex mental or physical tasks on the job. Skilled labor is often specialized and may require a prolonged period of training and experience.
Can truck driver get PR in Canada?
You must begin working for an approved trucking firm on a temporary foreign work permit. If an approved trucking firm offers permanent employment, the trucker may apply to the SINP for permanent resident status after six months of employment.
What is the meaning of unskilled Labour?
Definition of unskilled labor : labor that requires relatively little or no training or experience for its satisfactory performance also : workers or personnel engaged in such labor an accident attributed to the use of unskilled labor — Current Biography.
Is Trucking a trade?
Why Is Truck Driving Considered a Skilled Trade Among Truckers and Company Owners? Trucking companies rely on drivers to get their loads delivered safely and on time.
Why the shift in attitude?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is the U.S. Department of Labor agency responsible for keeping tabs on occupational statistics, estimates the average person will switch jobs about 12 times during their lifetime, and one of the reasons that they’ve given for doing this is for more interesting work .
What is a blue collar job?
Blue-collar jobs generally refer to manual jobs that don’t require a formal education although they may require skills in certain trades. While the majority of white-collar jobs will generally pay more than their blue-collar brethren, there are still plenty of great blue-collar jobs out there, such as those in the trucking industry, which come with good salaries and good outdoor adventures as well.
Do you need a college degree to work in trucking?
The trucking business offers a taste of freedom that is rarely enjoyed by employees in other professions, and it’s one of the few professions in which you don’t need a college degree. If you’ve never entertained the notion of dipping your toes in the waters of the trucking business, then you should at least think about it. It could be an amazing opportunity that you might welcome in this time of your life.
What is blue-collar?
The term "blue-collar" refers to a job that involves manual labor and receives an hourly wage rather than an annual salary. Individuals who have traditionally held a blue-collar job, such as construction, manufacturing and shipping, are called blue-collar employees. Blue-collar jobs may involve skilled or unskilled labor and are often within an industry regulated by a labor union.
Where did the term 'blue-collar' come from?
The term "blue-collar" was first used to refer to trade jobs in 1924. It comes from the uniforms worn by many industrial and manual employees , such as welders, boilermakers, bricklayers, masons and coal miners. These uniforms, which consisted of pants and shorts or coveralls, were typically made of heavy-duty blue fabric.
What fields do blue-collar employees work in?
Some of the fields or industries that blue-collar employees can work in include the following:
What are the jobs in construction?
Construction workers build bridges, hospitals, roads, houses and other structures that are necessary for everyday life. Some of the most common blue-collar jobs in the construction industry include heavy equipment operators, masons, ironworkers, construction inspectors, plumbers, electricians, pipefitters and boilermakers.
What are the jobs of blue collar workers?
Some of the most common blue-collar jobs in this industry include fallers, buckers, tree climbers, choke setters, rigging slingers and chasers and logging equipment operators.
What is landscaping industry?
The landscaping industry includes blue-collar roles that care for and maintain landscapes for business establishments and residences. It also includes people who design and construct decks, patios, fences, stone walls and pathways. Some of the most common jobs in this industry include lawn care technicians, arborists and hardscape installers.
What is blue collar fishing?
Blue-collar jobs in the fishing industry include those who go offshore, such as the fishing boat captain and fishermen who work on boats catching various kinds of seafood such as fish, crabs or shellfish.
Why are pink collar jobs called pink collar jobs?
Pink collar jobs are jobs that are in femininized ‘caring industries. They’re called pink collar because pink is culturally a feminine color.
Why are pink collar jobs so bad?
One of the concerns about pink collar jobs is that they pay less than many traditionally male professions, often as a hangover effect of the idea that men should be paid more because they were traditionally the breadwinners of the family (see also: gender stereotype examples ).
What education do you need to be a blue collar?
Training Required: Preferably a GED or high school education. But, there are no specific requirements for this blue-collar job position.
What is a blue collar worker?
Blue-Collar workers are usually working-class. Blue-collar workers are often paid by the hour, don’t get benefits like paid time off, and are lower paid than white-collar workers.
What is the best way to boost your employability?
Training Required: Because formal education isn’t necessary, you can boost your employability by pursuing voluntary vocational training. Colleges and various vocational institutions provide training in fisheries and fishing, like an associate’s and a certificate.
How long does it take to become a carpenter?
Training Required: A 3-4 year apprenticeship program to get a trade certificate as a carpenter. Another option is to get the necessary skills through work experience.
What training is required for bricklaying?
Training Required: An apprenticeship program is necessary. Undertaking construction induction training and a Certificate III in Bricklaying/Blocklaying equips people for the job.
Why is trucking important?
Truck driving is important not only because it is a large occupation, but also because it provides critically important services to the U.S. economy. Trucks were estimated to have hauled 61 percent of the total freight (by value) transported in the United States in 2016, and this activity accounted for an estimated 3.5 percent of U.S. gross domestic product. 10 These estimates include both the for-hire trucking industry (firms providing motor freight services to customers who are shippers and receivers) and private carriage (firms hauling their own freight as an internal function within some other primary line of business). 11 Trucking is the primary mode of freight transportation within the United States and a crucial component of international trade. In 2016, 65 percent of the value of goods transported between the United States and its neighboring countries (Canada and Mexico) was carried by truck. 12
Why do motor carriers perceive a shortage of truck drivers?
How, then, do we reconcile the finding that truck driving is a relatively stable occupational choice (with migration driven in a predictable way by earnings and hours) with the view from managers in the trucking industry that the labor market for truck drivers has a serious and persistent shortage? We suggest that the occupation of truck driving is actually a composite of labor market segments, and that one segment in particular, long-distance truckload (TL) motor freight, is a “secondary market.” Arguably, the long-distance TL segment has high levels of competition, similar average costs across all scales of production, and a very limited ability to differentiate prices in the product market. These characteristics result in labor market conditions in which individual firms are forced to accept high turnover as a cost-minimizing response to their competitive position in the market for their outputs. 33
What is the SOC code for a truck driver?
6 Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers fall under Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code 53-3032 , light or delivery truck drivers under SOC code 53-3033 , and driver/sales workers under SOC code 53-3031. According to OES definitions, only the first of these categories requires a commercial driver’s license. The labor force of truck drivers also includes self-employed drivers (owner-operators), who make up about 10 percent of the workforce of heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers. Data limitations prevent the further inclusion of these individuals in the analysis of this article.
What is truck driving?
Truck driving is a large, predominantly male occupation, with relatively low educational requirements for entry and distinctive rules governing the terms of employment. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, a nationally representative survey of nonfarm business establishments, there were approximately 1.75 million heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in the United States in 2017, along with 877,670 light truck or delivery services drivers and 427,000 driver/sales workers. 6 The occupation is characterized by modest levels of education; the mode is a high school degree. There are low returns to additional education and to firm tenure for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers. 7
What is the most prominent story about the market for drivers?
The most prominent story about the market for drivers is that told by the American Trucking Associations (ATA), an organization representing firms that are central industry participants.
What is the long standing shortage of drivers?
The consistent position of major industry stakeholders that there is a long-standing shortage of drivers poses a puzzle for empirical labor economics. Economists think of a shortage as a type of disequilibrium that normal market forces will tend to moderate and eventually remove, other things equal. A sound theoretical foundation for labor surpluses has long been recognized in the concept of efficiency wages, according to which employers maximize profit by holding pay above the market-clearing level, creating a surplus of job seekers and queues for such “good jobs.” 3 Shortages, however, are harder to understand.
Is truck driving a labor shortage?
The occupation of truck driving is often portrayed by the industry and in the popular press as beset by high levels of turnover and persistent “labor shortages.” Our analysis of OES data agrees that the labor market for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers shows markers of a “tight” labor market over the period since 2003—employment in the occupation has been resilient, and nominal annual wages have persistently exceeded those of other blue-collar jobs with similar human capital requirements. While we do use ATA data to identify one segment of the trucking labor market (long-distance TL motor freight) that has experienced high and persistent turnover rates for decades, the overall picture is consistent with a market in which labor supply responds to increasing labor demand over time, and a deeper look does not find evidence of a secular shortage.
