With the pandemic, industry has been forced to quickly pivot. What would previously have been a multi-year process to gather business intelligence and digitize processes has been condensed into months, if not weeks, due to the imposition of shelter-in-place mandates. Legacy businesses, to stay competitive, will likely need to use 5G networks that can be twenty times faster, handle more data, and operate with more agility than 4G networks. Mobile devices, sensors, the Internet of Things, and a heavy reliance on dashboards for real-time metrics are rendering many manually processed tasks obsolete. These technological disruptions are changing the workplace demands placed on transportation and supply chain workers, particularly those considered middle-skill (those with more than a high school diploma, but less than a four-year college degree).
Research that explores strategies that delve into these programmatic efforts are included in this report. A focus of this study is workforce development initiatives that use a skills-based approach to occupational mobility. These jobs are referred to by the Federal Reserve Bank as “opportunity occupations” -- jobs that pay above median wages that can be accessible to those without a four-year college degree.
Terminal Operators
Provide wharfage, dock, warehouse, or other marine terminal facilities to ocean common carriers moving cargo in the ocean-borne, foreign commerce of the United States. Image Source: Getty Images; Definition Source: Federal Maritime Commission
A third-party company providing outsourced logistics services, such as integrated operation, warehousing and transportation. The 4PL organization is often a separate entity formed by a joint venture or other long-term contract between a client and one or more partners. The 4PL organization is an interface between the client and multiple logistics services providers. Ideally the 4PL organizations manage all aspects of the client’s supply chain. It is possible for a major 3PL organization to form a 4PL organization within its existing structure. Image Source: Getty Images; Definition Source: Freightera
Intermodal Facilities
Trucking is the movement of goods via truck. In freight forwarding, the term drayage is typically used to describe the trucking service from an ocean port to a rail ramp, warehouse, or other destinations. Long haul is a service that transports freight more than 150 miles from origin to destination. Image Source: Getty Images; Definition Source: Dictionary of International Trade and Fundamental Labor Strategies
A person who purchases goods and services for personal use. Image Source: Getty Images; Definition Source: Market Business News
Southern California is the nation’s gateway for trade and logistics and requires critical workforce development in supply chain and transportation jobs. Southern California is home to the nation’s busiest port complex, an international airport ranked 2nd in the U.S. for passenger volume and 4th in the U.S. for air freight, an extensive rail and interstate highway system, and over 32 million square feet of warehousing. Prior to COVID-19 an estimated 21,430 new jobs were created in the goods movement industries from 2017 to 2022. Trade by truck through the Otay Mesa border crossing in 2018 had a total value of $46.7 billion ($17.2 billion of exports and $29.5 billion in imports). These industries needed 69,910 replacement workers over the same period to accommodate employment churn as 20% of this workforce is 55 or older. These high-demand trade and transportation jobs pay on average 14% higher wages than other industries in Southern California with an average annual wage of $63,130. Twenty-two percent of all transportation and supply chain jobs in Los Angeles County are middle-skill jobs and provide a living wage for a family of three, with a median average hourly wage of $26.08. However, with the disruptions brought on by the pandemic, these figures most likely have changed, and current data is not available at the time of this writing.
The U.S. has lagged far behind developed countries in investment in workforce training. MIT-based labor economist David Autor advocates for a “Marshall Plan” to mobilize workforce development efforts in the U.S. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),
The MIT Open Learning Workforce Education Program recommends a toolkit for effectively upskilling workers that includes new technology, education and training delivery methods, credentials, and tracking methods. Effective andragogy (that is, the provision of adult education) now involves online delivery models such as Khan Academy and Dueling that provide short bursts of instruction followed by practice exercises, using a learning by doing strategy. An industry survey respondent suggested workforce training can be fast-moving, using one-day hackathons and gamification where highly coveted teamwork, collaboration, and communication skills are embedded in the learning. Another survey respondent recommended the practice of “chunking” coursework to be completed within a compressed amount of time so that students can start gainful employment sooner. In many cases, workforce development programs, including highly standardized apprenticeships, will be shortened by using competency-based and adaptive assessments for prior learning. Metrics will be based on hiring outcomes jointly developed between industry and government agencies rather than on numbers of participants.
Source: Getty Images
Applicants included private and public sector organizations working in goods movement such as freight practitioners (facilities, fleet, and operations managers, customer service representatives, planners) as well as planners working in the policy realm. Possibilities to replicate this program include the California Workforce Development Board’s Employer Training Panel (ETP) programming, customized programming through continuing education programs at universities, and embedding the program in university degree programs and in professional development programs.
Transportation and supply chain businesses now rely heavily on data and dashboards for connectivity and access to business intelligence. Universities can develop research and instruction on skillsets needed for data analysis and project management, including the critical capacity to manage with agility and responsiveness. These programs can be offered to incumbents and potential new entrants, as well to traditional students. As state universities prepare a majority of our teachers, a new form of instructor is now in demand, that of a Chief Learning Officer (CLO)—a sign of the importance of professional development and continual workforce education within organizations. Universities can take a leading role in developing this emerging profession.
ARPost, “How AR Is Changing The Trucking Industry,” ARPost(blog), accessed July 14, 2020, https://arpost.co/2018/11/16/how-ar-is-changing-the-trucking-industry/.
“Chief Learning Officers as Organizational Transformers,” MIT J-WEL, January 9, 2020, https://jwel.mit.edu/assets/video/chief-learning-officers-organizational-transformers.
"Flex port Freight Terms" accessed August 20, 2020, https://www.flexport.com/glossary/#T.
“Microsoft Launches Initiative to Help 25 Million People Worldwide Acquire the Digital Skills Needed in a COVID-19 Economy,” The Official Microsoft Blog, June 30, 2020, https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2020/06/30/microsoft-launches-initiative-to-help-25-million-people-worldwide-acquire-the-digital-skills-needed-in-a-covid-19-economy/.
“TL_20170515_Final.Pdf,” accessed July 26, 2020, https://laedc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/TL_20170515_Final.pdf.
