Transportation Careers, written by fleet managers, chief pilots, and the people who move the freight.
Résumé examples, interview guides, salary benchmarks, and career-path maps for CDL drivers, logistics managers, dispatchers, pilots, mariners, and supply-chain leaders — authored by people who have actually run the routes.
Transportation hiring is credential-first: a résumé that doesn't lead with your CDL class, endorsements, medical card status, ATP flight hours, or maritime license loses the screen in seven seconds. Marqee's transportation coverage is authored by Devon Mitchell (ex-J.B. Hunt, Schneider, XPO fleet talent), Ethan Bradford (ex-Delta, United, Southwest chief-pilot recruiting), and Malia Kealoha (ex-Matson, Maersk maritime operations). Every guide is written to how a DOT-regulated hiring process actually screens: safety history, endorsements, hours, and background check first — then everything else.
What the transportation careers vertical actually covers
Transportation Careers at Marqee spans CDL Class-A and Class-B drivers, delivery drivers, fleet and dispatch managers, logistics coordinators, supply-chain analysts, warehouse ops leads, commercial pilots, air-traffic controllers, aircraft mechanics, mariners, and merchant-marine officers. Thirteen SOC codes covered, entry driver through logistics VP.
Every résumé example lists the endorsements (Hazmat, Tanker, Doubles/Triples, TWIC) and clean-record language a fleet recruiter runs down. Every interview guide lists the DOT compliance, hours-of-service, and safety-scenario questions loops actually run. Every salary guide lists the real US band, per-mile math, layover pay, and sign-on structures.
The transportation careers landscape, honestly
Three things every candidate in this vertical should understand before writing the résumé, running the interview loop, or asking for the number. Written by the same operators who author the role-by-role guides below.
How transportation hiring actually screens
Fleet hiring is credential-and-safety-first. A carrier pulls a DOT-regulated background — motor-vehicle record, PSP (Pre-Employment Screening Program) report, drug and alcohol clearinghouse query, and prior-employer verification — before a recruiter has any conversation about pay. If the résumé buries the CDL class, endorsements (Hazmat/Tanker/Doubles/Triples), medical-card expiration, and years of accident-free driving, the screener assumes the candidate is either inexperienced or hiding something. Marqee's transportation résumés lead with class, endorsements, and clean-record language and only then describe the routes, equipment, and freight type. For fleet-manager and logistics-manager roles, TMS fluency (McLeod, TMW, MercuryGate, project44), OTIF (on-time in-full) numbers, and cost-per-mile improvements are what turn the callback.
Aviation and maritime — regulated career ladders
Airline hiring reads a résumé for total flight time, PIC (pilot-in-command) hours, turbine time, type ratings, and jet time — in that order. A regional-first-officer applicant with 1,500 hours and an ATP-CTP endorsement is on a different track than a Part 135 charter pilot with 5,000 hours and no ATP. Every hour category should be broken out on the résumé exactly the way FAR 121 carriers track it. Maritime hiring runs on USCG licensure, STCW endorsements, tonnage limits, and route (near-coastal, oceans, Great Lakes). If you are moving from the Navy or Coast Guard to commercial maritime, the license-conversion narrative belongs in the summary — recruiters read the résumé for a clean crosswalk, not for military-technical jargon.
What breaks a candidate in this vertical
Three failures are common. First: a résumé that leads with the company (FedEx, UPS, Schneider) instead of leading with the job (Class-A OTR, dedicated route, hazmat-endorsed). Recruiters need the credential and the equipment before they need the brand. Second: an interview answer that treats a DOT hours-of-service violation, a preventable accident, or a customer-complaint incident as somebody else's problem. Loops in this vertical are trained to screen out drivers and pilots who do not own the safety event. The correct answer describes the incident, the root cause, the corrective action, and what changed in the candidate's SOP. Third: a compensation ask on base salary alone. Per-mile, per-hour, layover pay, hazmat premium, sign-on, and per-diem structure vary enormously — asking on base leaves the negotiation short.
The market for transportation talent right now
Trucking capacity has swung from the extreme tightness of 2021–22 to a softer market with lower spot rates and modest contract-rate declines, but the driver-supply picture underneath is unchanged: the industry is short tens of thousands of qualified drivers, and the aging workforce continues to retire faster than new CDLs replace it. Dedicated, private-fleet, and specialty (tanker, hazmat, flatbed) segments have retained pricing power and continue to bid drivers up. Aviation is in a hiring cycle unlike any in a decade: pilot mandatory-retirement, post-pandemic capacity restoration, and regional-to-mainline flow-through agreements have produced record ATP-CTP graduation rates and record signing bonuses. Air-traffic control remains chronically understaffed at FAA facilities, with hiring gated by academy throughput. Maritime and merchant-marine hiring reflects trans-Pacific and Gulf LNG expansion. Marqee's transportation guides map each of these micro-markets and the résumé signals each hiring team screens for.
Resume examples
20 guidesRole-specific resume examples with the responsibilities, tools, ATS keywords, and salary range that pass a screen.
Truck Driver
CDL Class-A Driver
Delivery Driver
Bus Driver
School Bus Driver
Dispatcher
Fleet Manager
Logistics Manager
Logistics Coordinator
Supply Chain Analyst
Warehouse Manager
Warehouse Operations Manager
Commercial Pilot
Airline Pilot
Air Traffic Controller
Aircraft Mechanic
Flight Attendant
Ship Captain
Merchant Marine Officer
Rail Conductor
Cover letter examples
12 guidesCover letters written to the exact hire this vertical actually screens for — not template mad-libs.
Truck Driver
CDL Class-A Driver
Delivery Driver
Dispatcher
Fleet Manager
Logistics Manager
Supply Chain Analyst
Warehouse Manager
Commercial Pilot
Airline Pilot
Aircraft Mechanic
Flight Attendant
Interview questions
10 guidesQuestion banks and framework answers built to the loops this vertical actually runs.
Truck Driver
Fleet Manager
Logistics Manager
Dispatcher
Supply Chain Analyst
Warehouse Manager
Commercial Pilot
Airline Pilot
Aircraft Mechanic
Air Traffic Controller
Salary guides
10 guidesRealistic US ranges by role, level, and market — with the levers a recruiter can actually move.
Truck Driver
CDL Class-A Driver
Fleet Manager
Logistics Manager
Supply Chain Analyst
Warehouse Manager
Commercial Pilot
Airline Pilot
Air Traffic Controller
Aircraft Mechanic
How-to-become guides
10 guidesEntry-path guides — degrees, licenses, portfolios, and the first-role playbook by occupation.
How to Become a Truck Driver
How to Become a CDL Driver
How to Become a Fleet Manager
How to Become a Logistics Manager
How to Become a Supply Chain Analyst
How to Become a Commercial Pilot
How to Become an Airline Pilot
How to Become an Air Traffic Controller
How to Become an Aircraft Mechanic
How to Become a Warehouse Manager
Compare adjacent roles
2 guidesHead-to-head breakdowns of two roles this vertical hires side by side — day-to-day, comp, and where the interview loops diverge.
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