How to craft a compelling transportation manager resume
Transportation managers play a crucial role in the supply chain and logistics industry by helping to plan and coordinate all activities requiring transportation. As such, when applying for a role as a transportation manager, you need a resume that captures both your talents and experience in the field.
In this guide, we will teach you everything you need to know about writing a transportation manager resume. keep reading to learn about:
- How to choose the right resume format for the job
- How to write an appealing transportation manager resume summary
- How to select the best transportation management skills for your resume
- How to properly describe your work experience in the transportation industry
- How to effectively list your education, licenses, and certifications on a resume
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1. How to choose the right format for your transportation manager resume
A proven track record of success is often the most important factor to employers looking for new managers. As a result, anytime you apply for a management-level position, you should select a resume format that prioritizes work experience.
The best resume format to use when applying to be a transportation manager is the reverse-chronological resume. This resume format focuses primarily on work experience, listing your most recent job first and working backward from there.
However, in some scenarios, you may have some relevant experience, but not an extensive enough work history within the transportation industry to make the reverse-chronological resume work. In this case, you should consider one of the following format alternatives:
- The Functional Resume: Functional resumes remove the focus from work experience and place it instead on education, skills, and unpaid experience. This format is especially useful for current students or recent graduates who have an extensive academic background but lack formal work experience.
- The Hybrid Resume: Hybrid resumes eliminate the focus on one central section. Instead, this format will spread the focus out more evenly between all sections. Applicants who have relevant transferrable skills and are changing career paths will often use this resume format.
2. How to write an appealing transportation manager resume summary
A resume summary is a brief, one-to-three sentence statement at the beginning of your resume.
Including a resume summary on your resume is highly important, as it gives you the chance to showcase your very best professional attributes and accomplishments to employers. In turn, this can also make your resume more competitive and memorable overall.
To help demonstrate how to write an effective resume summary, here is a weak example followed by a correction and explanation:
Incorrect transportation manager resume summary example
Experienced Transportation Manager with a background in business administration. Highly adept at creating efficient and cost-effective transportation delivery routes and schedules. Additional skills include setting sales goals, negotiating price contracts with clients, and analyzing company data.
Why is this incorrect?
When you write a resume summary, you should strive to include information not seen or not deeply described elsewhere on your resume. In this example, the applicant focuses too much on simply listing skills, rather than describing one to two key accomplishments in greater depth.
Corrected transportation manager resume summary
Highly Adaptable Transportation Manager with 4+ years of experience working in transportation administration. Developed 15+ new delivery routes and schedules that resulted in a 15% decrease in operational costs and a 25% increase in delivery speed.
Why is this correct?
In this corrected example, the applicant removes the list of skills from the original summary to instead provide greater context and information about a specific accomplishment from their previous position. This is much more effective, as the other skills can then be moved into a separate Skills section to further round out this resume.
3. How to select the best transportation management skills for your resume
Skills are an important part of any resume – but which ones should you include when applying to be a Transportation Manager?
To earn management positions, you will need to show employers you have a diverse range of talents that include both technical and interpersonal skills.
Technical skills are learned abilities gained through education and training, such as project management and logistics. Interpersonal skills can be both learned and inherent, dealing with how well you work with other people and your ability to understand the work environment you are in.
With this in mind, here are 10 examples of both technical and interpersonal skills for transportation managers:
The best technical skills to put on your transportation manager resume
- Transportation logistics
- Budgeting
- Scheduling routes & deliveries
- Tracking shipments
- Knowledge of functional systems (tracking software, barcodes, etc.)
- Reporting on operational costs
- Overseeing routine vehicle maintenance
- Knowledge of transportation safety standards
- Project management
- Conducting safety audits
Effective interpersonal skills for your transportation manager CV
- Leadership
- Attention to detail
- Exceptional organization
- Verbal & written communication
- Time management
- Efficient problem-solving
- Critical thinking
- Creativity
- Collaboration
- Adaptability
4. How to properly describe your work experience in the transportation industry
When applying for management-level jobs, you should take time to put extra effort into your work experience section. This section is where you have the best opportunity to highlight not just your past responsibilities but your key accomplishments as well.
As you write each entry for your work experience section, keep in mind how specific and quantifiable the information you provide is. Additionally, keep your descriptions concise with bullet points and one-sentence statements.
Here is an example of a work experience entry from a transportation manager resume:
Cargo Truckers United, Denver, CO
Transportation Manager
April 2016 to May 2019
- Devised cost-effective solutions when problems with deliveries occurred, saving the company more than $60K annually.
- Developed strategic supply chain plans to optimize product lifecycles from manufacturing to delivery.
- Implemented new vehicle and equipment maintenance processes which resulted in a 30% reduction in overall operational costs.
5. How to effectively list your education, licenses, and certifications on a resume
Any time you apply for a management position, employers will generally expect a minimum of either an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree in a related field. Depending on your duties as a transportation manager, you may also need to have specific commercial licenses to legally operate vehicles as well.
While these are the minimum requirements for the job, you can make your resume even more competitive by adding in any relevant certifications you hold.
Typically, all this information should fall under your education section. However, if you have several licenses and certifications, you may want to create a dedicated “Licenses & Certifications” section also.
Here is an example of a well-crafted education section on a transportation manager resume:
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
B.S. in Business Administration
- Graduated: 2018, Magna Cum Laude
Licenses & Certifications
- Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), State of North Carolina, Expires 07/2023
- Certified Director of Safety, North American Transportation Management Institute
- Certified Driver Trainer, North American Transportation Management Institute