How To Become A Transport Manager

About Transport Manager Careers

Similar jobs: Passenger transport manager, customer service manager, operations manager

As a transport manager, you are at the forefront of the passenger’s needs for their journey. This is a role for someone who isn’t afraid of responsibility and uses their initiative to (literally) get things moving.

There are so many ways for us to get from A to B, from the underground to buses, trams and riverboats. But have you ever wondered who makes sure that transport is there for us (and millions of other people) each day? You’d be forgiven if you hadn’t but there’s a role called a transport manager behind it all, like the wizard behind the curtain.

As a transport manager it’s your job to plan and manage all forms of passenger transport including trains, trams, airplanes, ferries, ships and buses.

What Does A Transport Manager Do?

It’s your mission to make sure the transport meets performance and safety targets. You’ll do the research and pass on your findings to senior management, along with other reports and recommendations you may have. You will advise on policies, making sure the outcome is in the best interest of your passengers’ safety and in line with UK health and safety laws and regulations. You will line-manage staff, and coordinate rotas and training.

You must ensure that customers are heard! That could mean implementing suggestions being made by the passengers or dealing with complaints being made about the company, or journey, to give a few examples.

Being a transport manager allows you to work in both the public or the private sector. Public sector perks can include Flexitime, Pension schemes, and Health insurance. Private sector perks can include Company pension, and Reduced-cost travel with the company.

• Good project management skills, with a knack for being able to lead and motivate others
• Willingness to learn, develop and grow
• Great social skills and communication skills
• Good teamwork skills and positive attitude to help people get motivated about their work
• Good eye for details – it’s all part of self-management skills, which will help you manage others!
• Strong IT skills
• Strong business and finance skills, because money plays a part in creating a great customer experience within budget.

How do you get these skills?

Vocational qualifications and work experience will help you build these skills over time.

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School, College And Training

If you want to become a transport manager, it isn’t essential to have a degree – employers in this sector value lived experience. However, you may need to start off at a lower level and work your way up from there.

If you aim for at least five GCSEs or their equivalent in grades 9-4 including English and maths, you can apply to become a transport clerk, and work your way up.

Apprenticeships

Apprenticeship schemes are another way into a logistics career. An apprenticeship scheme is a great tried-and-tested way into a supply chain career that can take you places. With a logistics apprenticeship you’ll get training and real-life experience while getting paid for it.

When you’re ready for leadership and management responsibilities, you can be eased into them gradually in a way that fits your knowledge and experience.

Your employer of choice may be advertising apprenticeships on their career websites, or it’s always worth checking the Find An Apprenticeship website.

Degrees And The University Route

If you decide that you want to go to university to help you on your way to becoming a successful transport manager, there are several degree subjects you could take.

Areas of interest would be:

• logistics
• supply chain management
• transport management
• business management

You would need 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a foundation degree or higher national diploma. You would need 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree. Finally, you could get a postgraduate degree in a relevant subject.

There are graduate transport management schemes available, and many big providers of passenger transport welcome graduates from a wide range of subjects. This is great news for graduates, because it means your degree choice doesn’t need to hold you back from a transport management career.

You can be given more responsibilities over time, as you get to know the ins and outs of considering what passengers need to have a successful journey in their chosen form of transport.

If you start off as a trainee transport planner with a degree, or a trainee transport planning apprenticeship, you can then move onto transport management.

Once you find your feet as a transport manager, you could go on to senior roles in transport planning and consultancy. You could also become a specialist in tranport types that really interest you – like road, sea, or air.

Work Experience Tips

Having work experience in a customer-facing or customer-related environment would be ideal. It doesn’t have to be in transport – it could be in retail, too! You need to show your potential employer that you are great with people and can understand their needs. This will help you demonstrate that you can identify what passengers will need on various forms of transport.

Chances are, you’ll eventually be working for one of the following types of transport company:

• Bus and coach companies
• Airlines and airports
• Ferry and cruise operators
• Tram operators
• Travel and tourist companies
• Tube and metro train companies.

Getting Experience

Why not put in the research now? Get in touch with a potential employer via their early careers website or LinkedIn. Show them that you’re proactively looking for work experience and see if you can shadow someone, if not a team. This will help you pick up valuable skills you can apply within your career.

Examples of relevant work experience include:

• Work shadowing (even if it’s just for a day)
• Work placements in a company
• Work placements on a degree course

• Transport Traineeships
• Supply Chain Apprenticeships
• Logistics Apprenticeships

• Business Management Apprenticeships
• Supply Chain Management Graduate Schemes
• Graduate Transport Manager Jobs

These employers all carry our Youth Friendly Employer Mark. We work with them to make sure that they are providing great support and opportunities to young people.

Click on an employer to find out more about them and the youth-friendly opportunities they offer, from work experience and apprenticeships through to graduate schemes.