Transportation and Material Moving · Holland code CRI
Transportation Inspectors
Inspect equipment or goods in connection with the safe transport of cargo or people. Includes rail transportation inspectors, such as freight inspectors, rail inspectors, and other inspectors of transportation vehicles not elsewhere classified.
Also called: Cargo Surveyor, Marine Cargo Surveyor, Marine Surveyor, Petroleum Inspector, Inspector.
O*NET 53-6051.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $92,100
- Middle half earn $58,780 to $108,890. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 4 of 5
- Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Prepare and submit reports after completion of freight shipments.
- Inspect shipments to ensure that freight is securely braced and blocked.
- Record details about freight conditions, handling of freight, and any problems encountered.
- Advise crews in techniques of stowing dangerous and heavy cargo.
- Observe loading of freight to ensure that crews comply with procedures.
- Post warning signs on vehicles containing explosives or flammable or radioactive materials.
- Recommend remedial procedures to correct any violations found during inspections.
- Measure heights and widths of loads to ensure they will pass over bridges or through tunnels on scheduled routes.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Reading Comprehension3.6 / 5
- Writing3.6 / 5
- Speaking3.6 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.6 / 5
- Active Listening3.5 / 5
- Monitoring3.4 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Transportation3.9 / 5
- English Language3.8 / 5
- Customer and Personal Service3.5 / 5
- Mathematics3.2 / 5
- Public Safety and Security3.2 / 5
- Administration and Management3.0 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic78
- Investigative32
- Artistic0
- Social9
- Enterprising27
- Conventional86
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- rolling stock inspector · DE Schienenfahrzeuginspektor/Schienenfahrzeuginspektorin · FR inspecteur de matériel roulant/inspectrice de matériel roulant
- marine surveyor · DE Schiffsinspektor/Schiffsinspektorin · FR inspecteur de la sécurité des navires/inspectrice de la sécurité des navires
- freight inspector · DE Frachtkontrolleur/Frachtkontrolleurin · FR contrôleur des transports terrestres/contrôleuse des transports terrestres
- marine cargo inspector · DE Seegüterkontrolleur/Seegüterkontrolleurin · FR administrateur des affaires maritimes/administratrice des affaires maritimes
- dangerous goods safety adviser · DE Gefahrgutberater/Gefahrgutberaterin · FR conseiller à la sécurité pour le transport de marchandises dangereuses/conseillère à la sécurité pour le transport de marchandises dangereuses
- rolling stock assembly inspector · DE Qualitätsprüfer - Schienenfahrzeugbau/Qualitätsprüferin - Schienenfahrzeugbau · FR contrôleur qualité des assemblages en matériel roulant/contrôleuse qualité des assemblages en matériel roulant
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Transport and distribution clerks and assistants (4134)69,500 employed
- Routine inspectors and testers (8143)54,800 employed
- Engineering technicians (3113)74,200 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €50,992 |
| Austria | €46,986 |
| Germany | €44,473 |
| Netherlands | €42,448 |
| Ireland | €41,613 |
| Sweden | €41,155 |
| Italy | €34,882 |
| France | €34,816 |
| Spain | €29,757 |
| Portugal | €18,080 |
| Poland | €12,108 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.18. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (53-6051).
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