Logistics Education — A Note from the Publisher
Following are links to lists of logistics education programs related to coverage in the Sept. 27 print edition. (Click here for main story and click here for side article on logistics students.)
List of surveyed universities with logistics education programs. (PDF)
List of non-surveyed universities with logistics education programs. (PDF)
List of logistics and supply chain certification programs.
Logistics and supply chain management are critical needs for many businesses today and many companies are looking to schools to help workers obtain the knowledge and skills needed to succeed.
In the Sept. 27 issue of Transport Topics, we took a look for the first time at institutions that provide transportation, logistics and supply chain management education and training programs.
Our goal was to stimulate discussion among leaders of industry and academia about what needs to done to train the next generation of transportation workers and logistics executives.
Our online coverage includes two lists of schools — one in which the educational institutions responded to surveys we sent out; the other of nonrespondent schools — and a list of major professional certification programs. We believe this coverage will help increase awareness of educational and training resources and encourage development of new programs to meet the needs of industry and government.
Transportation employs roughly 13 million people, including about 3.5 million truck drivers. Freight carriers employ freight handlers, packaging specialists, dispatchers and salespeople.
Shippers make use of procurement specialists and what used to be called traffic managers. Logistics firms need people with an array of technical and management skills.
Government officials say they are concerned about a shortage of engineers to design roads and bridges and a lack of expertise among public officials about how to manage complex transportation networks to efficiently move both people and freight in the United States and around the world.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, half of the people currently working at state and federal transportation agencies will retire in the next decade with not nearly enough new people in the pipeline to take their place.
There already are serious shortages of railroad engineers, air traffic controllers, pipeline safety inspectors and diesel mechanics, officials said.
Business leaders also are worried that schools aren’t preparing students with the right kind of skills needed to compete in a global economy.
To address these issues, officials at DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration announced in April that it would work with the Council of University Transportation Centers to develop a national strategy to encourage young people to consider careers in transportation.
Robert Bertini, a professor at Portland State University who is on leave to serve at DOT, said details of the strategy will likely be completed by the end of the year with a national summit in 2011 to implement the strategy.
“We need to make clear that transportation offers an exciting career,” Bertini said.
Ultimately, the responsibility for educating and training people for jobs in transportation is a shared one. Schools play a major role, as do employers and government agencies.
