Couriers and Messengers: NAICS 492

About the Couriers and Messengers subsector

The couriers and messengers subsector is part of the transportation and warehousing sector.

Industries in the Couriers and Messengers subsector provide intercity and/or local delivery of parcels and documents (including express delivery services) without operating under a universal service obligation. These articles can be described as those that may be handled by one person without using special equipment. This allows the collection, pick-up, and delivery operations to be done with limited labor costs and minimal equipment. Sorting and transportation activities, where necessary, are generally mechanized. The restriction to small parcels partly distinguishes these establishments from those in the transportation industries. The complete network of courier services establishments also distinguishes these transportation services from local messenger and delivery establishments in this subsector. This includes the establishments that perform intercity transportation as well as establishments that, under contract to them, perform local pick-up and delivery. Messengers, which usually deliver within a metropolitan or single urban area, may use bicycle, foot, small truck, or van.

North American Industry Classification System

The couriers and messengers subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Couriers: NAICS 4921
  • Local Messengers and Local Delivery: NAICS 4922

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in couriers and messengers. These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Layoffs

Data series Back
data
Jun.
2008
Jul.
2008
Aug.
2008
Sep.
2008

Employment (in thousands)

 

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

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587.7 586.5 (P) 587.1 (P) 584.9

Employment, nonsupervisory workers

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497.3 496.8 (P) 492.1  

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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5 (1) - 9  

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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553 (1) - 683  

Footnotes
(1) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics)

Extended Mass Layoffs

Data series Back
data
3rd quarter
2007
4th quarter
2007
1st quarter
2008
2nd quarter
2008

Extended mass layoff events

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(1) - 3 (P) 9 (P) 3

Separations

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(1) - 1,028 (P) 3,320 (P) 518

Initial claimants

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(1) - 860 (P) 2,324 (P) 477

Footnotes
(1) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2007

Couriers and messengers

31,350

Customer service representatives

14,510

Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance

7,980

First-line supervisors/managers of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators

11,070

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

151,160

Truck drivers, light or delivery services

154,990

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for couriers and messengers.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings and Hours

This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours for production or nonsupervisory employees are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in couriers and messengers.

Earnings and Hours of Production Workers

Data series Back
data
May
2008
Jun.
2008
Jul.
2008
Aug.
2008

Average hourly earnings

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$17.55 $17.60 $17.63 (P) $17.49

Average weekly hours

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23.5 23.5 23.3 (P) 23.4

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2007
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Couriers and messengers

$10.12 $11.39 $21,060 $23,700

Customer service representatives

$15.80 $16.17 $32,870 $33,640

Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance

$17.54 $18.01 $36,480 $37,470

First-line supervisors/managers of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators

$26.95 $27.76 $56,060 $57,740

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

$11.12 $12.00 $23,130 $24,970

Truck drivers, light or delivery services

$19.07 $19.21 $39,670 $39,960

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in couriers and messengers. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.

Data series 2004 2005 2006 2007

Fatalities

 

Number of fatalities

25 34 41 (P) 27

Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers

 

Total recordable cases

12.4 11.6 10.5  

Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer

8.8 8.0 7.2  

Cases involving days away from work

4.1 4.0 3.5  

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

4.7 4.0 3.7  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Prices

This section provides industry-specific pricing information. The producer price index measures the percentage change in prices that domestic producers receive for goods and services. The prices included in the producer price index are from the first commercial transaction.

Data series Back
data
May
2008
Jun.
2008
Jul.
2008
Aug.
2008

Producer price index

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(P) 141.7 (P) 143.4 (P) 146.8 (P) 148.2

Percent change from previous month

 

(P) 2.5% (P) 1.2% (P) 2.4% (P) 1.0%

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Producer Price Indexes)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in couriers and messengers. Also included in this section is information on productivity, presented as the rate of change in output per hour of workers in the industry.

Establishments

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data
1st quarter
2007
2nd quarter
2007
3rd quarter
2007
4th quarter
2007

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

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(P) 15,265 (P) 15,421 (P) 15,526 (P) 15,576

Local government

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(P) 1 (P) 1 (P) 1 (P) 1

State government

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Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

Data series Back
data
2003 2004 2005 2006

Labor productivity index, output per hour

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133.986 126.771 125.119 128.606

Percent change from previous year

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2.2 -5.4 -1.3 2.8

Labor index, total labor hours

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82.773 85.694 86.987 84.878

Percent change from previous year

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-3.1 3.5 1.5 -2.4

Output index

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110.905 108.636 108.838 109.158

Percent change from previous year

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-1.0 -2.0 0.2 0.3

Unit labor costs index

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125.463 136.774 137.387 141.864

Percent change from previous year

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6.7 9.0 0.4 3.3

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

Other BLS Resources

Career Guide to Industries

To learn about careers from an industry perspective, see the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: October 08, 2008