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Think of transportation tradespeople as the folks
who keep every vehicle you can think of up and
running and safe. They are the mechanics who
service our cars and fix issues under the hood, or
the auto body experts who can make a car look
brand new even after it’s been in a collision. They
are the technicians who attend to big tractor-trailer
fleets to ensure that those big semi-trucks are as
safe as possible on the road. They are the ones
who service bulldozers, excavators, tractors and
other agricultural equipment, backhoes, forklifts,
and other equipment that are vital to productive
construction sites, warehouses, factories, or farms.
In addition to these technicians and repairers,
though, the transportation trades can also include
the people who operate many of these vehicles.
While you aren’t part of the skilled trades just for
driving your car to school, or even for taking on a
delivery driver role for a local restaurant, there are
many people out on the roads who are working
jobs that can fairly be classified as skilled trades
careers.
Truck drivers and bus drivers, for instance, are
charged with operating big, heavy, hard-to-drive
vehicles and must hold specific high-level drivers’
licenses to do so—notable “skills” that render their jobs as clear
skilled trades positions. The same is true for the people who
operate the heavy machinery on a farm or construction site.
This category might also be thought to house the marine trades—
though some people separate those into their own category
entirely. For our purposes, we will consider the marine trades as
part of the transportation trades, given that these jobs—which
range from boatbuilding to boat maintenance to marine construc-
tion to maritime/seafaring roles—have clear corollaries in other
segments of the transportation trades.