APG Specialty Publications INDEMAND_2017 | Page 20

TRANSPORTATION CAREERS
Get the Show on the Road
Minnesota Transportation Industry
People and goods are constantly on the
move. Transportation began with human
power, but today’s modes of transport are
literally all over the map—with roads taking
most of the load. The United States boasts
roughly 4.1 million miles of roads, avenues,
highways, turnpikes, boulevards, freeways,
streets, etc., 2.7 million miles paved and 1.4
million miles unpaved.
Minnesota’s growing population has
increased the number of vehicles owned
by state residents. In 2015, the state had 7.4
million registered vehicles. Ten years earlier,
6.3 million registered vehicles were traveling
Minnesota roads.
The Minnesota Department of
Transportation (MnDOT) calculates vehicle
miles of travel (VMT) for the roadway
network in the state. MnDOT reports: “In
2014, total VMT on all 143,000 miles of roads
in Minnesota was 57.4 billion, reaching a
new high, just slightly topping 2006. The
state trunk highway system made up 57.7
percent of total VMT, but only 8.2 percent of
total centerline miles.” Keeping the State Moving
Repair and Maintenance, which includes
occupations in the transportation field, ranks
as one of the fastest-growing industries
in Minnesota. Repair and Maintenance
breaks into the top 50 industries in the state
expected to add the most new jobs from
2014 to 2024.
Latest figures put 253 million cars and
trucks on U.S. roads with an average age of
11.4 years. IHS Automotive reports that the
number of vehicles at least 25 years old on
American roads is about 14 million; vehicles
16 to 24 years old total around 44 million. All
these millions of late model vehicles are an
escalating boom for the automotive repair
industry. Ranked #22 on the list, Repair and
Maintenance has a projected annual job
growth rate of 5.5 percent. Careers in
this industry include Automotive Service
Technicians and Mechanics, Automotive
Body Repairers, and Bus and Truck
Mechanics.
This industry employs 20,248 people in
Minnesota.
Source: CAREERwise
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