many cases, it’s less than they made
before. The average salary this year
was $97,776 (down from $105,834 the
previous year), while the median salary
was $83,000—some $6,000 less than the
median in last year’s survey.
That downward slide is due in part to the
record number of respondents ( 14 percent)
whose pay declined in the previous 12 months.
Yet some respondents appear to be holding
steady or even doing a bit better than in the past.
Thirty-three percent said their pay had not
changed over the previous year, and a fortunate
53 percent brought home more bacon during
that same period. The latter reported an average
increase of 5. 5 percent over the previous year
(the median was 3. 6 percent). It’s important to
note that those numbers reflect more than just
annual raises. Sixty-one percent of all respondents reported that at least part of their total
compensation was based on performance.
Title bout
With respondents reporting a wide range of titles
and responsibilities (see the sidebar), it’s
inevitable that our survey would show a significant range in salaries. For the most part, the latest
results are similar to patterns we’ve been seeing all
along. One interesting exception: The biggest paychecks this year did not go to the highest-level
executives. The three highest-paid readers all
identified themselves as managers; they hailed
from the pharmaceutical and health care
($980,000), wholesale/retail ($950,000), and food
and grocery ($900,000) industries. The three lowest earners, who came from the wholesale/retail
and electronics/electrical equipment and components industries, brought home between $10,000
and $12,000—unusually low numbers that may
reflect job losses or part-time work.
It’s impossible to know whether that nearly
million-dollar differential is an anomaly or signals some new trend. But in most cases, job title
is still the biggest factor in determining the size
of your paycheck.
Which titles pay the most on average? As was
the case last year, vice presidents were at the top
of the salary ladder. The median salary for VP-
The results of DC VELOCITY’s fourth annual salary survey once again
offer a comprehensive portrait of our readers. The study was based
on the responses of 1,148 subscribers who completed a 20-ques-
tion survey in February. The survey respondents came from a broad
swath of industries—everything from wholesale/retail ( 27 percent),
third-party logistics services ( 10 percent), and food and grocery ( 8
percent) to pharmaceuticals and health care ( 5 percent), consumer
packaged goods ( 6 percent), and apparel and footwear ( 4 percent).
All of the respondents classified themselves as having some sort
of managerial responsibility. At the higher levels, 3 percent said
they were corporate officers (CEOs, COOs, CFOs), another 3 percent identified themselves as presidents, 9 percent were vice presidents, and 20 percent were directors. The largest group, 53 percent, described themselves simply as managers, followed by the 12
percent who said they were supervisors.
Respondents represented companies of all sizes, from the 21
percent who were employed by businesses with fewer than 100
employees, all the way up to the 29 percent who worked for companies with more than 5,000 employees. Thirty-three percent
worked for midsized companies that employ anywhere from 100 to
1,000 people, and 17 percent worked for organizations employing
1,001 to 5,000 people. The respondents’ companies were located
throughout the United States, as well as in Canada and Mexico.
Our survey asked respondents to identify the functions they managed. The overwhelming majority of the survey-takers indicated
that they had multiple areas of responsibility. Warehouse and/or
distribution center management was the most frequent answer,
cited by nearly three-fourths (73 percent) of the respondents.
Logistics management ( 60 percent) was close behind, followed by
supply chain management ( 50 percent), transportation management ( 52 percent), import/export operations ( 26 percent), and
fleet operations ( 22 percent).
As for the respondents themselves, the vast majority (88 percent)
were male; just 12 percent were female. Some were relative newcomers to the workforce— 13 percent were 35 years of age or
younger. Others could boast years of experience. The largest group
of respondents (68 percent) fell into the 36-to- 55 age range.
Nineteen percent were over the age of 56 (including the 2 percent
who said they were over 65). The majority (69 percent) had gone
to college, earning a bachelor’s degree or higher. But 31 percent—
including a few of the most highly paid respondents—had ended
their formal education with a high school diploma.
Most respondents were seasoned professionals. Only 12 percent
said they’d been working in logistics for five years or less. Another
17 percent have worked in the field for six to 10 years, 19 percent
for 11 to 15 years, 18 percent for 16 to 20 years, 12 percent for 21
to 25 years, and 22 percent for more than 25 years. And they’re not
the type to bounce around from one job to the next: Two-thirds (67
percent) said they had been working at the same company for six
years or more.
