Operations Manager

By: Daniel Workman

Operations managers run the day-to-day operations of a company. The company

is usually divided into segments and has an operations manager for each segment, and there may
be multiple levels of operations managers in a company. For example, I work for USF Reddaway
and they have a COO at the top, 5 division operations managers, and larger terminals have an
operations manager just for that terminal. For this report I am talking about the lower level of the
bunch. In this paper I will discuss the job description, career path, education, salary, outlook,
pros and cons, my fit for this career, and provide a biography of someone in this position.
Job Description
Operations managers plan, direct, and coordinate the operations of an organization. The
operations manager is responsible for ensuring and improving the performance, productivity,
efficiency, and profitability of departmental and organizational operations through the provision
of effective methods and strategies (Penny, 2016). They are responsible for the day-to-day
operations and deal with problems daily problems that arise.
The job duties for an operations manager in the transportation industry include:

Directing activities related to dispatching, routing, and tracking of transportation

vehicles, such as aircraft and railroad cars.

Plan, organize, and manage the work of subordinate staff to ensure that the work is
accomplished in a manner consistent with organizational requirements.

Direct investigations to verify and resolve customer and shipper complaints.

Serve as a contact person for all workers within assigned territories.

Implement schedule and policy changes.

Collaborate with other managers and staff members in order to formulate and implement
policies, procedures, goals, and objectives.

Monitor operations to ensure that staff members comply with administrative policies and
procedures, safety rules, union contracts, and government regulations.

Promote safe work activities by conducting safety audits, attending company safety
meetings, and meeting with individual staff members.

Developing criteria, application instructions, procedural manuals, and contracts for

federal and state public transportation programs.

Monitor spending to ensure that expenses are consistent with approved budgets.

Direct and coordinate, through subordinates, activities of operations department in order

to obtain use of equipment, facilities, and human resources.

Direct activities of staff performing repairs and maintenance to equipment, vehicles, and
facilities.

Conduct investigations in cooperation with government agencies to determine causes of

transportation accidents and to improve safety procedures.

Analyze expenditures and other financial information in order to develop plans, policies,
and budgets for increasing profits and improving services.

Negotiate and authorize contracts with equipment and materials suppliers, and monitor
contract fulfillment.

Supervise workers assigning tariff classifications and preparing billing.

Set operations policies and standards, including determination of safety procedures for
the handling of dangerous goods.

Recommend or authorize capital expenditures for acquisition of new equipment or

property in order to increase efficiency and services of operations department.

Prepare management recommendations, such as proposed fee and tariff increases or

schedule changes.

Conduct employee training sessions on subjects such as hazardous material handling,

employee orientation, quality improvement, and computer use.

Participate in union contract negotiations and settlements of grievances.

Provide administrative and technical assistance to those receiving transportation-related

grants.

Direct procurement processes, including equipment research and testing, vendor

contracts, and requisitions approval (Transportation, 2016).

After finding this list of job duties I asked Rod Besler, the operations manager for USF
Reddaway Salt Lake City terminal, how many of the items on this list he was responsible for. He
said he does most of things on this list regularly except for planning and following a budget and
procuring equipment and facilities, the higher-ups in the corporate office handle those job duties.
Rod says he spends most of his time hiring, training, tracking production, making sure we are
OSHA/DOT compliant, tracking guaranteed freight, basic customer service, making sure special
services are being performed, and basic customer service (Besler, 2016).
General Career Path
To become an operations manager from an entry level position you have to promote
through several positions and it will take years. Take Reddaway for example, I started as a dock
worker, to become an operations manager I would have to first become a lead man on the dock.
After some time as a lead man I could become a dock supervisor or dispatcher. After a few years
as a dock supervisor or dispatcher I could apply for an operations manager position. Rod says if I
want to promote than I need to learn other aspects of the business, such as dispatching. I am
already hostler qualified, hostlers move trailers in and out of dock doors and hook and unhook
sets (sets are trailers that are hooked together, such as doubles, triples, and rocky sets).
General Education and Experience
For an operations manager there is not a specific degree that is required but a Bachelors
in Business Administration or a related field will definitely help you land a job. If you promote
within a company, they usually will not require a degree because you know the ins and outs of
the business. There are not any special certifications required for this position (Besler, 2016).

As the operations manager and dealing with the day-to-day problems that arise there are a
number of skills you should possess. The following are a few:

Tolerance to stress
Adaptability
Conflict management
Negotiation
Team work
Delegation
Influencing and leading
Persuasiveness
Communication skills
Decision-making
Planning and organizing
Critical thinking and problem solving (Prust, 2014)

Salary
While researching the operations manager position I found a lot of contradicting
information on the salary. According to Every Day Life the average salary is $114,490/yr
(Michael, 2016). According to Glassdoor the national average salary is $78,232/yr, and the Salt
Lake City average is $58,300/yr (Salary, 2016). According to US News the national average is
$97,270 (Business, 2016). Unfortunately, because Rod holds a higher position than me he was
not able to give a figure or range that an operations manager can make (Besler, 2016). My guess
is that it is in $60,000/yr range for entry level.
Career Outlook
Most of the larger corporations have an operations manager if not many. US News
predicts a 7% growth rate, which adds up to 151,100 additional jobs between 2014 and 2024
(Business, 2016). The job growth is fairly optimistic and when I get my degree it will certainly
help. Unfortunately, when a company starts to struggle or the economy declines, management is

usually one of the first things cut. When the recession hit in 2008, Reddaway eliminated the
operations manager position and didnt bring it back until 2014 (Besler, 2016).
Pros and Cons
There are pros and cons to every job. When evaluating a job offer it is important that, in
your mind, the pros outweigh the cons. The pros include compensation, authority, and value
(Murty, 2006). Operations managers generally have a higher salary than their employees and
have better benefits, such as an expense account. Operations managers also have more authority
to make changes than their employees. In our society we value titles, such as a CEO will be seen
as more accomplished then say a cashier at a grocery store.
The cons include being alone at the top, ownership, being watched, and legal liabilities
(Murty, 2006). As a manager you are alone at the top. The upper management is breathing down
your neck to improve productivity or increase sales and lower level employees push back to
changes. Also, as a manager everything you do is being watched, either by the public or other
employees, they make opinions about how you do things and it can affect the way they work
with you. Along with being watched, managers have to be cautious of legal liabilities. It seems
like at least once a month I hear of a company being sued over something a manager said or did.
Bio of Rod Besler
Rod Besler graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelors degree in economics.
He attended the U of U with a football scholarship. After graduating he got hired on with
Roadway freight (before Roadway and Yellow merged to form YRC Freight) in their
management training program. This training program lasted 5 to 6 months and gave basic
training in all departments of management including dispatch, dock supervisor, sales, OS and D,
and account executive. Rod spent 3 years as a line-haul dispatcher before leaving.

After leaving Roadway, Rod spent 2 weeks at Milen Freight. Rod only spent 2 weeks
with them because he saw that they were not following good business practices and estimated
that they would be out of business shortly. Within a year of leaving, Milen shut their doors for
good.
Rod spent the next 19 years with Yellow Freight (which became YRC Freight in 2003)
holding many positions including operations managers. He left Yellow and went to Con-Way
Freight as a salesman. Rod joined Reddaway in June of 2006 and moved into the operations
manager position in 2014. Rod was recruited by Mike Matich the Terminal Manager of the Salt
Lake City terminal. They had worked together at YRC.
Rod says he enjoys his job but would not likely follow the same career path if he was
able to do it all over again. He says the freight industry fluctuates too much and he would rather
not have as many responsibilities as he does. Rod works 10+ hours a day and says he wishes he
could spend more time with his grandkids instead of working as much as he does (Besler, 2016).
My Fit With This Career
I enjoy my job and more I learn about the operations and why we do the things we do, I
enjoy it even more. I understand that it will take me years to get to a position I want, but Im up
the challenge. Being a manager can be very stressful, but I see the problems that arise like
solving a puzzle. I do the same thing now with my current position. I like see how many bills and
how much weight I can load on a single trailer. To conclude, doing this assignment just made me
more passionate about my job and I am looking forward to the years to come.

Sources
Besler, R., Personal Communication, March 21, 2016
Business Operations Manager. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2016, from
http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/business-operations-manager
Michael, E. (n.d.). The Duties of Operations Managers. Retrieved March 21, 2016, from
http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/duties-operations-managers-2860.html
Murty, N. (2006, January 21). The Pros & Cons of Becoming a Manager. Retrieved
March 11, 2016, from http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/management-path/the-pros-cons-of-becominga-manager-7374
Penny, J. (n.d.). Operations Manager Job Description. Retrieved March 11, 2016, from
http://www.best-job-interview.com/operations-manager-job-description.html
Prust, R. (2014). Defining The Operations Manager Job Description - Operations
Manager - Operations Management Jobs, Resumes, Duties Description and Resources. Retrieved
March 11, 2016, from http://www.operationsmanager.com/operations-manager-roles-in-thecompany/defining-operations-manager-job-description/
Salary: Operations Manager. (2016, April 5). Retrieved April 08, 2016, from
https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/operations-manager-salary-SRCH_KO0,18.htm
Transportation Manager. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2016, from http://jobdescriptions.careerplanner.com/Transportation-Managers.cfm