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Research The State of Work: Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics in the Inland Empire

Executive Summary

The State of Work: Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics in the Inland Empire offers a comprehensive exploration of the Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics (TDL) sector in Southern California’s Inland Empire. This pivotal sector, integral to both national and global economies, includes transportation services, warehousing, and logistics services. Despite recent size decline, the TDL sector has shown rapid expansion over the last five years, particularly in warehousing and transportation, significantly impacting the region’s employment landscape.

This report delves into the various challenges and opportunities presented by the TDL sector. Notably, the concentration of warehouses and distribution centers has sparked concerns about environmental impacts, traffic congestion, and job quality. The authors also examine the geographic spread of warehouse developments and their community and environmental ramifications, highlighting the complex balance between economic growth and maintaining quality of life.

A key focus of this report is the detailed occupational and industry analyses, underpinned by both quantitative and qualitative research. This includes insights from interviews with warehouse workers and truck drivers, offering a closer look at the realities of working conditions in the sector. The findings reveal disparities in wages, job security, and working conditions, particularly for blue-collar roles, and discusses the implications of automation and technological advancements in the TDL sector.

This report emphasizes the need for policy interventions to enhance labor standards, enforce labor laws, and integrate labor considerations into climate policies, drawing inspiration from recent legislation like the temporary agency workers’ bill of rights. It also highlights future research directions, focusing on the sector’s continuous evolution and ensuring that the voices of those most affected remain central. The report advocates for a balanced approach, prioritizing both economic growth and the well-being of workers and the community.

The report concludes with a call to address the multifaceted impacts of the TDL sector. It underscores the importance of informed policymaking and strategic planning to harness the sector’s economic potential while mitigating its challenges. By providing a nuanced view of the TDL sector, the report aims to guide decision-makers, employers, workers, and community activists towards a sustainable and equitable economic future in the Inland Empire.

About the Report

The State of Work: Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics in the Inland Empire is a collaboration between Plug In IE, a project of the Inland Empire Labor Institute, and the Inland Empire Labor and Community Center and Center for Social Innovation at the University of California, Riverside.

Authors

Tejpaul Bainiwal, Michael Bates, Marissa Brookes, Sara Bruene, Eric Calderon, Natalie Carranza, Elvira De La Torre, Pedro Freire, Catherine Gudis, Jingyan Guo, Gregory Hutchins, KeAysia Jackson, Manisha Kapoor, Fernando David Márquez Duarte, Fatima Nelson, Zhuoyu Qiu, Ellen Reese, Gary Rettberg, Beth Tamayose, Athena Tan

Publication date

February 2024

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Read the Report

Supplementary Materials

Highlights

The report focuses on 8 occupations and occupational categories in the TDL sector. These occupations vary in required levels of experience, pay, and demographic representation. To see how the 8 occupations and occupational categories are identified and distinguished by the U.S. Department of Labor, click on the links below:

The report is also based on interviews with 32 warehouse workers and truck drivers.

Most TDL workers don’t earn enough to live in the IE.



Workers in 7 of the most common TDL occu­pations do not make enough money to raise a family with 2 working adults and 2 children.

Workers in 5 of the most common TDL occu­pations earn less per year than the median income for all employed workers ages 16–64 across the IE.

Hand packers and packagers receive the lowest median annual income ($23,211) among the 8 occupations we studied. This amount is less than half of what it costs to support a family with 2 working adults and 2 children.

The 3 lowest-paid occupations in our data analysis (hand packers and packagers, laborers, and stockers/order fillers) have significant hou­sing cost burdens. Workers in each of these occupations have less than $700 left over every month after paying rent to pay for all other bills, such as food, transportation, utilities, childcare, health care, etc.

The contrast between managers and blue-collar TDL workers is stark. Managers can have about $3,000 per month left over for non-housing-related expenses after paying the median monthly rent for the region. This extra income may provide managers with greater ability to afford higher-quality housing, establish savings, and/or spend money on leisure activities.

Even so, median earnings are low relative to the overall cost of living in the IE, even among managers and supervisors.

“They started asking me to train the temps. After this, I was like a lead, but I didn’t get paid like a lead.”

—Tabitha, warehouse worker

Disadvantaged groups are overrepresented in TDL occupations.

Together, Black and Latinx workers make up 61% of all employed workers between ages 16 through 64 in the IE, but in the 8 occupations we studied they make up 65–90% of workers.

Even though the majority of employed workers in each occupation are Black or Latinx, the per­cen­tage of Black or Latinx workers is the smallest among managers.

Immigrant workers make up significant percen­tages of workers in the TDL sector, but especially in the lowest-paid occupation we studied, hand packers and packagers (43%).

The TDL sector has been and continues to be male dominated, but women workers are over­represented in one of the lowest-paid TDL occu­pations, hand packers and packagers.

“No one was giving me a shot, let alone hiring me, so I just took the route that my mom did.”

—Jonny, warehouse worker

Together, Black and Latinx workers make up 61% of all employed workers between ages 16 through 64 in the IE, but in the 8 occupations we studied they make up 65–90% of workers.

Even though the majority of employed workers in each occupation are Black or Latinx, the per­cen­tage of Black or Latinx workers is the smallest among managers.

Immigrant workers make up significant percen­tages of workers in the TDL sector, but especially in the lowest-paid occupation we studied, hand packers and packagers (43%).

The TDL sector has been and continues to be male dominated, but women workers are over­represented in one of the lowest-paid TDL occu­pations, hand packers and packagers.

“No one was giving me a shot, let alone hiring me, so I just took the route that my mom did.”

—Jonny, warehouse worker

Unionization and worker centers are crucial for raising labor standards and promoting worker power.

Unions give workers democratic structures for their concerns to be addressed. Union contracts are the only legally enforceable way that workers can ensure their rights and interests are protected.

The Teamsters is the largest union representing TDL sector workers in Southern Califor­nia. The Teamsters’ 2023 UPS contract is widely regarded as a model for the industry.

In the absence of unions, worker centers, such as the Inland Empire Black Worker Center and Warehouse Worker Resource Center, play a critical role in worker empowerment.

“My union contract helped me out of poverty.”

—Mateo, UPS driver

Automation and electrification are rapidly changing the TDL sector. This is a key oppor­tunity to take a different approach to the IE’s economy.

As of 2023, the IE had 1 billion square feet of warehouse space. Warehouse-related pollution has exacerbated existing social, economic, and health inequities in the region.

In spite of this, there are many holistic, people-centered paths forward if we understand that worker well-being is community well-being.

Community benefits agreements (CBAs) make community needs part of the development process through legally binding contracts that are negotiated between developers, community organizations, and labor organizations. CBAs can create win-win situa­tions: Developers can work with resident-driven coalitions to meet community needs, while residents can support developers to ease environ­mental review and permitting processes.

High road training partnerships (HRTPs) can be built into community benefits agreements. HRTPs are based on colla­boration between employers, labor organizations, and community organizations. They integrate equity, climate aware­ness, and job quality to benefit local residents who have faced systemic barriers to getting high-quality jobs.

Union contracts can set requirements for how employers will include and invest in workers when implementing new tech­nologies. Workers in the TDL sector in the IE can also benefit from sectoral bargaining strategies and from state and federal policies that strengthen and expand workers’ rights.

Currently, there are many California state and federal funding opportunities to reduce air pollution, whether through tran­sitioning to electric vehicles or building large-scale renewable energy projects. Policymakers can ensure that these funding opportunities are tied to training and career pathways for disadvantaged workers and to high labor standards.

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