Transportation Specialist Interview Questions And Answers

LTL (Less than Truckload) shipment is a contract between the shipper and transport owner. According to the contract, instead of the entire truck, the shipment are priced according to the weight of the freight and mileage within designated lanes.

Affreightment is a contract between ship owner and merchant, where ship owner provides or rented the space in the ship to the merchant for an agreed amount and for a specific period. In this contract, merchant is liable for the payment whether or not the ship is ready for the shipment.

Export declaration is a government document that defines the goods to be supplied out of the country. This declaration should be filed by exporter to the U.S government.

☛ APS: It stands for Advance Planning and Scheduling
☛ ASN: It stands for Advanced Shipment Notifications
☛ ASRS: Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems

As the operator of any mode of travel, a list of credentials is necessary. Be prepared to discuss the types of transportation vehicles you have operated. Have your credentials with you, as you may be asked by the interviewer to present them. Also be sure that they are current and authentic. If this question is not asked during the interview, your credentials will still need to be verified before being hired.

This question is one of the most frequently asked questions. Where do you start? What do they really want to know? Are you to begin from elementary school or college? You have to be very careful on how you answer this question because your answer here sets the tone for the rest of the interview. This question is mostly asked as an icebreaker but if you did not prepare for it, it becomes a real problem.

The right approach to this is to discuss your key strengths and how they relate to the job. Talk about a few of your accomplishments. Talk about your current employer and then tell them how you see yourself fitting into a position at their company.

This could be a very simple question if you are prepared for it. You just have to talk about the strengths that you know would be of value to the company.

Primary role of a logistician is to

☛ Manage the supply chain
☛ Transportation and storage of material
☛ Transportation management

Various activities at operational level includes

☛ Goods receipt and checking
☛ Bulk storage
☛ Order picking
☛ Stock replenishment
☛ Order marshalling
☛ Load Scheduling
☛ Returns
☛ Availability of Personnel
☛ Update of stock
☛ Completion of documentation

In this importer gives 30-45 days to bank to deduct the amount and then release the documents. In this provision, there is much risk, and if there is no sufficient balance in the account then, the process will get delayed.

When any shipment that does not meet the customers decided terms and conditions, a financial penalty is charged against the supplier by customer. This charge is referred as charge back. For example, lack of proper packaging or labelling.

It is crucial that you discuss your objectives and how you intend to achieve them.

For instance: I would like to be the best in my department or I’d love to be the person my colleagues can rely on. I also feel I would be skilled and experienced enough to handle whatever responsibilities might come my way.

A person can work under various position

☛ Logistic director
☛ Logistic supervisor
☛ Logistic associate
☛ Logistic engineer
☛ Logistic coordinator
☛ Logistic specialist
☛ Logistic analyst

TEU stands for Twenty foot Equivalent Unit. It is a method of calculating vessel load or capacity, in units of containers that are twenty feel long. For example, a 40ft long container measure 2TEUs.

Declared value for carriage is the value of the goods, declared by the shipper on the bill of lading, to determine the limit of the carrier’s liability or a freight rate.

Employers need to be assured of your pristine operating record so that they know you have the ability to safely transport your passengers. Honesty is the best policy when answering this question, because the employer will surely check with the proper authorities to verify your record. It may not always mean that you are dismissed as a candidate for hiring if something is found. It does depend on the circumstances and number of occurrences. This is a very common transportation interview question.

☛ What work do you enjoy the most?
☛ What are your main interests outside of the office?
☛ What kind of culture do you thrive in?
☛ Which circumstances allow you to do your best work?
☛ What was your proudest moment at university?

☛ What is a bill of lading?
☛ What is the function of a bonded warehouse?
☛ What is the difference between logistics and transport?
☛ What is a warehouse tracking system?
☛ How would you calculate deadweight tonnage?

☛ What is your understanding of DHL’s vision and mission?
☛ Which of Jetstar’s values do you relate to most strongly?
☛ If you were the CEO of Linfox, what would you change to make it more competitive in the transport and logistics industry?
☛ What, in your view, are the major industry challenges facing Toll?
☛ What do you feel is the biggest accomplishment of the Department of Infrastructure within the past twelve months?

☛ How would you respond to an unhappy customer if an urgent package were unexpectedly delayed?
☛ What do you do when your schedule is interrupted? Can you provide an example of how you’d handle it?
☛ Have you ever had to defend an unpopular decision on behalf of a business? How did you go about doing so?
☛ Can you describe a goal you’ve accomplished? How did you achieve it? Were there any unexpected challenges along the way?
☛ How do you manage competing priorities and deadlines? Have you ever missed a deadline?

☛ 1. What attracted you to this position?
☛ 2. Are you willing to work as a substitute driver in all areas of the district?
☛ 3. Are you regularly available to drive, even when called at the last minute?
☛ 4. How do you plan to adapt to many different bus routes?
☛ 5. Have you ever had to control and discipline a group of children between the ages of 5 and 18?
☛ 6. What techniques do you plan to use in order to maintain control of the students who you will only drive for a few days on a substitute basis?
☛ 7. How would you handle a phone call from an angry parent accusing you of treating their child unfairly?
☛ 8. Do you feel it is important that bus stops and schedules be regular and on time? Why?
☛ 9. What specific skills have you acquired or used in previous experience that relate to this position?
☛ 10. You have a school bus tipped over on its right side with the front door obstructed. There are K-12 students on board, some of whom are seriously injured. What is your first priority? What is your follow-up plan?
☛ 11. Are you prepared to undergo an intensive training program that may take a minimum of six days?
☛ 12. We recognize one’s financial needs must be considered, but beyond this, what attracts you to this position?
☛ 13. What experience do you have operating a large vehicle?
☛ 14. If you were to encounter icy conditions, how would you handle the situation?
☛ 15. How would you handle a situation on your bus in which a student attempted to or did physically harm you or another student?
☛ 16. Would keeping a schedule or being on time on a bus run be of any importance, in your opinion?
☛ 17. You are leaving school at the end of the day. It is the last run and a fellow driver cuts you off. Will this affect your schedule? How will you react?
☛ 18. What is the most difficult situation you have been faced with involving another person? How did you deal with it?
☛ 19. You have come upon a serious accident where it is apparent there may have been loss of life. How would you deal with your bus? The students?
☛ 20. In our school system, a formal bus pass signed by a school official must be given to the driver before a student who is not normally your passenger can ride on your bus. A strange student boards your bus and insists he always goes to his friend’s house whenever he wants to. How would you handle this?
☛ 21. You have entered a busy intersection and a passenger vehicle cuts in front of you. What would be your response?
☛ 22. A student changes seats several times. You have asked him to sit still without success. What would be your response?
☛ 23. Have you ever had a strong disagreement with another person (adult or student)? How did you handle this conflict?
☛ 24. What would you consider good judgment when dealing with children?
☛ 25. Do you know a bus driver you believe is very good at his job? In what way do you feel that he is doing a good job?
☛ 26. What kind of things would you do to prepare to drive a school bus?
☛ 27. Why do you want to make a career of driving a school bus?
☛ 28. What do you like about the children that you have been transporting?
☛ 29. What characteristics do you possess that make you a good bus driver?
☛ 30. Give an example of a difficult problem you have experienced with a student or students on a bus run. How did you handle it?
☛ 31. A person you do not know comes to your bus to pick up a kindergarten student on your K-2 run. The student does not seem to know them. What would you do?
☛ 32. Do you practice defensive driving? On a daily basis, what are the techniques you practice?
☛ 33. In the event of a serious accident, what procedure would you follow?
☛ 34. What specific skills have you acquired that you feel have made you a better school bus driver?
☛ 35. Have you had time to prepare for this interview? If not, why not? If yes, how?

The reason why you are asked this question is to hear what you consider difficult and how you approached the situation. Select a difficult work situation, which wasn’t caused by you and can be explained in a few sentences. You can then show yourself in a positive light by explaining how you handled the situation.

A bill of lading includes following details

☛ Name and complete address of shippers and receivers
☛ Special account numbers or PO used between business for order tracking
☛ Instruction for the carrier for secure delivery
☛ Date of the shipment
☛ Number of shipping units
☛ Types of packaging that includes cartons, pallets, skids and drums
☛ Description about the shipped items (common name & material of manufacture)
☛ Declared value of the goods being shipped
☛ Note included if there is any hazardous substance in it
☛ Exact weight of the shipments – for multiple commodities, weight for each commodity is mentioned separately
☛ Freight classification of the items shipped, according to NMFC (National Motor freight classification)

☛ Document against payment: The document remains with bank and importers have to pay the exporter before they release the documents. In this payment is immediate, and document is released quickly
☛ Document against acceptance: In this importer gives 30-45 days to bank to deduct the amount and then release the documents. In this provision, there is much risk, and if there is no sufficient balance in the account then, the process will get delayed.

Tell the interviewer your greatest weakness which can nevertheless benefit you in this position.